Airman earns a uniform and a nation

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas — Coming to the United States to play baseball, he never imagined he would one day raise his right hand in service to his adoptive country.

For the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native, baseball opened the door to new opportunities in America. After beginning a new life in the U.S., Airman 1st Class Anthony Tejeda, 59th Medical Wing command support staff technician, found a new purpose with the Air Force, where he now serves with the same discipline and determination that once fueled him on the baseball field.

Like many children in the Dominican Republic, Tejeda grew up surrounded by baseball. At 6 years old, wanting to be just like his older brother, Angel, he began playing the sport that would ultimately bring him on a journey to America.

“My dad and brother were getting in the car to go to the field and I said, ‘I’m coming, too!’” Tejeda said. “I don’t even think I played that day, but that’s when the dream started for me.”

A decade later, the seeds of that dream began to bloom, receiving a scholarship offer from a preparatory high school in south Georgia, Faith Baptist Christian Academy, where he spent two years beginning his life in the U.S. at 17 years old.

“Being away from family that young, in a different country, it’s not that easy. There were definitely nights I cried,” he said. “Luckily, at the school there were other guys in the same boat, so going through it together made it a little less challenging.”

In 2018, he accepted an offer to play college baseball at Bryan College in Tennessee. Tejeda’s time there was not without setbacks, having his junior season interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic which led to larger issues for him.

“The pandemic was still going on and I had to renew my [immigration] visa, but the embassy was closed, so I went back to the D.R.,” he said. “My passport was confiscated for three months, which left me stuck in the D.R. when I was supposed to be starting for the 2021 season.”

Though discouraging, Tejeda did not let that stop him from bettering himself, which he credits to his parents and the way they raised him.

After the initial uncertainty surrounding the pandemic had settled down, he returned to the U.S. and was granted an extra year of college athletic eligibility to not only play baseball, but receive his undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in healthcare administration.

Tejeda was settled into his new life in America by the time he left Bryan College in 2023. He married a woman from school and started his first post-grad job as a social worker in Tennessee.

“The job was very fulfilling, but it was also very taxing,” he said. While rewarding in the sense that he was directly helping people in need, it wasn’t what he felt was God’s purpose for him. “That was one of the reasons I wanted something different, so I started praying and talking to my wife about it.”

Inspired by audiobooks and podcasts that shared stories of service members, Tejeda sought guidance from his Army veteran mentor, whose advice ultimately convinced him the Air Force was the right path.

“I was scared because it was something way outside of what I had been doing,” he said. “I didn’t want to do anything I didn’t feel like God was leading me toward.”

Tejeda swore into the Delayed Entry Program in December 2024, and was told of his ensuing naturalization prior to shipping out to basic military training.

“To me, that was more like a perk,” he said. “That wasn’t my ‘why,’ my family was.”

Despite the naturalization process not being a driving force for joining the military, Tejeda is grateful for the country he now calls home. However, his first year in the Air Force has had its share of issues, paralleling his baseball career.

Currently navigating divorce, he finds himself relying on scripture and self-motivation once more to get through a difficult time.

“It’s like when I first came to the United States, just 10 years older,” he said. “I’m back to being by myself, in a place I’ve never been, away from people I know.”

Tejeda refuses to let valleys in life impact the journey to its peaks, stating, “I want to make the people that have invested in me proud. That’s why I do things to the best of my abilities. That’s why I put on the uniform.”

He strives to live by the Air Force core values, volunteering his time and energy for the betterment of others. “He offered to participate in the color guard for the wing’s change of command,” Staff Sgt. Chaz Hall, 59th MDW CSS noncommissioned officer in charge, recalls. “He was genuinely interested in doing it; he’s not the type to do things just for a bullet.”

He’s managed to find success early in his Air Force career, being named his squadron’s Most Valuable Professional for May 2026 and Airman of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2026.

This early success as a junior enlisted member, in such a high visibility position with the 59th MDW, bodes well for Tejeda’s plans for the future: commissioning as a medical service corps officer.

“I definitely think he has what it takes to reach his goals in becoming an officer,” said Hall. “He’s older than a lot of newer Airmen and has more of an understanding of the world, so that plus having been enlisted will let him become more of an effective leader which the Air Force always needs.”

Although his path has taken unexpected turns, Tejeda believes each milestone prepared him for where he is today. As he works toward becoming an Air Force officer, he hopes his transition from a Dominican teen to a U.S. citizen and Airman serves as a reminder that opportunity can come from the most unanticipated places.