You might know @VicBlends from his TikTok or YouTube channels, where he gives haircuts to people on the street and uses it as an opportunity to share their stories. But he recently traded in his clippers for a day in the U.S. Army.
The influencer, whose real name is Victor Fontanez, is from Fayetteville, North Carolina, and his dad and brother both served in the Army. So Fontanez hopped over to Fort Benning, Georgia, to check out what it’s like to enlist for one day.
At the Abrams Training Center, Fontanez cast a die and had to do 13 Russian Twists before joining the crew for an MRE lunch. He tried the creamy spinach fettucine and, despite the soldiers’ insistence that it’s disgusting, decided it’s “not that bad.”
The chocolate milk, on the other hand, left Fontanez cringing.
“It’s chunky,” he said while grimacing.
Fontanez also took a tour of the weapons cache at Benning before spending some time out on the marksmanship course.
“I’m an Army brat, my dad did 28 years,” he said. “It meant a lot just to be able to connect with a lot of the people on base that make everyday life happen.”
In a different video, Fontanez once gifted a soldier on the street, infantryman Nathan Hicks, with a free haircut — much better than the average DIY barracks chop job. During the cut, he asked Hicks what led him to join the Army.
“Thank you for the motivation,” he said as he wrapped up the soldier’s haircut.
Fontanez currently has 12.5 million followers on TikTok. He got his start cutting hair in his mom’s garage as a side hustle but now teaches the art of being a barber in classes online as well as in-person. Talk about high and tight.
Sarah Sicard is a Senior Editor with Military Times. She previously served as the Digitial Editor of Military Times and the Army Times Editor. Other work can be found at National Defense Magazine, Task & Purpose, and Defense News.
