Juan M. Garcia III

Juan Manuel Garcia III (born May 27, 1966)^[1] was the 17th United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 32nd District from 2007 until 2009. He is currently the Global Leader for Career Advancement for Amazon.com.

Juan M. Garcia III
19th Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
In office September 16, 2009 – January 14, 2016
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Anita K. Blair
Succeeded by	Franklin R. Parker
Member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 32nd District
In office 2007–2009
Preceded by	Eugene Seaman
Succeeded by	Todd Ames Hunter
Personal details
Born	(1966-05-27) May 27, 1966 (age 57) St. Louis, Missouri
Spouse	Denise Giraldez
Alma mater	Harvard University University of California, Los Angeles California State University, Fullerton
Awards	Joint Service Commendation Medal Navy Commendation Medal Navy Achievement Medal
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1992-2015
Rank	Captain
Unit	Navy Reserve (2005-2015)

Early years, 1966–1992

Juan M. Garcia III was born on May 27, 1966, in St Louis, Missouri. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1988 and then attended the joint J.D. / M.A. program at Harvard Law School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, graduating in 1992.

Military service, 1992-2004

Upon graduation, Garcia reported for Aviation Officer Candidate School and was subsequently trained as a United States Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas. His first posting was in Patrol Squadron 47, based out of Naval Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii. He later served missions in the Persian Gulf and the Western Pacific Ocean. During the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he initially served in London as flag aide-de-camp to the Deputy Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe, and then deployed as part of Operation Allied Force. He also served in supporting the enforcement of the no-fly zone in Iraq aboard the USS Constellation (CV-64). His military awards include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal.

Garcia spent 1999 and 2000 as one of sixteen White House Fellows, during which time he served as a Special Assistant to United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley.

Following his year at the White House, Garcia returned to the United States Navy, serving as Officer of the Deck on board the USS Constellation (CV-64). The next year, he returned to the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi as a flight instructor with Training Squadron 27.

Post-military, 2004–2006

Garcia left active service in 2004, although he retained a position in the United States Navy Reserve as the commanding officer of Reserve Training Squadron 28 at Corpus Christi, Texas. At this time, he joined the Corpus Christi law firm of Hartline, Dacus, Barger, Dreyer, and Kern^[2] as an associate attorney.

Member of the Texas House of Representatives, 2007–2009

In 2006, he ran on the Democratic ticket for the Texas House of Representatives for the 32nd District. Garcia defeated 5-term incumbent Eugene Seaman with just 48% of the total vote. A third candidate, Lenard Nelson, won 6% as a Libertarian. During the campaign, Seaman had mailed out many circulars criticizing Garcia, as did Garcia of Seaman. A scandal involving Seaman and the homestead exemption, though, also became an issue. On the morning after the election, Seaman had led by a narrow 24 votes, as there were three precincts in San Patricio still pending counts. By 9 p.m., though, the votes, hand-counted, gave Garcia the seat.

Garcia was defeated for re-election in 2008 by Republican Todd Ames Hunter, a lawyer from Corpus Christi who previously served in the House from Districts 36 (1989-1993) and District 32 (1993-1997), each of those eight years as a Democrat. The final tally was 50.13% for Hunter, 46.79% for Garcia, and 3.06% for returning Libertarian candidate Leonard Nelson. Garcia conceded on election night.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 2009–2015^[3]

In 2009, Garcia was nominated as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) by President of the United States Barack Obama. Garcia was confirmed by the Senate Armed Services Committee on August 5, 2009. His nomination proceeded to the full Senate, where he was confirmed on September 16, 2009.^[4]

Amazon

In 2015, Garcia joined Amazon as its Global Leader for Career Advancement.^[5]

References

1. "S:\Wpshr\Borawski\Docs\Test" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-17.
2. "hdbdk.com".
3. . Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
4. Petty, Dan. "Navy.mil Leadership Biographies". www.navy.mil. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
5. "Reference at www.linkedin.com".

• News story on announcement of Garcia's appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Juan M. Garcia III.

•  Biography portal

• Navy Biography
• - official TX House website
• Juan Garcia for State Representative - official campaign website
• Swearing in photos by Richard A. Salazar on Facebook
• official page for House State Texas Race on YouTube

Government offices
Preceded by William A. Navas, Jr. Anita K. Blair (acting) Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. (acting)	Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) September 16, 2009 – Present	Succeeded by Incumbent