Breckinridge was a civilian who enlisted for Federal service in the Mobile Infantry. Although Breckinridge came from a family of farmers, he hated farming so he saw enlistment in the Mobile infantry as an easy way out. He once described the Mobile Infantry as a picnic in comparison to farming. The incident resulted in Rico being punished by ten lashes, and convinced him in nearly quitting the Mobile Infantry. But the meteor attack on Buenos Aires made him change his mind, and he stayed with the Mobile Infantry.