Being in the military was not in Carlos Fuentes’ plans. In fact, he did not even consider a military career until a recruiter came to Perry High School his senior year.

“It happened quickly,” Fuentes, senior in logistics and supply chain management, said. “The recruiter came to my school and I’ve always been interested in dealing with weapons and I had never gotten to deal with rifles before. Plus it helped pay for school, so that was a bonus.”

Fuentes spent his childhood split between the United States and El Salvador. Born in 1986 in El Salvador, he first moved to the United States when he was 3 years old. After a year, he moved back to El Salvador for five more years, coming back to live in Los Angeles when he was 9, where he stayed until he was 15.

In 2001 Fuentes’ family decided to move back to El Salvador to start a small business.

“[The business] wasn’t successful and I really wanted to go to college, so I told my parents I wanted to move back to the U.S.,” Fuentes said.

In February 2003, Fuentes and his father moved to Houston, where he worked in construction for six months to bring his mother and younger siblings to America. After not being able to find work in Houston, his mother and siblings moved to Perry in August 2004. Fuentes finished the semester in Houston and moved to Perry in December, where he graduated from high school.

The following September, he was recruited into the military.

Being in the military was a whole new experience for Fuentes.

“I had no family in the military, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Fuentes said. “Training was the biggest thing. They treated you like you weren’t even a human. You had to gain respect from instructors.”

After training, life in the military was a smooth adjustment for Fuentes. In August 2008, he traveled overseas to serve in Iraq, where he worked as a logistics specialist in Joint Base Balad, one of the largest air bases in northern Iraq. Working on an air base, Fuentes was in a relatively safe atmosphere.

“The main stress was worrying about mortars falling on the base from Iraqi fighter planes,” Fuentes said. “Other than that, it wasn’t too bad. It was a good base and it had a lot of recreational things in it. It had a gym and a pool in it. I didn’t get much chance to use them, as I was always working, but it was nice to know they were there.”

There was not much of a culture shock for Fuentes while he served, because he did not have a lot of interaction with Iraqis. The only Iraqis in the airbase were the people who served the food and cleaned the restrooms.

“At first there was a lack of trust, because for all we knew it could be the enemy who was pushing us our food.” Fuentes said. “Other than that, there was not much interaction. We didn’t speak the same language, so there was a translator to communicate. They were friendly, but we still kept an eye on them.”

After nine months serving overseas, Fuentes returned in May 2009. Coming back to the United States was a change at first.

“I was paranoid for a little bit,” Fuentes said.

After his return, he went back to El Salvador for summer break.

“We have dogs in our house,” Fuentes said. “At night when I would hear them barking, I would automatically think somebody was breaking in. I slept with a gun right next to me for a while, and I was still speaking in military terms.”

It took about a month before Fuentes was fully able to return to normal.

Now that he is back at Iowa State, Fuentes plans to graduate in December.

“I’m looking to get a job where I can use my military experience and college degree in logistics and that has decent pay,” Fuentes said.