From Army intelligence to Maryville’s Veteran Service Coordinator: Carlos Marroquin’s Full-Circle Journey

For six years, Carlos Marroquin's days in the U.S. Army were planned for him. After leaving the service and returning home to Houston, he realized he had no idea what to do next.

"When I finally came home and transitioned out of the Army, I found myself lost for a while." He said, "For the first time in my adult life, I had a level of freedom I had never experienced before, and surprisingly, I didn't know what to do with it."

Carlos joined the Army at the age of 17 with the intention of becoming a pilot for the U.S. Military. However, after taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and receiving an especially high score on the technical portions, he shifted his goal to becoming an intelligence analyst. The job requires intensive training.

"I scored very well in the technical section, which is the ability to problem-solve." He said, "And so one of the positions that was the most recommended, because there are hundreds of jobs in the Army, was for me to become an intelligence analyst."

After encountering some delays that extended his basic training time to one year, Carlos was stationed in Georgia. There he began his role as an intelligence analyst. He rotated from Georgia to Poland, then to California. Eventually, Carlos transitioned from this role to a special operations role, where he went through a selection process and was stationed in Germany, supporting a Special Forces Group.

He called it "the most fulfilling time that I had in the Army," work in which, he said, "your ability to problem-solve there is of the utmost importance."

After 18 months in Germany, Carlos was due to be reassigned to Korea. Before the move, Carlos got married. This life change led Carlos to leave the military and focus on starting his life outside it.

Then began Carlos' transition to civilian life. Carlos returned to Houston, where his family lived. Carlos is a first-generation American; both his mother and father were born in Mexico. After moving to the United States, his father became involved in construction as a scaffold builder. Growing up with his father so involved in construction inspired him to begin a career in a similar field: plumbing. Unfortunately, after six months as a plumbing apprentice, Carlos realized that plumbing wasn't his passion.

This realization led Carlos to industrial electrical work, which involves more math and science. Carlos found an apprenticeship with an industrial electrical company at a refinery. "So I tried it, loved it, loved it," he said. "It was like the best experience I had had as a civilian."

Carlos realized he loved it not for the work itself but for how much it reminded him of the military. In the apprentice role, Carlos was assigned a mentor, and he realized that in this field the whole team looked out for each other.

"It was very structured, very much so like the military," he said. In the Army, he had mentored soldiers, sailors, and even Marines, and at the refinery, "it was very good to feel that again."

Carlos worked there for eight months before realizing refinery work wasn't physically sustainable in the long term. Around the same time, Carlos' wife, who was enrolled at Maryville University studying forensic psychology, encouraged him to move to St. Louis and enroll at Maryville. However, the idea of returning to school after eight years away was intimidating. Six years in the military and two skilled trades had little in common with a college campus. Going back, he said, was "super intimidating," especially at a private university. "For me, it was like a big deal."

After much consideration, Carlos decided to take the leap and enroll at Maryville University to study cybersecurity. Early in his journey at Maryville, he was introduced to Robert Barrett, a computer science professor who became one of his most important mentors. Through Barrett, Carlos got a job at Maryville Business Solutions, where he helped many nonprofits with their cybersecurity operations. There, he realized it was the first time, outside the military, that he had been part of a community where everyone cared about what they were working toward.

While Carlos was working there, a new opportunity arose: Maryville was hiring a veteran service coordinator. Carlos was aware of this role because, during his transition to Maryville, Andrew Gates, the previous veteran service coordinator, helped him transition from soldier to student.

Carlos emphasized how much Gates helped with his transition and how easy it was to enroll at Maryville and start classes. Gates "set me up essentially instantly," Carlos said. It "took me longer to drive to St. Louis from Houston than it did for me to, like, sign up for classes."

With his wife's support, Carlos applied for the job. Shortly after applying, he interviewed and was offered the position. In September 2026, Carlos became Maryville's veteran service coordinator while still earning his undergraduate degree in cybersecurity.

The transition hasn't been an easy journey; Carlos has tried out different roles in different fields to figure out who he is outside the military. Becoming the veteran service coordinator at Maryville is a full-circle moment for Carlos. After leaving the Army and feeling lost, Carlos is now in a role where he can help people facing the same transition.

"Looking back, I realized that leaving the military didn't mean I had lost my purpose," he said, "I just hadn't found my next one yet. Today, I have the opportunity to serve again, just in a different capacity, and hopefully help other veterans recognize the potential in themselves that I once had such a difficult time seeing."

About Maryville University
Founded in 1872, Maryville University is a comprehensive and nationally ranked private institution with an enrollment of well over 9,000 students. Maryville offers over 90 degrees at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels, as well as several certificates that align with the undergraduate and graduate education levels. Maryville is recognized as the third fastest-growing private university in the United States by The Chronicle of Higher Education, serving students from 50 states and 56 countries. More than 50,000 Maryville alumni globally, many of whom work and live in the St. Louis region.