Life of Service: Epic Staffer’s Love For The Army Shines Through In Everything He Does

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Epic’s Luis Ortiz-Barreto jokes that he was destined for the Army after watching G.I Joe and other cartoons that were on Saturday mornings when he was little.

The heroes wore camouflage and fought enemies bent on world domination. He understood his calling at a young age. 

The impact of an ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture diet of Rambo, Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris, along with a strong interest in history and sense of duty, led Ortiz-Barreto to tell his father he was going to enlist when he was old enough. His father put him in a military-style summer program. Ortiz-Barreto immediately took to it. 

He felt the call to serve his nation.  

“I was in this world for that reason, just to serve and help others,” he said.

Ortiz-Barreto was in the Army Reserves and attending college when the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks happened. He had been trained in mortuary affairs. His unit was one of only five with this particular training. He was sent to San Antonio and called on for his necessary, but solemn, expertise.

The 9/11 attacks strengthened his commitment to the Army. 

“It was something that changed the way that I was looking into the military, and I think that triggered me to switch to active duty. The event impacted my life. It was, it was pretty shocking,” he recalled. 

Memorabilia from his Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) line his home-office walls. One of them is particularly special. It’s a prayer rug hanging on his wall that an Iraqi general gave to him after a harrowing mission. 

“I lost my best friend in Iraq, but I was able to survive, come back and tell the story,” he said. 

After leaving the military, Ortiz-Barreto came to Epic, where he oversees the Military Club and district efforts to connect with military families.  Ortiz-Barreto is now Epic Charter Schools’ military liaison. Among his other duties is to help advise students who are interested in military service. 

 “Epic is moving in the right direction right now,” he said, explaining how military awareness ties into career readiness, and how students need a source of reliable information about military service. 

He said Epic’s Military Club is both a place for students to be themselves but also learn to become leaders. He mentioned how the Army is bringing back its iconic advertising tagline – “Be all you can be” – as an example of what the club is about. 

Statistically, those who serve typically have had a family member serve. But given that only 6% of Americans have served in the military, these connections are growing scarcer. This leads to misconceptions among some students who consider military service. 

Ortiz-Baretto addressed some of these misconceptions. 

The first misconception is that military service pays too little. 

“They get pretty good pay… they get pretty good benefits,” Ortiz-Barreto explained. Obviously pay depends on job and rank, but he said the military takes pretty good care of its people. 

A second misconception is that people think they won’t have enough time to see family. He said that’s not the case. Unless a person is deployed, military service can be similar to any other job, and the military works hard to connect families to one another and offer activities. 

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that enlisting means you’ll be putting your life in danger. While dying in combat is certainly a possibility everyone in uniform acknowledges, the percentage of frontline military jobs is relatively small compared to support positions that typically face less danger. 

Ortiz-Barreto explained the steps that students should take if they’re considering joining the military. 

“The first step is always to talk to your parents,” he said. “(The second step is to) research about each branch of the military. The third step, go to a recruiting station.” 

He recommends talking to recruiters from each branch and getting as much information as possible. 

The military had an immeasurably positive effect on Ortiz's life. 

“The Army, for me, is everything … I have everything because of them,” he said.