Faced with financial difficulty and an urge to give back to my country, I earned a full-tuition Army ROTC Scholarship to Duke University. After graduating from Duke in 2016 and commissioning as an Officer within the Army, I opted to join the Army Reserves in order to pursue a graduate degree full-time. Still wanting to serve my country in a meaningful manner, I became a Medevac Pilot, completing the Army’s flight school before beginning my PhD program. I continued to serve as a Platoon Leader and Medevac Pilot during my PhD program; my duties included overseeing training and readiness for my Medevac Platoon while piloting UH-60 Black Hawks as a Pilot in Command. In 2021-2022, I took a leave of  absence from my PhD program to deploy as an Operations Officer and Medevac Platoon Leader. Since September 2023, I have served as the Synthetic Biology Innovation Engagement Officer within the 75th Innovation Command. A summary of my roles in the deployment and previous training events are below.

In the fall of 2021, 7-158th General Support Aviation Battalion was deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Spartan Shield. I was in charge of Current Operations during the first half of the deployment within Kuwait, managing operations for over 600 soldiers and 50 aircraft deployed to 7 locations spread across 5 countries. During this time, I supervised over 1,000 flight hours, 900 air missions, and 230 Medevac missions. I also achieved the role of Pilot-in-Command in the Black Hawk helicopter and personally flew 8 Medevac missions.

For the second half of the deployment, I was in charge of a forward-deployed Medevac site at the border of Jordan and Syria. I directly managed more than 50 Air Missions and personally flew 19 Medevac missions within this combat zone while supervising all personnel within the site from the Aviation Battalion. I was awarded the Air Medal with "C" device for my service during this deployment.

In the summer of 2021, Golf Company conducted Medevac training in Fort Irwin, California as part of training rotation 21-08 at the National Training Center. During this time, I oversaw a platoon conducting 24-hour Medevac operations in a field setting while simultaneously changing locations to provide Medevac coverage to a moving ground element. I received the "Hero of the Battle" award for my leadership during this training exercise, an award given to only four individuals within the Aviation Task Force consisting of approximately 330 individuals.

In the summer of 2020, Golf Company conducted high-altitude flight training and Medevac training at Fort Carson, Colorado in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan (later canceled). Similar to the human body, helicopters do not function at their highest capacity at high elevations. Therefore, pilots must learn how to safely execute flight maneuvers at high altitude. After completing high-altitude flight training, I oversaw a platoon's field training exercise that simulated receiving Medevac calls within an operational environment. I received an Army Achievement Medal for my leadership in this training exercise.

In the summer of 2019, Golf Company conducted Medevac training in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin in order to facilitate training of medical units within the US Army Reserve. As a Section Leader, I assisted in overseeing a platoon conducting Medevac operations during a medical unit's field training exercise. I received the Patriot Warrior Superior Performer Award for planning a "tail-to-tail" casualty transfer exercise between the Air Force and Army.

Photos courtesy of  SSG Steve Lewis (http://photorecon.net/steve-lewis/).