Society of Air Force Nurses (SAFN)

10/21/2026

As we continue with the 90s....

In 1991...
A new comprehensive clinical career ladder gave Air Force nurses a choice of either maintaining a clinical career track or adopting an administrative career
track.

January 11:
A new position—Air National Guard Advisor to the Chief, AirForce Nurse Corps—was added to the Surgeon General’s office. The first advisor was Col. Roberta Mills.

In 1993...
July:
The Medical Service’s conversion to the Objective Medical Group structure had a major impact on Air Force nursing, opening more avenues for careers advancement and leadership for nurses.

October: Nurses began to manage Air Force clinics with physician oversight.

Nurse-managed clinics freed doctors to provide more intensive or specialized
care.

Air Force nursing began to gain an expanded role under the new Department of Defense TRICARE health benefit program.

There were certainly a lot of changes in the nurse corps in these days.

09/29/2026

Can it possibly be more "90s" than the McPeak uniform disaster? This was 1993, I had just PCS'd to Charleston from Scott. I had the uniform "converted" as soon as General Fogleman's updates were approved.

09/25/2026

(Posted by Charlie Tupper) I have equal pride of my enlisted days as I do of my my officer days. I wouldn't be the same Air Force veteran without both. Quite a week, started with my enlisted Vietnam veteran group, U-Tapao Alumni Association ( been a member since 2001). I was also invited to speak and I connected our work in LINEBACKER II to the release of our POWs and Operation HOMECOMING (Feb-Mar 1973). I also got to spend time with a friend from 56 years back, Harry Fahl. Harry was a SSgt crew chief who sort of took me under his wing as a new crew chief. What a ride.
Then on to San Antonio TX with SAFN and more great USAF leaders. Amazing week! Oh...and a chance to get a Whataburger a block from the hotel. Life is good.

09/25/2026

During Desert Shield in 1990 and Desert Storm in 1991, I was at 'Big Willie' at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Some Air Force nurses, med techs, and admin personnel deployed overseas. My role was to stay at Big Willie and help prepare for wounded service members who might be brought back. I remember the uncertainty. Staff were being reassigned or sent overseas. When Maj Pat Howard deployed to England in support of Desert Storm, I became the nurse manager of the Surgical ICU. Meanwhile, we discharged patients who no longer needed hospital care and readied beds for any incoming wounded. We were making space for something we hoped would not come. Thankfully, far fewer wounded arrived than we had feared. It was a reminder that Air Force nurses serve wherever they are needed. For those who served during Desert Shield or Desert Storm, whether overseas or stateside, what do you remember most?

09/24/2026

Society of Air Force Nurses (SAFN) leadership met in San Antonio 23-24 Sep for leadership planning as outlined in the organizational standing rules/policies. The meeting went exceptionally smooth and productive! Lots accomplished and looking forward to sustaining this organization for generations to come!
Leadership is listed in your directory.

09/06/2026

08/19/2026

- Closing Out the Eighties -

Air Force Nursing in the 1980s 🇺🇸
As we close our look back at Air Force Nursing in the Eighties, we remember a decade when military medicine was changing—and Air Force nurses were changing right along with it.
The 1980s brought new technology, increasingly sophisticated critical and emergency care, and greater emphasis on readiness. Air Force nurses served in hospitals and clinics across the United States and around the world, caring for active-duty members, retirees, and military families while remaining prepared for the possibility of deployment at any time.
They worked in emergency rooms, intensive care units, operating rooms, obstetrics, pediatrics, medical and surgical units, mental health, community health, education, administration, and aeromedical evacuation. Many served far from home, building friendships and professional bonds that would last a lifetime.
And there were plenty of things today's nurses might find hard to imagine—paper charts, handwritten orders, medication cards, glass thermometers, fewer monitors, no smartphones, and certainly no electronic medical record waiting at the bedside. Nursing depended heavily on observation, clinical judgment, teamwork, and knowing your patients.
But some things haven't changed.
The long shifts. The middle-of-the-night emergencies. The friendships. The laughter that got you through a difficult day. The pride of putting on the uniform. And the knowledge that wherever the Air Force sent you, there were patients depending on you.
For those of us who served as Air Force nurses during the Eighties, the hairstyles and uniforms may have changed—but the mission did not:
To care. To serve. To be ready.

To all of our Eighties Air Force nurses: thank you for the memories, the friendships, the service, and the legacy you helped build.

Still Caring… Still Sharing… Always Remembering.

🇺🇸 Once an Air Force Nurse, Always an Air Force Nurse. ✈️

08/04/2026

From the Aeromedical Evacuation Association (AMEA) and CMSgt (Ret) Rick Tripp:

Captain Minnie Campbell, circa 1980. Minnie was assigned to 375 AAW at Scott AFB and was attached for flying and testing new equipment at the 57 AES.

08/02/2026

Anyone recognize Maj Jan Maher to the left and Capt Sharon Torcha-Burnette to the right? Maj in the middle was a Doc. Jan was our Nurse educator and Sharon was another staff nurse on the MSU at Myrtle Beach AFB, 1979-1982 timeframe.

08/02/2026

Emergency Room entrance to the USAF Hospital, Incirlik (Turkey). December 1982