MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Maj. Lori Wyatt is the assistant chief nurse for the 167th Medical Group. She enlisted into the 167th Airlift Wing’s aerial port in 2002 and transitioned to the medical group in 2013.
She has 13 years of experience in critical care nursing and she brought a wealth of knowledge with her to the clinic, said Maj. Sarah Law, the chief nurse for the 167th Medical Group.
“Maj. Wyatt was a valued member of the nursing corps right out of the gate,” Law said. “She is always first to volunteer and has done so for state flood duty and most recently is the vice-officer-in –charge of the 167th MDG Expeditionary Community Testing Detachment for Covid-19.”
According to Law, the wing’s COVID-19 testing detachment quickly became the lead testing unit relied upon by the state which she attributes to Wyatt’s competence.
“She sets the example of the Air Force core values and exemplifies those in her work and personal life,” Law said.
How long have you served in the unit: I enlisted into the Aerial Port in 2002, commissioned into the clinic in 2013.
How does your job support the 167th’s mission? I support the clinic staff by managing different programs and assisting the chief nurse with personnel and management decisions. For example, one program I manage is making sure all the nurses are current and up to date with their electronic nursing folders. This ensures training is completed for deployment readiness. I also aid with training our medics and I am a BLS (basic life support) instructor.
Civilian job: I am a neuro/trauma intensive care nurse at Winchester Medical Center. I have been a registered nurse for 13 years with Valley Health. I also teach civilians BLS.
Education: I am a 2002 high school graduate from Hampshire High School. I graduated from Shepherd University in 2007 with a Bachelors in the Science of Nursing.
Hobbies: I enjoy hunting, fishing, playing with my dogs Charlee and Riley, crocheting, growing a garden with my husband Mike and reading.
Goals: A military goal of mine would be to deploy with a CCATT (Critical Care Air Transport Team). I completed my training for this team in April of 2019 and would love to deploy and put all I learned to good use.
I am proudest of: my military career thus far as a whole. I have been fortunate in my career to be able to travel and participate with many missions. From a deployment to Afghanistan, West Virginia flood duty, an IRT (innovative readiness training) in central Georgia and North Dakota and my current activation to aid the state with COVID-19 testing, I have been beyond blessed to be able to serve our country and state.
People may be surprised to know this about me: My favorite holiday is Halloween and I am terrified of clowns lol!
The most exciting thing I’ve done in the military is: Successfully complete CCATT training! It was by far, civilian or military, the hardest course I’ve ever taken. Out of my class of 13 only 8 of us passed the course. This was a very exciting moment in my career!
The most valuable lessons I’ve learned throughout my career: When I attend SOS (Squadron Officer School) I struggled with keeping up with the course work, training for the group 5K at the end, writing and preparing my finial presentation and the dynamics of working with a wide range of personnel. I was getting too caught up on the details and stressing over all sorts of things. During class one day, we were discussing all these dilemmas everyone was facing and a member of the class said “I learned a long time ago to ‘control the controllables’ and that’s what we need to do.” I’ve carried this saying with me ever since and refer to it whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed.
My advice to the newest Airmen in the wing: If you feel a change is needed for the better never settle for keeping things the same just because “that’s the way it’s always been done”. We will never grow as a Wing or Airman if we are not willing to push for needed change. Speak up and do what’s best.