Fall 2007
Vol. 14/ No. 2

First Lieutenant Bruce C. Schlager is currently deployed to Qatar for Operation Iraqi Freedom. As a flight nurse with the 932 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from Scott Air Force Base, Il., his unit's primary responsibility is to fly in to the field hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan and transport patients to a secure definitive-care facility.

“Roller coasters are nothing compared to the C-130 or C-17 planes we fly in,” Schlager says.

Although they primarily fly at night they still take quite a bit of fire both when taking off and landing. “My hat is off to the pilots that fly these planes,” he says. “My heart goes out to all the military men and women that I transport to safety. Their lives are forever changed by the experiences they are going through.”

His wife, Paula, says she hears about how tired he is of seeing brown sand—no green or color of any kind anywhere. “One of the things he misses most is just a cold glass of water,” she laughs. “Temperatures are currently running 115-120 degrees on a daily basis.”

He's been in the military for more than 25 years and when not on duty he's a nurse at the University Hospital Emergency Room. He received his nursing degree from MU in 2001.

Q&A with First Lt. Bruce Schlager