Bridging the Gap: ANPs at Creech AFB Improve Squadron Medical Readiness

Story by Senior Airman Victoria Nuzzi

432nd Wing

The new Aeromedical Nurse Practitioner career field has grown significantly and improved squadron medical readiness by bridging the gap between medical services and squadrons around the Air Force since it started in 2019. At Creech Air Force Base, there are two ANPs, and this is how they have impacted the mission.

The career field began officially in 2019 at the 96th Medical Group, Eglin AFB, Fla. AN ANP is similar to a Family Nurse Practitioner except FNPs primarily work with military families and ANPs primarily take care of active duty flyers because they are certified and licensed to do so.

Most Air Force installations only have one ANP stationed per wing. However, due to the unique mission set of the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing where Airmen fly combat operations 24/7/365 and there are over 2000 MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft flyers, Creech was allotted two ANP positions. Capt. Maylin Taylor is assigned to the 15th Attack Squadron, and Maj. Adrienne Vieson is assigned to the 867th Attack Squadron and they are responsible for over 400 flyers each.

“Since we have been here, we’ve significantly improved our squadron’s medical readiness, which has led to more airmen being deployment-ready faster and able to fly,” said Taylor. “We have done this by helping reduce delays in medical care and setting up appointments faster for our airmen.”

ANPs are not usually embedded into squadrons and are normally assigned to a medical group. At Creech AFB however, the mission requires them to be a part of the squadrons to help more flyers accomplish the mission.

“We really have two major things we do here, which is work in the clinic which means running sick calls, seeing flyers physical health assessments and performing other common clinic duties,” said Taylor. “On other days, we stay in the squadrons and we are really there for whatever medical needs should arise and need to be looked at. Maj. Vieson and I being in the squadron helps mitigate delays and the common difficulties of getting medical appointments so that the flyers can focus on flying the mission.”

Additionally, they have been able to increase access to women’s healthcare for women across the wing.

“Women appreciate male providers, but most women want to be seen by female providers and because before that there was a backlog of things such as pap smears and other women’s health procedures,” said Vieson. “Women would have to be sent to Nellis AFB which put a strain on them and took them away from their jobs here and since we have been here, Capt. Taylor and I have been able to alternate care for flyers and non-flyers and we can provide multiple types of women’s care that was not available here before”

Additionally, the ANPs at Creech AFB work closer with Airmen in contrast to other medical career fields.

“In our career field, we get to take care of people at a different level,” said Vieson. “It is more personal since I know exactly what is going on with my people. I know if they are having surgery, if their spouse is, and all that sort of stuff, and because I know it, I can find out how they are doing faster and help them personally.”

The two ANPs themselves both wanted to go into the medical career field and work closely with Airmen and the Air Force mission and the ANP career field fulfilled that.

Taylor is originally from Greenville, S.C. and joined the Air Force to pay for her Doctorate in Nurse Practice. She joined the Air Force originally as a FNP and was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. After a few years, she became an ANP and arrived at Creech AFB.

“I was really excited to be an ANP at Creech because I would be working in a squadron, which is unusual for my career field,” said Taylor, “I had orders to Nellis, but was offered the position at the 15th ATKS en route and I said yes, sign me up. When working at medical groups, you can sometimes forget about the mission side of things, but being a part of a squadron means I can see how I impact the mission directly and I love it.”

Vieson is originally from Bryan, Texas, and was a registered nurse in the civilian sector before joining. She joined the Air Force when she decided that she needed to serve and give back to the people who willingly sacrifice after a friend of hers in the United States Marine Corps passed away in the line of duty.

She joined the Air Force as a registered nurse and was stationed at Nellis AFB. Shortly after, she went to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice and became an FNP. After finishing her schooling she was stationed at Joint Base San Anotonio-Lackland where she worked in warrior medicine and family medicine. Afterward, she became an ANP and received orders to Creech AFB.

“When I joined the military, I wanted to work closely with the active duty and the mission side, but I was not getting that in my career the way it was going,” said Vieson. “I felt removed from the mission, but when the opportunity arose to be able to work closely with flyers by being an ANP, I took the opportunity.”

The new career field has seen constant changes as it has continued to grow and the future looks bright for those who volunteer to join, said the two ANPs.

“Some advice I would give to someone joining this career field is to just roll with it and be flexible,” said Taylor. “What we learn in training has good foundational qualities, but it doesn’t always address the specifics of a base we will be going to. Therefore, you need to be flexible to deal with things you may not have learned in training.”

Flexibility is not the only thing that is needed when joining or working with a new career field, you also need patience said Vieson.

“My biggest advice would be to have patience,” said Vieson. “This career field has not been around for very long and we are still fighting through some bureaucracy, we have come so far from where we started and we have grown so much.”