Join us in celebrating and congratulating Laura Ely, ARNP on her retirement
from her Military Duty.
Laura started with us in 2016 after being with the Othello Community Hospital
for about 20 years. She has accomplished many goals in her career, but
the most recent is completing her service in the Military.
Lieutenant Colonel Laura Ely served as a Certified Flight Nurse Evaluator
at the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.
Laura served in the US Navy Reserve from 1999 – 2007 as a hospital
corpsman responsible for fellow service members’ physicals, immunization,
and medical tests to maintain their readiness.
“I was involuntarily ‘called up’ to serve a tour of duty
after 9/11”, she said. “When I returned, I went back to school
to get my Bachelors of Nursing degree with the objective of becoming a
commissioned officer in the US Air Force.” She accomplished that
goal in 2008 when she enlisted with the air force unit at the Joint Base
Lewis-McCord.
She remained active in that reserve unit serving as Flight Commander of
the Flight and Ground Training. All the training became very real for
her when she flew over 20 combat missions in Afghanistan in 2010. “It’s
a different world in combat…you train and train for it,”
she recalls. “Then, it’s the real thing and you hear the mortar
shelling, and you take care of the injured and see the dying. Most of
them were so young, many of them just teenagers,” she said.
In 2011 she upgraded to Flight Nurse Instructor and was then promoted to
Major and Command Support Deputy Flight Commander. After being promoted
to Training Flight Commander in 2014, she went on to complete her Master’s
in Science Nurse becoming a certified Family Practice Primary Care Provider in 2016.
In 2020 Laura became a Senior Advisor and was an acting clinic nurse executive
during support of Short Notice Covid-19 Response.
On October 18, 2021, Lieutenant Colonel Laura Ely retired from her military duty.
We are so proud to be able to have Laura Ely as part of our Medical Team!
Your work and dedication to our community and patients does not go unnoticed.
Thank you for your service!