Fighting Eagles Alumni Excels in Her Career as an Army Nurse

Nunley

For National Nurses Week, the EWU Army ROTC “Fighting Eagles” battalion would like to recognize 2017 EWU graduate, Kaylee Nunley who has started off a great career as an Army nurse.  Kaylee grew up in Spokane Valley where she attended EWU for pre-nursing and joined ROTC.  After completing the pre-nursing curriculum at EWU, she was accepted into the Washington State University (WSU)-Spokane College of Nursing.  While attending nursing school she had the opportunity to attend a summer internship at the Army hospital at Ft. Wainwright, AK.

Nunley


After graduating from EWU and the College of Nursing, she commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. She next completed her Basic Officer Leadership Course for nurses at Fort Sam Houston, Texas before arriving at her first duty station at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  Walter Reed is the military’s premier hospital.  At Walter Reed Kaylee served for three years as a registered nurse serving as a medical surgical pediatric nurse.

After completing her assignment at Walter Reed, the now First Lieutenant (1LT) Nunley is currently attending public health nurse training at Ft. Sam Houston.  After she completes her training later this month, she will then move to her next duty station in Ft. Wainwright, Alaska.  There she will serve as the Chief of Army Public Health Nursing focusing on preventive medicine for Soldiers and families.

During her Army journey, 1LT Nunley has also married and became a mom.  EWU Army ROTC congratulates Kaylee for a great start to her career as an Army nurse.

World War II Army Nurse Corps recruiting poster.
World War II Army Nurse Corps recruiting poster.

Did you know that EWU Army ROTC has the largest ROTC nursing program in Washington State and the Inland Northwest?  We have a track record of commissioning quality nurses on to Active Duty and into Army Reserves.  If you are interested in serving your country as well as beginning a career as a health care professional, consider Army nursing.  Scholarships are available to qualified applicants and Army ROTC has guaranteed slots into Nursing School.  Learn more about about the ROTC nursing program at this link.  You can also use our Contact page or email us at rotc@ewu.edu to answer any questions you may have.

Go Army Nursing!  Go Fighting Eags!

 

EWU Army ROTC Cadet Receives the Major General Barbara R. Holcomb Nurse Cadet Excellence Award

The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program is pleased to announce that Kylie Crooks has been awarded the Major General (MG) Barbara R. Holcomb Nurse Cadet Excellence Award.  The award recognizes the top nursing Cadet in the 8th ROTC Brigade that covers the 30 different ROTC programs across the west coast of the United States to include major universities such as USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Washington St. etc.  MG Barbara Holcomb is a 1987 graduate from the Seattle University’s ROTC program and the former Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.  She retired from active duty last year and established this award to recognize nursing excellence in the brigade.

Kylie Crooks
EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Kylie Crooks.

Cadet Crooks is studying nursing and is on pace to graduate with honors.  She has also demonstrated a high level of physical fitness by scoring above 90 points on each event of the Army Physical Fitness Test.  She has further demonstrated her fitness by receiving a Gold German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (GAFPB) during testing held by German Army officials at EWU.  She was also selected for a Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship that is currently paying her full tuition.  Kylie last summer completed ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky where she received the highest rating of “Outstanding”.  Besides being a Cadet, Kylie also serves as a watercraft engineer in the U.S. Army Reserve’s 467th Transportation Company.

After graduating from EWU and the Washington State University College of Nursing in December 2020, Kylie will commission as an officer into the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.  She will then attend basic officer training and be assigned to an Army hospital where she hopes to specialize in being an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse.  She also has a long term goal of pursing a Doctorate Nurse Practitioner in the future. EWU Army ROTC wishes Cadet Crooks all the best in her future endeavors and congratulate her for receiving this prestigious award.

Cadet Crooks
Cadet Crooks after completing a 12-mile ruck march.

Is Army Nursing for You?

Any EWU student who wants to be a healthcare professional and has an interest in serving their country should consider Army nursing.  If you are not sure if the Army is for you, ROTC is the one way to explore military service with no obligation to join.  Our nursing Cadets complete their first two to three years of Nursing and ROTC pre-requisites on Eastern’s Cheney campus. The nursing Cadets then complete their final two years at the Washington State University (WSU) College of Nursing in downtown Spokane.  The WSU College of Nursing reserves seats in each class for ROTC Nurses that achieve their admissions standards.  To qualify for one of the reserved nursing seats you must make the decision to contract into ROTC by then.

EWU Army ROTC currently has the largest Cadet nursing program in Washington State and the Inland Northwest.  We have a proven track record of our nursing Cadets receiving scholarships and going on to become healthcare professionals in service to our nation.  You can learn more about our nursing program at this link and feel free to contact us at this link with any questions.

Go ROTC!  Go Army Nursing!