Serving as a Nurse during Desert Storm

Janet Hudson joined the U.S. Air Force in 1986 and deployed as a nurse during Desert Storm. She shared about her experience of joining the Air Force, deploying for Desert Storm and then becoming a nurse anesthetist for her last few years in the Air Force. After around 12 years of service she left the military so she could continue her career as a nurse and provide stability for her family. She retired from nursing in January after a 42 year career. Today, she is helping others through Lifewave patches along with volunteering to help veterans find community in her local community.

Serving as a Nurse during Desert Storm

Janet decided to join the military because of her family’s tradition. Her husband was already serving in the U.S. Air Force so she decided to join once she finished nursing school. She joined in 1986 and never expected to deploy but saw it as an opportunity. Her first job was doing basic bedside nursing, she had been working in a more high demand nursing school before and needed something else so she started teaching other nurses. This led to her being encouraged to become a nurse anesthetist.

Deploying for Desert Storm

When Desert Storm happened both her husband and her were deployed. They had to activate their family care plan and take their daughter to Florida to live with her parents and in-laws. They were deployed for about eight months. Four months of that time was leading up to the war and then even though the operation only lasted 43 days it took time before they were able to come home.

For the first few months the communication home wasn’t available. Eventually, there were tents set up so people could call back home for short bursts of time on a semi-regular basis. She was working long hours and it was hard to communicate back home but she said it worked out. Her daughter also had a blast in Florida so that made it easier too. While deployed she applied to go to school to become a nurse anesthetist. Her husband was able to move with her to Texas for the first part of school. But when it was time for clinical at Travis AFB he was told he needed to cross train. He would have picked a new career field, but the military still didn’t promise that they would be stationed together. So, he got out of the military.

Out in California

He helped raise their daughter while she finished school. He said that year was the hardest job he ever had taking care of their daughter and helping support around the house. Eventually she graduated and was able to stay at Travis for a few years and then her final assignment was in North Dakota. She was considering staying in until retirement, but when she learned she would be pulled out of nursing to management along with the unexpected death of her father she decided to leave the military.

Transition

Leaving the military and finding a new job wasn’t difficult. But finding a community after being in the military for over ten years was hard. She struggled to find her place and adjust to living in a community and not having the same support she found in the military.

Her career continued as a nurse until she retired (this past January). She now is working to help others with patches from Lifewave. It helped her in her healing journey after dealing with various aliments, including cancer, after the Gulf War. She is also active in helping support veterans within her community.