Former Keesler enlisted medics earn nursing degrees, commisions Published Oct. 1, 2009 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Afffairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Staff Sgt. Anna Crane returned to Keesler Medical Center Sept. 16 after an absence of almost two years to share a very special occasion with the people she used to work with here. She left the medical center's Family Birthing Center in December 2007 to attend the University of South Alabama School of Nursing after being selected for the U.S. Air Force Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program. Following her July 24 graduation, Sergeant Crane asked Maj. Melony Valencia, the FBC nursing manager, to commission her as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. Major Valencia administered the oath to Sergeant Crane, who received the "Spirit of Nursing Award" at her graduation ceremony, witnessed by former co-workers, friends and her mother, Earnestine Evans, a member of the 81st Medical Support Squadron here. Sergeant Crane had served in the Air Force for 11 years and had arrived at Keesler in March 2003. Soon-to-be Lieutenant Crane will pin on her new rank as she begins Commissioned Officer Training at Maxwell AFB, Ala., soon. Following completion of COT, she will attend Nurse Transition Program training at Nellis AFB, Nev., before beginning her new assignment as a nurse at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB, Texas. Sergeant Crane also invited a special guest to her ceremony. Tech. Sgt. Judd Hailey is another 81st MDG member who just graduated from the USA nursing program under the NECP, earning the "Excellence in Practice Award." He, too, had returned to the medical center to be commissioned - on Sept. 10 by Lt. Col. Patricia Brown, 81st Surgical Operations Squadron. Sergeant Hailey began studies at the USA School of Nursing in August 2007 after serving nine-and-a-half years on active duty - seven of them at Keesler. He also will attend NTP at Nellis AFB following COT. The "newly-minted" nurse then returns to Keesler Medical Center to begin his nursing career. The NECP offers active-duty enlisted personnel the opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree in a high-need academic major (Reserve and Air National Guard personnel are not eligible to apply). The program is available to all AFSCs. NECP students complete their degree at a college or university with an Air Force ROTC detachment or a college/university with a "cross-town agreement." Students are required to attend school year-round for up to 24 consecutive calendar months, including summer sessions.