3 picked for nurse commissioning program Published June 25, 2009 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, MISS. -- Three Keesler members were recently selected for the Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program. Senior Airman Shandrika Smith, 81st Medical Operations Squadron, and Staff Sgts. Brian King, 81st Surgical Operations Squadron, and Joshua Baker, 338th Training Squadron, begin the two-year program in August. They'll be commissioned second lieutenants in the Air Force upon graduation and successful completion of their nursing licensing boards. Following commissioning, they'll attend Commissioned Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., and nurse transition training at a military treatment facility offering this program. Airman Smith, who provides administrative support in Keesler Medical Center's oncology-hematology clinic, will attend the University of South Alabama School of Nursing. She recently earned her associate degree from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Airman Smith has been a member of the Air Force for three years. Sergeant King, a surgical services technician in the 81st orthopedic clinic, met all NECP requirements and completed most of his prerequisite schooling at MGCCC. He'll attend the University of Southern Mississippi School of Nursing. He's served in the Air Force nearly 10 years and has been at Keesler since February 2005. Sergeant Baker, a ground radio instructor, earned three associate degrees -- electronics systems technology and instructor of military sciences through the Community College of the Air Force and biology from MGCCC. He'll attend William Carey University. He joined the Air Force in September 2003 and came to Keesler in February 2007. Steve Pivnick, 81st Medical Group Public Affairs, and Susan Griggs, Keesler News editor, contributed to this report.