81st MDG undergoes multiple command changes Published June 25, 2014 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Col. Cherri' Shireman will accept command of the 81st Medical Operations Squadron from acting commander Lt. Col. (Dr.) Nicholas Conger during an assumption of command ceremony at 9 a.m. June 27 in front of Keesler Medical Center. Col. (Dr.) Tom Harrell, 81st Medical Group commander, will officiate. The outgoing commander Col. Maria Guevara is currently deployed. As commander, Shireman will lead a squadron with almost 400 medical professionals in the pediatrics, internal medicine, family health, emergency services, specialties, cardio-pulmonary, genetics and mental health flights. The colonel received a direct commission and entered the Air Force as a captain in 1991. During her career, she has served as nurse practitioner, element and flight chief, deputy squadron commander and military treatment facility chief nurse. The new commander began her career at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in December 1991, serving as an obstetrics/gynecology nurse practitioner. In August 1995, she was reassigned to Maxwell AFB, Ala. While there, she served as a senior clinician and preceptor for three Phase II OB/GYN nurse practitioner students. In 2001, she received an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to attend the Uniformed Services University for Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., to complete her Master of Science degree in nursing degree. Her thesis work led to the receipt of a $250,000 research grant for the Tri-Service Nursing Research Program. Upon completion of her degree in 2001, she moved to Little Rock AFB, Ark., where she served as women's health element chief. While at Little Rock, she began work on her Ph.D. in nursing science at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. In 2005, she received another AFIT assignment to complete her Ph.D. in nursing science at USUHS. Shireman returned to Little Rock AFB in February 2007 and served as the 19th MDOS deputy commander, primary care flight commander, clinical disaster team chief and nurse practitioner. The colonel was Chief, Air Force Medical Service Operational Medicine Research, Air Force Medical Support Agency, Falls Church, Va., since November 2010. She was responsible for Air Force research and innovation efforts that addressed preventive medicine capability gaps with an in-garrison focus. Her portfolio included 34 projects worth $67 million. In addition, she was selected as the first-ever Department of Defense representative to the congressionally-directed Medical Research Program's Autism Research Panel, as well as the Air Force representative to the $59 million per year Joint Program Committee's Clinical and Regenerative Medicine Program. Guevara will be the chief nurse of the 48th MDG at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom.