SSGT. Meghan LaRose
U.S. Air Force – Aeromedical Specialist
1988 -1999
U.S. Air Force – Aeromedical Specialist
1988 -1999
Meghan LaRose was born in 1969 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where she spent her childhood. After completing seventh grade, Meghan moved to Brevard, North Carolina, where she began the 8th grade.
In 1987, Meghan graduated from Brevard High School. Meghan knew she did not want to go to college but was unsure of her next step in life. Her grandfather, a Lt. Colonel in the Army, persuaded Meghan to join the military. Meghan chose to join the Air Force because “I had friends that previously joined, and I didn’t want to sleep in a foxhole”. In March of 1988, just 9 months after high school graduation, Meghan was headed to basic training. She entered the United States Air Force in the “open general” classification “which was kind of scary because you never know what job you’re going to be assigned to.”
Meghan headed to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for six weeks of basic training and was given the military occupation of Aerospace Medical Specialist. After basic training, Meghan went “across the street” to Brooks Air Force Base for advanced training. She learned about the different aspects of flight, providing routine patient care and treatment of flying and special operational duty personnel. She was trained on direct support activities for patient care situations, including contingency operations and disasters. When her advanced training concluded, she was hoping to see the world but her first assignment was an assignment in Michigan. As luck would have it, one of her classmates was distraught that she had been assigned overseas. Meghan asked where she was going and the answer was the Azores, Portugal. “I’ll switch with you” and Meghan was off to see the world.
During her 15-month rotation in the Azores she was responsible for the physical exams of the pilots and airmen, giving vaccines prior to deployment and responding to aircraft flightline emergencies. Meghan was also trained as a Nationally Registered EMT and trained in aircraft accident investigation. “Fortunately, I never had to do that.”
Meghan’s next duty station was Rhein Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany. Between 1990 and 1993 she worked in a clinic that attended to the medical needs of Airmen, flight crews and support staff. She was designated as a Squadron Medical Element and was assigned to the 37th TAS. She spent 9 months in the United Arab Emirates as part of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
In 1993 Meghan was sent to Andersen AFB in Guam. In 1995 she was assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in support of the B-1 bombers that were part of the Strategic Air Command. While there, she was deployed to Aviano, Italy for four months in support of Operation Deny Flight (a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation) that began during the hostilities in Bosnia. Meghan returned briefly to Ellsworth AFB before returning to Aviano, Italy in 1996.
In Italy Meghan was attached to an F-16 fighter squadron, known as the 510th Fighter Squadron, aka The Bosnian Buzzards. From there Meghan had multiple deployments to Tunisia, Spain, Angola and Israel in support of the squadron. Meghan spent her time in a clinic setting on the flight line handling sick call, flightline aircraft emergencies and performing annual physical exams at the base hospital. She worked with the Flight surgeons ensuring the pilots were fit for flight status.
During her deployment to Angola, there were three U.N helicopter crashes. Meghan went on the rescue mission for the only helicopter that had survivors. The deployment to Angola was to transport Angolan soldiers’ home to vote in their first ever free elections. “One time we were trying to land at night in a C-130 and there was no runway. They just lined up cars with their headlights on in an open field to create a make-shift runway.”
In Spain Meghan had the opportunity for an incentive flight to ride in the back seat of an F-16. “It was amazing. We took off and went straight up and pulled about 9 G’s. So, yeah, it was awesome. 10,000 feet up in the air. I admit, I puked. But it was fun. I’d do it again.” Meghan’s career also had included flying time on KC 135’s, C-130’s, C-5’s and Army helicopters.
“I loved helping people and because I got that type of job in the military that set me on a course in the medical field. I loved being an EMT.” Meghan left the Air Force in 1999 to have her first of two daughters.
Meghan and her family settled near Baltimore, Maryland where she was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. When her children went off to school, Meghan went on to receive her credentials as a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) and she worked in various medical specialties including Pediatrics, OB/GYN and Orthopedics. Her family decided to move back to Brevard where Meghan thought it would be a better environment to raise her daughters. “My daughters definitely flourished here. It was a good move. A nice place to raise families.”
Meghan worked in the Hendersonville Pediatrics practice in Brevard until 2021 when the position of Executive Director of The Center for Women in Brevard opened. The Center provides free support to pregnant mothers and their families.
I asked Meghan if she enjoyed her time in the Air Force. “I did. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. The military gave me purpose. It gave me direction. I just flourished in the military, and I loved it. I had a lot of good assignments with great supervisors. You know, not everybody does. The flight surgeons’ offices were great, and I liked everyone I worked with. We were a family. It set me on a path toward helping people and that’s what gives me joy. Helping people is my passion”
It was “the best time of my life besides having my daughters.”
Thank you, Meghan, for taking care of our pilots in some far-flung places and keeping them in the air.
In 1987, Meghan graduated from Brevard High School. Meghan knew she did not want to go to college but was unsure of her next step in life. Her grandfather, a Lt. Colonel in the Army, persuaded Meghan to join the military. Meghan chose to join the Air Force because “I had friends that previously joined, and I didn’t want to sleep in a foxhole”. In March of 1988, just 9 months after high school graduation, Meghan was headed to basic training. She entered the United States Air Force in the “open general” classification “which was kind of scary because you never know what job you’re going to be assigned to.”
Meghan headed to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for six weeks of basic training and was given the military occupation of Aerospace Medical Specialist. After basic training, Meghan went “across the street” to Brooks Air Force Base for advanced training. She learned about the different aspects of flight, providing routine patient care and treatment of flying and special operational duty personnel. She was trained on direct support activities for patient care situations, including contingency operations and disasters. When her advanced training concluded, she was hoping to see the world but her first assignment was an assignment in Michigan. As luck would have it, one of her classmates was distraught that she had been assigned overseas. Meghan asked where she was going and the answer was the Azores, Portugal. “I’ll switch with you” and Meghan was off to see the world.
During her 15-month rotation in the Azores she was responsible for the physical exams of the pilots and airmen, giving vaccines prior to deployment and responding to aircraft flightline emergencies. Meghan was also trained as a Nationally Registered EMT and trained in aircraft accident investigation. “Fortunately, I never had to do that.”
Meghan’s next duty station was Rhein Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany. Between 1990 and 1993 she worked in a clinic that attended to the medical needs of Airmen, flight crews and support staff. She was designated as a Squadron Medical Element and was assigned to the 37th TAS. She spent 9 months in the United Arab Emirates as part of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
In 1993 Meghan was sent to Andersen AFB in Guam. In 1995 she was assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in support of the B-1 bombers that were part of the Strategic Air Command. While there, she was deployed to Aviano, Italy for four months in support of Operation Deny Flight (a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation) that began during the hostilities in Bosnia. Meghan returned briefly to Ellsworth AFB before returning to Aviano, Italy in 1996.
In Italy Meghan was attached to an F-16 fighter squadron, known as the 510th Fighter Squadron, aka The Bosnian Buzzards. From there Meghan had multiple deployments to Tunisia, Spain, Angola and Israel in support of the squadron. Meghan spent her time in a clinic setting on the flight line handling sick call, flightline aircraft emergencies and performing annual physical exams at the base hospital. She worked with the Flight surgeons ensuring the pilots were fit for flight status.
During her deployment to Angola, there were three U.N helicopter crashes. Meghan went on the rescue mission for the only helicopter that had survivors. The deployment to Angola was to transport Angolan soldiers’ home to vote in their first ever free elections. “One time we were trying to land at night in a C-130 and there was no runway. They just lined up cars with their headlights on in an open field to create a make-shift runway.”
In Spain Meghan had the opportunity for an incentive flight to ride in the back seat of an F-16. “It was amazing. We took off and went straight up and pulled about 9 G’s. So, yeah, it was awesome. 10,000 feet up in the air. I admit, I puked. But it was fun. I’d do it again.” Meghan’s career also had included flying time on KC 135’s, C-130’s, C-5’s and Army helicopters.
“I loved helping people and because I got that type of job in the military that set me on a course in the medical field. I loved being an EMT.” Meghan left the Air Force in 1999 to have her first of two daughters.
Meghan and her family settled near Baltimore, Maryland where she was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. When her children went off to school, Meghan went on to receive her credentials as a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) and she worked in various medical specialties including Pediatrics, OB/GYN and Orthopedics. Her family decided to move back to Brevard where Meghan thought it would be a better environment to raise her daughters. “My daughters definitely flourished here. It was a good move. A nice place to raise families.”
Meghan worked in the Hendersonville Pediatrics practice in Brevard until 2021 when the position of Executive Director of The Center for Women in Brevard opened. The Center provides free support to pregnant mothers and their families.
I asked Meghan if she enjoyed her time in the Air Force. “I did. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. The military gave me purpose. It gave me direction. I just flourished in the military, and I loved it. I had a lot of good assignments with great supervisors. You know, not everybody does. The flight surgeons’ offices were great, and I liked everyone I worked with. We were a family. It set me on a path toward helping people and that’s what gives me joy. Helping people is my passion”
It was “the best time of my life besides having my daughters.”
Thank you, Meghan, for taking care of our pilots in some far-flung places and keeping them in the air.