Yokota nurse takes skills to Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Sgt. 1st Class Mark Porter
  • U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Public Affairs
KABUL, Afghanistan --  Flying, education, travel.

Those were the three reasons that Julie Stola decided to join the Air Force. Flash forward 22 years and now-Colonel Stola has crossed each one those items off her list of goals; check, check and check. Deployed here as the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan command surgeon, Stola said the service has given her all she asked for and more than she ever imagined when she signed up.

Growing up on a dairy farm outside Shelly, Minn., Stola said she did not dream of life in the military. One of five children ("On a family farm the kids are the workers, so more kids meant a bigger workforce," she joked) she did, however, dream of a life free from cows and the chores that accompany them. She wanted to be a nurse.

"My mother was a nurse in a neighboring town and from a very early age I knew that was what I wanted to be, too," Stola said. "I remember having a toy medical kit and carrying it everywhere."

A small-town girl - she estimates Shelly's population at 160 - she was bit by the travel bug in eighth grade when a former graduate from the high school spoke to her class about his time in the Peace Corps. Stola decided that day she too would someday join the Peace Corps and see the world.

After receiving her bachelor's degree in Nursing from Moorhead State University she kept that promise to herself and joined the Peace Corps.

Her older brother, Lyle, now a master sergeant in the Army, said he was surprised by the decision.

"She may have (talked about it) but I do not recall hearing about it then, so I was surprised when she joined the Peace Corps," he said. "I believe I told her at the time that I hoped she knew what she was getting into "

He shouldn't have worried. Stola served two years in Ecuador with the corps and loved every minute of it.

"I was teaching basic health fundamentals --first aid," she explained. "It was very rewarding. I worked in 11 communities with a total of about 2,000 people. I not only enjoyed the work but loved learning about life in a different country. It really made me want to travel and to see the world."

Returning home after her time in the Peace Corps, Stola found among her waiting mail a postcard from an Air Force recruiter. She had never thought about joining the military before then, but for someone anxious to travel the world, the Air Force seemed a natural fit.

Lyle again had his concerns. "I was even more surprised when my sister said she was going to join the Air Force. This was going to be an even bigger step [than the Peace Corps] with many more challenges ahead for her."

She spoke to the recruiter and decided to join - but only if they promised to station her overseas. The recruiter explained that it doesn't work like that ... but they would do their best.

Did they ever.

Since her commissioning in 1989, the service has aided Stola's quest to see the world , sending her to The Philippines, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany (three times) and now, Afghanistan. She has also served in Illinois, Georgia, Montana, New Mexico and Kansas.

Stola was also able to meet her education objective (she earned her master's in Adult Health Promotion - Nursing) and to fly (serving as part of 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron while at Scott Air Base, Ill.). She also met her husband Mauricio through the service, "the best thing the Air Force did for me," she said.

An Air Force doctor at the time, they met while stationed at Wiesbaden AB, Germany. He has since left the service and, between his private practice and her various assignments, they have lived apart 13 of the 18 years of their marriage.

"It's been a challenge but we get together whenever we can," she said. "It makes me look forward to the little things, like simply seeing each other every day."

Stola deployed to USFOR-A in April. As part of her job she has oversight of all healthcare services for U.S. Forces in theater. She has visited many facilities in country and has come away incredibly impressed.

"The healthcare professionals deployed here are doing amazing things," she said.
"The best trauma treatment centers in the world are located right here. We've reached a point where, if a casualty reaches first-level providers alive, they have a 95 percent survival rate."

USFOR-A also provided a reunion for the Stolas, as both Julie and Lyle were deployed here earlier this year.

Now she is looking forward to redeploying and to what new challenge the Air Force has in store. After that, she is looking forward to life after the military. Asked what she has planned after retiring, Stola answered quickly: "Of course we want to continuing traveling and seeing the world, but the main thing I look forward to is just being together.

"After so long apart, I'm looking forward to simply living in the same house."