Veterans’ Day
11 – 11 – 13
Remembering those who served
By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
Karen (Leavitt) Rader knew that she wanted to be a nurse since she was 5 years old; it was 18 years later that she decided to be a nurse for the Air Force and now, 22 years after being commissioned in the Air Force, she’s a Lieutenant Colonel and the Commander of the 436th Medical Operations Squadron at Dover AFB in Delaware.
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| Photo contributed by Karen Rader During the Change of Command Ceremony for the 436th Medical Operations Squadron at the Dover Air Force Base, new Commander Lt. Col. Karen (Leavitt) Rader had two tremendous fans in the audience — her father, Wayne, and mother, Jeannelle, both of Connor. The ceremony took place on July 10. |
“It’s always been something I have worked toward, but I never really thought I would make it here,” Rader said, adding that she feels blessed and honored to serve as a commander.
Much has changed since her first assignment as a commissioned second lieutenant of being an operation room nurse at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. Rader pointed out one similarity between her time as an OR nurse with her current title.
“My average day is typically 12 hours long, not much different than my first assignment as an operating room nurse,” she said. “The difference now is that there is a much wider variety of issues I need to be knowledgeable about.”
Back when she served as an operating room nurse, for example, her focus was on being the best OR nurse she could be. Now that she’s the commander, Rader must have a more multifaceted focus.
“The learning curve of a new commander is steep and time critical; as an individual, the squadron commander is the single greatest influence on Air Force members,” she said, stating that squadron command is a unique form of leadership with a tremendous degree of legitimate power and inherent authority over the lives of squadron members.
“The degree of power and influence required to lead is left to the judgment of the commander. Too much of one or the other can lead to a negative impact with less than desirable results,” she explained. “The expectation of commanders is high. Failure to meet expectations will result in disappointment at best, mission failure, catastrophe, and disaster at worst.”
Rader currently oversees 109 airmen at the Dover AFB, but her career with the Air Force has offered her a variety of experiences that have taken her to different places.
As far as location, her favorite place to be stationed thus far is the Ramstein AB in Germany.
“I learned a lot about the mission of other services besides the Air Force,” Rader said. “I also had the privilege of serving on a humanitarian mission to Cameroon, Africa — (which was an) awesome experience!”
For her favorite assignment, Rader remembers back to Scott AFB, in Illinois, where she was a flight nurse from Sept. 2001 to July of 2005.
“When you think about the Air Force you immediately think of flying … well, that is what I got to do there,” she said. “Not only was I able to fly, but I was honored to care for our wounded in the air.”
Rader assumed command from Lt. Col. Andrea Gooden, who served as commander of the Medical Operations Squadron since Aug. 2011. Among those attending the Change of Command Ceremony on July 10 were her parents, Wayne and Jeannelle Leavitt of Connor; in addition to her family and the audience, there were 40 airmen standing in formation during the ceremony.
“It was a very humbling experience, and all I kept thinking is ‘boy, I hope I don’t screw up,’” Rader recalled.
While the past 20 years in the Air Force have proved a very rewarding career for Rader, she anticipates retiring from the military in the next 10 years and continuing her lifelong passion of nursing – as well as traveling around to visit her two children wherever their own lives lead them.
Those tight family bonds she learned growing up in the greater Caribou area are something that have stayed with her every day.
“I learned that family is everything and without my family, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” she Rader said. “As a mother and wife and daughter, I know that my most enduring legacy will be made with my family.”
“Family is the legacy I want to leave behind,” she added.
While her career doesn’t allow her to visit The County too often, she make it back at least once every two years. Distance is the one and only regret Rader has about her career path, as it’s taken her very far away from home.
“I wish I could be stationed much closer to my home so my family could be closer to my Mom (and best friend), Jeannelle; my Dad and my hero, Wayne; and my brother Wade, whom I am so very proud of and his family,” she said
But when Rader and her family do make it up to Aroostook, their time is spent relaxing at her parents’ house.
“We love to hang out on the back porch and enjoy the weather, and the sights and sounds all around the farm,” Rader said, including that the family enjoys plenty of her mothers’ cooking, as well as the joys of being together … plus some fishing at the lake.
“Without my family, I would not be who I am today,” she emphasized. “They are my heroes and they are the people that make me want to succeed and make them proud.”
