NATCHITOCHES – Stephen Hernandez, a 1995 and 2001 graduate of Northwestern State University, was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the U. S. Air Force Reserve and is currently the Deputy Commander of the 302nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron. In August he will be reassigned as the Reserve Augmentee to the Dean of the U.S. Air Force, School of Aerospace Medicine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

 After earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing at NSU, Hernandez, a Shreveport native, completed a Ph.D. in Nursing in 2012 through the University of New Mexico. He was an assistant professor in NSU’s College of Nursing from 2002-2007 and 2008-2013, having taken a year-long break to work at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport.

Hernandez joined the Army Reserves in 1997 and was assigned to the 94th Combat Support Hospital. He was deployed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center from March 2003 to March 2004 in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom where he served in the Combined Intensive Care Unit.

“When I returned, the Bossier City portion of my unit was being deactivated. I chose to join the Air Force Reserve in late 2004 and served with the 307th Medical Support Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base,” he said. “I accepted a position with the University of New Mexico and joined their faculty as an assistant professor in July 2013. At the same time, I transferred to an Air Force Reserve unit in Colorado, the 302nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron. I served in successive leadership position including Chief Nurse, Interim Squadron Commander and I am currently the Deputy Commander for the unit.”

Hernandez was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2018. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in June.