Lawrence, Linda Oral History

Lawrence_Linda_05102006

Colonel (DR) Linda Lawrence was born in Toledo, in October 1963. She attended Wittenberg University in Ohio, majoring in biology. She attended Ohio State medical school for one year before transferring with her future husband to Temple University Medical School. In her third year of medical school (1984), she applied to the USAF with an intent to specialize in pediatrics. She did her internship/residency at Geissinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania. Once she became Board Certified in Emergency Care, she was sent to Scott Air Force Base. She was there for two years and then went to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences as faculty. She enjoyed this experience and decided to continue her assignment in the Air Force for 2 more years. She then became a Flight Commander at Andrews Airforce Base and ran the emergency department for four years. At the end of that time she was selected to become the Commandant of the Uniformed Health Services University (first woman and first USAF doctor in this position). In her last year, she was promoted to full bird Colonel and then assigned to Travis Air Force Base as the Chief of Medicine at the Hospital. (and General Taylors Consultant for Emergency Medicine). She is currently on the Board of American College Emergency Physicians. She was deployed for Operation Northern Watch in Turkey in 2000 at a mobile field surgery hospital. She served in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom. She was awarded the DMSM, MSM, AFCOM, and the National Defense Service Medal.