Chris King, RN, is a nurse in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) at Froedtert Hospital, the academic medical center of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. King cares for patients who have severe or complex heart conditions. He always knew he wanted a career in nursing and was inspired by his parents who are both nurses. But at a young age, he also knew he wanted to serve in the military. No one in King’s immediate family was a veteran, but growing up in Waunakee, about 10 miles from Truax Field Air National Guard Base, King was interested in the Wisconsin Air National Guard.
“I wanted to join the military to learn new skills, meet new people, acquire a different level of personal and professional development and to see the world,” King said. “Paying for college tuition was also a nice bonus.”
In 2016, after a year at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on his nursing degree and also working nights as a critical care technician at Froedtert Hospital, King enlisted. He completed his basic training in Texas, then joined the 115th Fighter Wing out of Truax Field. King specialized in fighter aircraft maintenance and inspection. His rank in the U.S. Air Force was staff sergeant, his title was F-16 Crew Chief, and he was responsible for the repair and serviceability of F-16 jets.
“Every 300 hours that an F-16 is in the air, it has to come back to the shop for maintenance checks,” King said. “Our job was to inspect every last inch of the aircraft and then do operational checks before sending it back out to the flight line.”
King continued classes at UWM while serving. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2019 and was based out of Bagram Air Base. He said his critical care training was helpful. On his days off, he volunteered in the combat hospital.
“Being able to provide bedside care to wounded allies, fellow brothers and sisters in arms, made me feel like I had a second home while I was deployed. I liked being in the hospital, it was familiar to me.”
King’s younger sister enlisted and joined him in the 115th Fighter Wing, also working in aircraft maintenance. In 2021, they were both deployed to Saudi Arabia together. In 2022, after six years in the Air National Guard, King returned to civilian life full-time. Now, as a CVICU nurse at Froedtert Hospital, King provides care to a small number of heart patients each day who have very high needs and who require specialized cardiac expertise for their condition. This includes heart transplant patients, people who have had open-heart surgery and people with life threatening heart conditions.
“My favorite part of working in health care is using critical thinking on an everyday basis and being able to tap into the skills, attributes and disciplines that I acquired during my time in the military,” King said. “I also really enjoy caring for people. I always tell patients and visitors that ask about my military service that I went from fixing planes to helping fix people!”
King said there are parallels between his role in the CVICU and his job in the military, particularly when it comes to attention to detail and communication skills.
“A patient’s condition can change quickly, and as their nurse, I’m the first set of eyes and ears,” King said. “It is very important to be able to quickly recognize subtle issues, which is similar to recognizing a subtle maintenance issue with a jet. The next step is conveying the information quickly and accurately to the right people on the patient’s care team. My time in the military helped prepare me well for a career in critical care.”
Thank you to our veterans, active-duty members and reservists for your service to our country. Veterans Day, observed annually on Nov. 11, is an official public holiday honoring military veterans — people who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
