Serving on the Department of the Air Force Women’s Initiative Team, Nichols has made significant contributions to efforts that improve quality of life, include advocating for more inclusive female hair regulations.

Nichols also assisted in updating the U.S. Air Force’s breastfeeding policy. Under this new policy, every unit is responsible for creating a safe and clean space for mothers to pump while at work. The policy also mandates breaks to allow time to pump and protects the mother’s right to continue to do so while deployed or on temporary duty. Ěý

Nichols’ efforts also contributed to the Air Force revising its parental leave policy. The policy now incorporates more inclusive language and doesn’t exclude fathers as primary caregivers. It allows 126 days off for the birthing parent, and 42 days for the non-birthing parent. Ěý

Originally from Minden, Louisiana, Nichols has served in the Air Force since 2015 as a diagnostic imaging instructor. She now serves at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, where she instructs all Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard x-ray technicians. She has also served at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, and Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi.Ěý

During her service, she has graduated from Airman Leadership School, enlisted joint professional military education 1, instructor evaluator seminar, and the Air Force Foundations Facilitator Seminar.

At UofL, Nichols credits professor Lori Paris for boosting her confidence in becoming a social worker by incorporating interactive peer-work and assignments.

“UofL has done a great job at incorporating group work into classes and other opportunities to connect with my peers,” Nichols said. “The professors also have been extremely accommodating and helpful in providing timely feedback.”

Nichols and her husband have a 5-year-old son and are expecting a second child. After earning her master’s of social work and post graduate licenses, she plans to pursue a commission in the Air Force as a social worker.

Following a 21-year career in the U.S. Air Force, Raphael Garcia is excelling as a graduate student at the University of Louisville.Ěý

Garcia is an active member of the campus community serving on leadership councils for three student organizations, including as president of the chapter. Through his efforts, the SVA chapter recently earned Registered Student Organization (RSO) status at UofL.ĚýĚý

Academic success is not new to Garcia. During his Air Force career, he excelled in Professional Military łÉČËÖ±˛Ą, earning an Academic Award at Airman Leadership School, as well as earning Distinguished Graduate from the Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Academy.Ěý

His seven assignments included three stateside assignments as well as assignments to Turkey, two assignments to the Republic of South Korea, Germany and Guam. Among his deployments included two tours in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and two tours in Al Jaber, Kuwait. Raphael’s major decorations included the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Army Commendation Medal for direct Army support in Afghanistan, Korea and Washington.Ěý

Among his favorite Air Force memories include shooting mini guns from a Chinook helicopter with the Australian Army during an aerial gunnery training, and leading or supporting fundraising events as well as mentoring children at orphanages in the Republic of South Korea and Germany.ĚýĚý

Travel is something Garcia always appreciated, and the optional overseas immersion portion of UofL’s program appealed to him. He attended the University Forum for Human Resource Development Conference and other events as part of the Global Human Resources Development course in Dublin, Ireland, calling it an “unforgettable experience.”Ěý

Garcia also identified the new, $600,000-state fundedĚýCenter for Military-Connected Students as being vital in supporting and guiding the UofL military-connected community. The center, in Brodschi Hall on Belknap Campus, will hold a ribbon-cutting in October, but was already cited as a factor inĚýUofL earning the 2023 Military Friendly® “Gold” designation fromĚý®, a program that measures an organization’s commitment, effort and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for the military community.

Garcia, who will graduate in spring 2024, intends to seek a leadership role in talent development or organizational development after graduation.Ěý

Hopper’s nine-year Air Force career reads like an action-adventure movie.

He has deployed twice in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and once in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel and Operation Resolute Support. He also has multiple deployments in the Pacific region, supporting U.S Special Operations Command training exchanges and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff exercises.

While stationed at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Hopper was part of the team who conducted the Thailand Cave Rescue operation, successfully extracting 13 members of the Thai soccer team who had been trapped in the cave complex for 17 days.

During the Trump presidency, he was deployed on a mission detailed to a Counter-Terrorism Crisis Response Force for an operation supporting the Trump/Kim Jong Un summit in Hanoi.

Hopper’s most recent deployment was to Afghanistan in support of Operation Allies Refuge, where he was helping to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals. Ěý

During his Air Force career, Hopper has earned several awards. He was named Air Combat Command’s Pararescue Airman of the Year in 2017 and the Air Force Special Warfare Pararescue Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in 2019. For his role in the Thai Cave Rescue, he was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Hopper, a Louisville native, graduated from Trinity High School in 2003. As a long-time Cards fan, he enrolled at UofL as a Business Management major. He even walked on to UofL’s Track and Field team as a pole-vaulter. Hopper attributes his success as a special operator to his then-assistant coach on the Track and Field team, Doug Sharp.Ěý

Unfortunately having to depart before completing his degree, Hopper knew he always wanted to finish his degree with UofL. In 2020, when he heard about UofL’s B.S. OLL program, with its unique aspects for military members and that he could accomplish it fully online, he “knew he found the perfect program to accommodate his frequent moves with the Air Force.”

Hopper acknowledges CEHD staff members Amber Roberts, director of Undergraduate Student Success, and Chelsea Wicks, senior academic counselor, for providing him with support throughout the program.

“Their support will have been a big factor when I graduate with a degree,” he said.Ěý

Hopper plans to use his UofL degree to further his career in the military, or eventually even in his own business.

Hopper who is married with two children, said he can’t wait to get home from Afghanistan to “practice gymnastics and baseball with his kids, and Ěýto watch Louisville Cardinal Football … Go Cards!”

UofL honors Hopper’s service in the Air Force and is proud to recognize the 74^th birthday of the U.S. Air Force on September 18, 2021.

Story written by Kyle Hurwitz, UofL’s director of Military and Online Initiatives.

Each year, medical students throughout the United States receive their written match notices precisely at noon on the third Friday of March – Match Day. UofL medical students experienced a 97-percent match rate, with 42 percent going into primary care.

The provides a uniform process for matching medical school applicants with residency programs based on the preferences of both. A matching algorithm uses those preferences to match individuals into positions.

already knew what was in his envelope because of a separate military match program, but he was excited to join his classmates in the Match Day celebration on Friday.

“The true beauty of my medical school experience is the friendships; those relationships and memories are what made the tough times better and the journey worthwhile,” he said.

Tomlinson, who also earned two undergraduate degrees at UofL, will continue his medical training in Internal Medicine as a captain in the U.S. Air Force at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

A native of Louisville, Tomlinson has a family history of military service, including his grandfather who served in the Marines and an uncle who was a fighter pilot in the Air Force.

Although Tomlinson had no military experience prior to medical school, he was accepted into the , where students agree to serve as a military physician in exchange for a full tuition scholarship and monthly stipend. He then joined the Air Force, and went on to complete Commissioned Officer Training and a course in Aerospace Medicine.

Ian Bastian of Madisonville, Kentucky, also completed medical school through the Health Professions Scholarship Program.

“I have enjoyed my medical school rotations at military treatment facilities,” said Bastian, a second lieutenantĚýin the Army. “Treating soldiers and their families is a rewarding experience, and I look forward to continuing it during residency.”

Bastian will go to Madigan Army Medical Center located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord just south of Tacoma, Washington, for neurology residency training.

“My first encounter with a patient in the neurology clinic at the end of my first year was perhaps the most memorable aspect of medical school,” Bastian said. “Prior to that patient evaluation, I had not considered neurology as a career choice – it was that experience that led me into the neurology specialty.”

Both Tomlinson and Bastian say they are excited about the next step in their educational journeys.

“I don’t know where my future might take me, but I hope to return to Louisville one day because I love my city. It will always be my first home,” Tomlinson said.

Check out some scenes from Match Day:Ěý

He was officially commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Air Force Nurse Corps by his former instructor Maj. Angela Washington, a School of Nursing faculty member who also serves as a flight nurse in the Air Force Reserve.Ěý

“Andrew offers the Air Force a tremendous package,” Washington said. “The Air Force lauds integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do. I believe, without a doubt, that Andrew will live those core values throughout his military career.”

Aschbacher is in his first year of the doctor of nursing practice program. HeĚýwas drawn to the Air Force because of the opportunities to advance his career and the opportunity to see the world while providing medical care.Ěý

Aschbacher will enter active duty once he graduates, and will workĚýas a nurse practitioner at an Air Force active duty hospital where he will manage the primary care of service members, their families and veterans.Ěý

“Nursing has endless opportunities and I would absolutely recommend this field to anyone interested in impacting the lives of others,”ĚýAschbacher said. “What is not mentioned enough is the fact that as a nurse, you will feel that the lives of your patients have a huge impact on you, which I believe is one of the best rewards of the field.”

In both ceremonies, each new officer received a commission certificate, then family members or friends pinned bars to the service members’ uniforms. The tradition of the first salute followed, in which the new second lieutenant presented a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who rendered a salute.

During the Cardinal Battalion Army ROTC ceremony in Middleton Auditorium, the 15 UofL cadets and an additional two Bellarmine University cadets were each commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to their branches. In addition to numerous family members and friends, Bellarmine University President Susan Donovan attended, as did UofL College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kimberly Kempf-Leonard.

Guest speaker retired U.S. Army Major General Byron S. Bagby, whose daughter Jessica Ěýgraduated from UofL in 2013, told the cadets their success would depend on their attitude.

He reminded them that the commissioning marks a transition in their lives, and they will be leading “America’s sons and daughters,” whose parents have put their trust in these new platoon leaders.

Lt. Col. Jessica Murnock, UofL professor of military science, said in opening remarks that most of the thousands of UofL graduates participating in the weekend’s commencement exercises wouldn’t know that this small group of “brave young men and women” had volunteered to defend their freedom.

The following Army cadets were promoted: Hermilo Acuna, Rachel Bierman, Alexsis Carter, Nicholas Christopher, Charles Creed, Caroline Duplessis, Lukas Esterle, Molly Haebig, Eilish Haggerty, Zachary McCabe, Ryan McGuire, Reed McKinley, Katrina Riley, Chelsea Slayton (Bellarmine), Hunter Smith (Bellarmine), James Van Pelt and Trevor Williams.

UofL’s Army ROTC has commissioned more than 400 officers during its 36-year history.

In a separate ceremony in the Swain Student Activities Center, five Air Force ROTC cadets were commissioned. They were Benjamin See, Suzanne Miller, Brian Morrow, Judson Adams and Elliott Cabrera.

The Air Force cadets are part of the 295th Air Force ROTC Cadet Wing, led by Lt. Col. Jerry Crigger.