Air transport nurse given prestigious award
Published 8:00 pm Tuesday, January 10, 2023
- Maj. Katie Lunning, an intensive care unit nurse manager at the Central Iowa Veterans Affairs Health Care System and a Minnesota Air National Guard air transport nurse with the 133rd Airlift Wing, was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross Saturday during a ceremony in St. Paul. Lunning is the second nurse ever to be presented the award. She received the award specifically for her work as a member of a Critical Care Air Transport Team, a three-person unit meant to pick up the most critically injured or ill and fly them to the higher echelon of care. She helped evacuate and care for patients coming out of Kabul, Afghanistan, amidst active conflict. Lunning has a 9-year-old daughter with her husband, Joshua Lunning, formerly of Albert Lea, who is the command sergeant major of the Recruiting and Retention Battalion at the Iowa Army National Guard. Provided
