Editor’s Note: MOAA is celebrating National Nurses Week with stories of service from members of the MOAA Uniformed Services Nurse Advocates Virtual Chapter. Learn more about the chapter here.

Maj. Doug Taylor didn’t know his commission into the Army would lead him to missions in the rural villages in Southern Africa.

But when he was requested for a mission in Swaziland – a country with one of the highest HIV rates per capita – he was thrilled to learn he would be able to put his skills to use and make a difference for ailing people a world away.

“There’s no other nursing job in the world where you get this kind of care and adventure,” he said, from his office at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Wash., where he now works as a psychiatric mental health nurse practioner.

“I (enjoyed) that sense of human-to-human interaction and being able to represent America,” he said, recalling his time in Swaziland. “Just connecting with people no matter where they’re from or what they do. That’s everything.”

Taylor was commissioned from an ROTC program at the University of Portland in 2007. His service as a uniformed nurse has taken him to hospitals in Germany, California, and Colorado.

Besides Swaziland, Taylor also worked in America Samoa on a clinical rotation, treating people in remote locations.  

“Uniformed nurses are the most dynamic health care professionals in America,” Taylor said. “As a nurse, we are flexible and will do anything to help people. Uniformed nurses especially are willing to pick up and go anywhere the country needs them.”

Amanda Dolasinski is MOAA’s staff writer. She can be reached at amandad@moaa.org. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMOAA.