Minnesota National Guard Major Katie Lunning honored with highest award for aerial achievement
Captain Katie Lunning, 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron critical care air transport team registered nurse, stands in front of a C-17 Globemaster III on Oct. 13, 2021, at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Lunning participated in one of the largest human airlifts in United States history by providing medical care to evacuees or service members while on board a C-17 Globemaster III.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kylie Barrow
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In August 2022, Air Force Major Katie Lunning was in Kabul, Afghanistan as part of the largest evacuation airlift in U.S. military history.
On Jan. 7, the nurse originally from Hastings, Minnesota was awarded the highest medal awarded for aerial achievement. She is the first Air Guard Flight Nurse ever to receive the honor. Major Lunning joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her achievement.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: This weekend was a big one for our next guest. Just 18 months ago, in August of 2021, Air Force Major Katie Lunning was in Kabul, Afghanistan, as part of the largest evacuation airlift in US military history. This weekend, the flight nurse, originally from Hastings, Minnesota, was awarded one of the most prestigious medals in the US military-- the Distinguished Flying Cross. It's for heroism during aerial flight.
Folks who've been awarded the medal include Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and George H.W. Bush. Major Lunning is the first Air National Guard flight nurse ever to receive the honor. And she joins us right now to talk about her experience. Welcome, Major Lunning. Thank you for being on the program.
KATIE LUNNING: Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.
CATHY WURZER: And congratulations. What a well-deserved honor.
KATIE LUNNING: Oh, thank you very much.
CATHY WURZER: You've been with the Minnesota National Guard for what? More than 20 years. Thank you, by the way, for that service. I understand you've been activated several times, but you hadn't been overseas until July of 2021. What did you initially think the deployment to Afghanistan was going to entail?
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, I was originally going to Al Udeid in Qatar. And it was going to be my first deployment as CCATT. And the CCATT is the critical care air transport team, the three-person team of the doctor, nurse, and respiratory therapist.
CATHY WURZER: Is that like a flying ICU?
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, it is. That's a perfect way to describe it. We transport the most critically injured and ill to the higher echelon of care. And I thought it would be a good deployment to get my feet wet, as Qatar is a very stable base. It's a busy base. Things are going on. But I'd figured that I'd get a few missions and figure out what being a CCATT nurse was all about.
CATHY WURZER: OK, that sounds good. But then, things changed, obviously.
KATIE LUNNING: They did, pretty quickly. I got over there around the mid to end of July. And by mid-August, we all were watching the news and saw what was happening.
CATHY WURZER: So how were you deployed?
KATIE LUNNING: By myself-- or how did we get to Afghanistan?
CATHY WURZER: Right. Did you fly in and out multiple times? How did it happen for you?
KATIE LUNNING: Yes. Yep, that's exactly right. So we would do flights from Al Udeid to Kabul to take out the critically injured and ill refugees at that time. And then, we would bring them back to Al Udeid.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my gosh. And of course, the news footage at the time, there was so much chaos and crowds of people running alongside airplanes trying to get on. What was that like to be there?
KATIE LUNNING: I was very proud to help them. As we all saw on the news, just the desperation of the people. And it felt good to play a part in helping those people.
CATHY WURZER: How did you help the most critically ill patients?
KATIE LUNNING: We would transport them via airplane. And it was just getting them to a safer place where they could get that higher echelon of care. So we were able to help evacuate them safely and care for their medical needs on the flight.
CATHY WURZER: But were you under fire at all?
KATIE LUNNING: There was dangerous times on the ground because, as members, we have to leave the airplane and leave the airfield. And we had to go into the city of Kabul to receive our patients. So there was danger in that aspect.
CATHY WURZER: So you were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery under fire. What were you thinking when you and your colleagues were under fire, and you were in such danger?
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, my RT and I, respiratory therapist and myself, we kind of came up with our mantra where we would say, scary stuff we can't control because what we could control is we could do our jobs. So we just helped each other focus on doing our jobs and caring for our patients.
CATHY WURZER: How many people do you think you saved?
KATIE LUNNING: That's a really good question. Every flight, we probably had, oh, between 3 and 6 critical care patients on the flights. And then, after the August 26th suicide bomber that we went to, there was 22 patients on that flight, 6 of which were CCATT patients, and the rest were aeromedical evacuation patients.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. You are truly a hero for helping those individuals. Do you have a specific memory of something you saw or did at that point?
KATIE LUNNING: I'll always remember being able to help the Marines. They are truly heroes on the ground that were helping so many people. And then, after the bomb went off, it was very much an honor to be able to help get them to safety and get them home to their families. So I will always remember the Marines, especially, and their faces.
CATHY WURZER: What specific part of your training or your background do you think prepared you for this experience?
KATIE LUNNING: I think it's just the strength of being what we call the citizen airmen, being part of the Air National Guard. My full-time job is being an ICU nurse. So I got the skills needed to take care of critical patients as a full-time ICU nurse. And then, that married up with my military training where I learned to apply those skills on the airplane.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, cool as a cucumber, especially if you're an ICU nurse, that's for sure.
KATIE LUNNING: [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: So how did you get into the military?
KATIE LUNNING: I joined almost right after high school. And I wanted to initially just join for my first four to six years and get college paid for. And here I am 20 years later still loving my service to the Minnesota Guard.
CATHY WURZER: And you work at the VA, is that right? And you're in Iowa?
KATIE LUNNING: Yes. Yes, I started in the Minnesota VA as an ICU nurse. And then we moved to Iowa for my husband's job. And I'm the ICU manager at the central Iowa VA.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my gosh. So what's your advice to new recruits, perhaps, coming into the guard and your experiences serving the country?
KATIE LUNNING: I would say, don't turn down any opportunities. There's always going to be different opportunities that come up. And I think I've gotten to experience and do amazing things because I've always said yes to a challenge.
CATHY WURZER: You said yes to that challenge, that's for sure. So there you were on the podium and getting the Distinguished Flying Cross. What was going through your head?
KATIE LUNNING: It was pretty overwhelming. I'm not usually standing in front of a crowd. But it was amazing to have my husband and my daughter there. And I really loved having my daughter be able to witness that and see the accomplishments that our military members can do.
CATHY WURZER: As the first Air National Guard flight nurse to ever get that honor, that is-- so you're now part of history.
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, it's pretty incredible. And it's an amazing honor to be able to represent both the Air Guard and nursing, which is two aspects of my life that I really love.
CATHY WURZER: So what's next for you?
KATIE LUNNING: I am the officer in charge of our Norwegian exchange program. The Minnesota National Guard and Norway have a troop exchange program that this is the 50-year anniversary of it. And I am the officer in charge of what we call the away team. So we'll be heading over to Norway where we will get to work with the Norwegian home guard and learn winter warfare training while their troops come to Minnesota and do the same.
CATHY WURZER: I've covered that over the past--
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah. [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: --number of years since I've been in this business, which is almost, well, more than 30 to be honest with you.
KATIE LUNNING: [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: And that seems like that is a very fruitful collaboration.
KATIE LUNNING: Oh, it is. We are fortunate to have such great friendships with Norway.
CATHY WURZER: And when do you retire from the guard?
KATIE LUNNING: [LAUGHS] I hope that they'll keep me around for a couple more years. I'm still enjoying it. So hopefully they'll let me stay a while.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Well, you are absolutely an inspiration and, as I say, a true hero. I know that people have said that to you. And I'm sure you've got all kinds of accolades this past weekend, but it's true. So I hope you take that all in.
KATIE LUNNING: Well, thank you. I do appreciate it very much.
CATHY WURZER: Major Lunning, thank you for being with us.
KATIE LUNNING: Thank you so much.
CATHY WURZER: We have been talking to Major Lunning, Katie Lunning. She, of course, is a Hastings Minnesota native, and she has been the recipient, is the recipient, of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Some nice news coverage about that, by the way, over the weekend. She is the first, as I say, Air National Guard flight nurse to ever receive this medal. The ceremony was this weekend at the 133rd Air Wing Post in Saint Paul.
Folks who've been awarded the medal include Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and George H.W. Bush. Major Lunning is the first Air National Guard flight nurse ever to receive the honor. And she joins us right now to talk about her experience. Welcome, Major Lunning. Thank you for being on the program.
KATIE LUNNING: Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.
CATHY WURZER: And congratulations. What a well-deserved honor.
KATIE LUNNING: Oh, thank you very much.
CATHY WURZER: You've been with the Minnesota National Guard for what? More than 20 years. Thank you, by the way, for that service. I understand you've been activated several times, but you hadn't been overseas until July of 2021. What did you initially think the deployment to Afghanistan was going to entail?
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, I was originally going to Al Udeid in Qatar. And it was going to be my first deployment as CCATT. And the CCATT is the critical care air transport team, the three-person team of the doctor, nurse, and respiratory therapist.
CATHY WURZER: Is that like a flying ICU?
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, it is. That's a perfect way to describe it. We transport the most critically injured and ill to the higher echelon of care. And I thought it would be a good deployment to get my feet wet, as Qatar is a very stable base. It's a busy base. Things are going on. But I'd figured that I'd get a few missions and figure out what being a CCATT nurse was all about.
CATHY WURZER: OK, that sounds good. But then, things changed, obviously.
KATIE LUNNING: They did, pretty quickly. I got over there around the mid to end of July. And by mid-August, we all were watching the news and saw what was happening.
CATHY WURZER: So how were you deployed?
KATIE LUNNING: By myself-- or how did we get to Afghanistan?
CATHY WURZER: Right. Did you fly in and out multiple times? How did it happen for you?
KATIE LUNNING: Yes. Yep, that's exactly right. So we would do flights from Al Udeid to Kabul to take out the critically injured and ill refugees at that time. And then, we would bring them back to Al Udeid.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my gosh. And of course, the news footage at the time, there was so much chaos and crowds of people running alongside airplanes trying to get on. What was that like to be there?
KATIE LUNNING: I was very proud to help them. As we all saw on the news, just the desperation of the people. And it felt good to play a part in helping those people.
CATHY WURZER: How did you help the most critically ill patients?
KATIE LUNNING: We would transport them via airplane. And it was just getting them to a safer place where they could get that higher echelon of care. So we were able to help evacuate them safely and care for their medical needs on the flight.
CATHY WURZER: But were you under fire at all?
KATIE LUNNING: There was dangerous times on the ground because, as members, we have to leave the airplane and leave the airfield. And we had to go into the city of Kabul to receive our patients. So there was danger in that aspect.
CATHY WURZER: So you were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery under fire. What were you thinking when you and your colleagues were under fire, and you were in such danger?
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, my RT and I, respiratory therapist and myself, we kind of came up with our mantra where we would say, scary stuff we can't control because what we could control is we could do our jobs. So we just helped each other focus on doing our jobs and caring for our patients.
CATHY WURZER: How many people do you think you saved?
KATIE LUNNING: That's a really good question. Every flight, we probably had, oh, between 3 and 6 critical care patients on the flights. And then, after the August 26th suicide bomber that we went to, there was 22 patients on that flight, 6 of which were CCATT patients, and the rest were aeromedical evacuation patients.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. You are truly a hero for helping those individuals. Do you have a specific memory of something you saw or did at that point?
KATIE LUNNING: I'll always remember being able to help the Marines. They are truly heroes on the ground that were helping so many people. And then, after the bomb went off, it was very much an honor to be able to help get them to safety and get them home to their families. So I will always remember the Marines, especially, and their faces.
CATHY WURZER: What specific part of your training or your background do you think prepared you for this experience?
KATIE LUNNING: I think it's just the strength of being what we call the citizen airmen, being part of the Air National Guard. My full-time job is being an ICU nurse. So I got the skills needed to take care of critical patients as a full-time ICU nurse. And then, that married up with my military training where I learned to apply those skills on the airplane.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, cool as a cucumber, especially if you're an ICU nurse, that's for sure.
KATIE LUNNING: [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: So how did you get into the military?
KATIE LUNNING: I joined almost right after high school. And I wanted to initially just join for my first four to six years and get college paid for. And here I am 20 years later still loving my service to the Minnesota Guard.
CATHY WURZER: And you work at the VA, is that right? And you're in Iowa?
KATIE LUNNING: Yes. Yes, I started in the Minnesota VA as an ICU nurse. And then we moved to Iowa for my husband's job. And I'm the ICU manager at the central Iowa VA.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my gosh. So what's your advice to new recruits, perhaps, coming into the guard and your experiences serving the country?
KATIE LUNNING: I would say, don't turn down any opportunities. There's always going to be different opportunities that come up. And I think I've gotten to experience and do amazing things because I've always said yes to a challenge.
CATHY WURZER: You said yes to that challenge, that's for sure. So there you were on the podium and getting the Distinguished Flying Cross. What was going through your head?
KATIE LUNNING: It was pretty overwhelming. I'm not usually standing in front of a crowd. But it was amazing to have my husband and my daughter there. And I really loved having my daughter be able to witness that and see the accomplishments that our military members can do.
CATHY WURZER: As the first Air National Guard flight nurse to ever get that honor, that is-- so you're now part of history.
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah, it's pretty incredible. And it's an amazing honor to be able to represent both the Air Guard and nursing, which is two aspects of my life that I really love.
CATHY WURZER: So what's next for you?
KATIE LUNNING: I am the officer in charge of our Norwegian exchange program. The Minnesota National Guard and Norway have a troop exchange program that this is the 50-year anniversary of it. And I am the officer in charge of what we call the away team. So we'll be heading over to Norway where we will get to work with the Norwegian home guard and learn winter warfare training while their troops come to Minnesota and do the same.
CATHY WURZER: I've covered that over the past--
KATIE LUNNING: Yeah. [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: --number of years since I've been in this business, which is almost, well, more than 30 to be honest with you.
KATIE LUNNING: [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: And that seems like that is a very fruitful collaboration.
KATIE LUNNING: Oh, it is. We are fortunate to have such great friendships with Norway.
CATHY WURZER: And when do you retire from the guard?
KATIE LUNNING: [LAUGHS] I hope that they'll keep me around for a couple more years. I'm still enjoying it. So hopefully they'll let me stay a while.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Well, you are absolutely an inspiration and, as I say, a true hero. I know that people have said that to you. And I'm sure you've got all kinds of accolades this past weekend, but it's true. So I hope you take that all in.
KATIE LUNNING: Well, thank you. I do appreciate it very much.
CATHY WURZER: Major Lunning, thank you for being with us.
KATIE LUNNING: Thank you so much.
CATHY WURZER: We have been talking to Major Lunning, Katie Lunning. She, of course, is a Hastings Minnesota native, and she has been the recipient, is the recipient, of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Some nice news coverage about that, by the way, over the weekend. She is the first, as I say, Air National Guard flight nurse to ever receive this medal. The ceremony was this weekend at the 133rd Air Wing Post in Saint Paul.
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