Military Connection

Military City USA

One in eight residents in the San Antonio area is tied to the military (250,000 veterans and 80,000 active-duty personnel). Current Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions students and graduates benefit from opportunities to serve their country through research projects, clinical work in military medical centers and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs.

 

Military City USA At-A-Glance

  • Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) is the largest joint base in the U.S. Department of Defense and is comprised of three primary locations: JBSA-Randolph Air Force Base, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, and JBSA-Lackland Air Force Base.
  • San Antonio bases serve as a major hub for medical training, flight training, cyber operations, surveillance and military intelligence.
  • Joint Base San Antonio is the largest single employer in San Antonio.
 

Reserve Officer Training Corps

Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions is the home of the UIW ROTC unit. Students earn credit and scholarship opportunities while serving their country. In Fall 2018, ROTC had 30 cadets contracted to serve upon graduation.

 

The ARMY Nurse Corps

Students train for military nursing by combining electives in military science, clinical experience and the nursing program. ROTC has a mission to enroll two BSN students per year.

Notable Military Alumni

Major Betty Moore, ‘06 BSN, member of the UIW Reserve Officer Training Corps, had the honor of working in the White House. She provided nursing care for both the Trump first family and the Obama first family.

 

Military Healthcare

San Antonio Military Medical Center, located on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, is the Army's largest and busiest medical center. It plays a critical role in patient care, graduate medical education and research, and takes care of wounded service members. San Antonio Military Medical Center includes:

  • The Army's largest inpatient hospital (425-beds) in a 1.5 million-square-foot state-of-the-art facility.
  • A certified Level 1 Trauma Center - the center receives more than 4,000 emergency room visits each month.
  • The 40-bed Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center.
  • Some 58 outpatient specialty clinics that record a million patient visits each year.
  • Over 60 accredited educational programs that include 25 graduate medical education programs, eight nursing programs, 18 enlisted allied health and medic phase II training programs along with additional programs in administration and allied health specialties.

Highlights

The Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions received a $1.9 million, three-year grant to study pregnancy and birth outcomes in military women and pregnancy.

Athletic Training and Healthcare Sciences Faculty, Dr. Shandra Esparza and Dr. Reid Fisher, lead a 30-month, $980,000 program to explore injury prevention and conditioning in the U.S. Air Force that ended in 2019.

The first female Brigadier General of the U.S. Armed Services, Lillian Dunlap, graduated from UIW in 1954 with an undergraduate degree in nursing. She served as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.