Phyllis Wilson, CW5, USA (Ret), RN
President, Military Women’s Memorial
Phyllis Wilson served 37 years in the Army as a Military Intelligence (MI) Voice Intercept Operator. She has served around the globe – visiting more than 35 countries – in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and North America. She has been mobilized numerous times to shoulder the duties of defense of the nation and has deployed to Iraq several times as an Intelligence Analyst with Special Operations.
Chief Warrant Officer Five Phyllis J. Wilson served as the most senior Warrant Officer in the entire United States Army Reserve, and a key member of the Executive Team managing an organization of more than 200,000 personnel with an annual operating budget of more than $8 Billion. She was a Senior Military Fellow with the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group focused on Global issues 2050 and beyond.
Phyllis is a Registered Nurse and holds two Master’s degrees, two Bachelor of Science degrees, and a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University. She attended the Defense Language Institute for both German and Spanish. She is a graduate of the Program in Advanced Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center and School in Garmisch, Germany. She has received numerous military decorations and awards ranging from the Legion of Merit to the Army Parachutist Badge. She has been inducted into the Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame and the U.S. Veterans Hall of Fame.
She is President of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation – the only major national memorial honoring the 3 Million women who have defended America from the Revolutionary War to today. The Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has appointed her to the Reserve Forces Policy Board. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Policy Vets and the Association of the United States Army (AUSA). She is also a Senior Fellow at AUSA. Phyllis serves as an Army Reserve Ambassador for Maryland which is afforded the rights, privileges, and protocol status equivalent to that of a 2-Star General Officer.
Phyllis is a member of The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the World Wars, Association of the United States Army, Association of the United States Navy, Women Marines Association, Reserve Organization of America, Military Women Across the Nation, Army Women Veterans Association, Military Officers Association of America, Disabled American Veterans, Air Force Association, U.S. Army Warrant Officers Association, the Mayflower Society, the Daughters of the American Revolution, National Defense Industrial Association, and Women In Defense.
Lieutenant General Telita Crosland, USA (Ret), MD, MPH, MS
Director, Defense Health Agency, Jan 2023-Feb 2025
U.S. Army Lieutenant General (retired) Telita Crosland is a proven transformative leader in military healthcare. She served as the Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), overseeing the global healthcare of the U.S. Department of Defense. In this role, she managed a $61.4 billion Military Health System (MHS) budget and led 130,000 personnel in delivering healthcare to 9.5 million beneficiaries. Prior to this role, she served as Deputy Surgeon General of the Army. She supported COVID-19 response, deploying medical professionals to over 150 hospitals across the nation and vaccinating 50,000 civilians. With over 35 years of military service, Telita has commanded at every level of the military health system with assignments that include Europe, Asia and Middle East. Her expertise spans global healthcare, financial management and international relations. With a focus on patient-centered care that is accessible, equitable and holistic, Telita is a visionary in healthcare transformation, providing strategic guidance to organizations navigating healthcare policy, risk management and operational excellence. She led the military health system through the development and implementation of a digital strategy that prioritized a $30M investment in patient centered technologies to enhance care delivery and operational readiness.
Through the development of novel partnerships with the Defense Innovation Unit and industry leaders, Telita advanced a disruptive solution, the Digital Front Door, to support a value-based, integrated healthcare model that facilitated healthcare by leveraging telehealth and digital enhancements. An accomplished public speaker, Telita has presented at prominent forums such as the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Oracle Health Summit 2024 and has been a guest lecturer for the National Defense University and Army War College. Telita won her second Wash100 Award in 2024 for spearheading technology modernization within both the DHA and the wider Military Health System. Telita is board certified in Family Medicine and served as a Board Member for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She has also served on the Executive Advisory Council for the Society of Federal Health Professionals.
Telita graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds a Doctor of Medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a Master of Public Health in Health Services Administration and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University. Originally from Queens, New York, Telita is the proud parent of her teenage son Jackson. She enjoys fine dining, traveling and watching her son play sports.
Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender, USA (Ret)
Chief, Army Nurse Corps, Sep 1987-Aug 1991
Clara Leach Adams-Ender (born July 11, 1939) is a retired US Army officer who was Chief of the United States Army Nurse Corps from September 1987 to August 1991. She was the first woman to receive her master’s degree in military arts and sciences from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She is also the first African-American nurse corps officer to graduate from the United States Army War College. When she retired, in 1993, she was serving as commanding officer of Fort Belvoir.
Clara Leach Adams-Ender was born in Willow Spring, North Carolina in 1939. She had nine siblings. Her mother was named Caretha Bell Sapp Leach. Her father, Otha Leach, was a sharecropper and the family lived in Wake County, NC, on a tobacco farm. Adams-Ender attended high school at Fuquay Springs Consolidated High School. She graduated when she was sixteen. She was second in her class.[3] She went to college at North Carolina A&T State University. While there, she was a participant in the Greensboro sit-ins.
Adams-Ender joined the United States Army in order to pay for her nursing school education. When she graduated, in 1961, she was named second lieutenant for the United States Army Nurse Corps.
After graduation she worked at Brooke Army Medical Center. In 1961 she became staff nurse at the hospital at Fort Dix. While there, she also participated in an intensive care program at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center. In 1963, she left her position at Fort Dix to work in South Korea. She worked at the 121st Evacuation Hospital. She attended classes at Fort Sam Houston. She would go on to become an instructor there. She was at Fort Sam from 1964 until 1967. After 1967, she received a Master’s degree in medical-surgical nursing from the University of Minnesota. She also got married during this time period. She married James Adams; five years later they divorced.
She taught at Walter Reed Army Medical Center starting in 1969. She became the Director of Nursing at Fort George G. Meade starting in 1974. The following year she started attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She graduated in 1976. She was the first woman to graduate from the college with a degree in military arts and sciences.
After graduation, she started working as a hospital inspector at United States Army Health Services Command post at Fort Sam Houston. In 1978 she moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where she started as assistant chief at the Department of Nursing at the 97th General Hospital. She would leave the position as chief in 1981. She was promoted to colonel. Also in 1981, she married Heinz Ender. Completing her tour in Germany she returned to the United States.
Adams-Ender did a lot of nursing recruitment. She relocated to Fort Sheridan and headed the nurse recruitment program there. While working there, she attended United States Army War College. She graduated in 1982. This made her the first African American nurse corps student to graduate from the college. She left Fort Sheridan in 1984. Aside from recruitment, she also was active in seeking increased wages for nurses.
After Retirement Adams-Ender retired in 1993. She started a consulting company. She is the former president of Caring About People With Enthusiasm.
In 1996, she was named one of Working Women magazine’s 350 women who “changed the world.” She has been the recipient of the a Legion of Merit award, the United States Army Distinguished Service Medal with an oak leaf cluster, a Commendation Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Roy Wilkins Meritorious Service Award, and the Gertrude E. Rush Award for Leadership. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Lieutenant General Patricia Horoho, USA (Ret)
43rd Surgeon General of the United States Army / Commanding General of the United States Army Medical Command
US Army (retired) Lieutenant General Patty Horoho is a globally recognized executive and strategic trailblazer whose career is defined by breaking barriers, driving innovation, and delivering extraordinary results across diverse sectors. She is renowned for guiding both large-scale organizations and high-growth startups to multi-billion-dollar success.
With a distinguished 33-year military career culminating as the first woman, nurse, and non-physician to serve as Army Surgeon General, Patty led the world’s third-largest health system, overseeing global operations, logistics, and research networks spanning five continents, and managing a workforce of 156,000 with a multi-billion-dollar budget. Her military career and leadership are a testament to her unwavering resolve, strategic and operational mastery, and ability to lead through complexity and crisis.
Joining UnitedHealth Group in 2017, Patty held pivotal leadership roles across UnitedHealth Group, Optum, Optum Health, and Optum Serve. As the founding CEO of Optum Serve, she united legacy businesses and forged a high-impact leadership team, transforming Optum Serve into a multi-billion-dollar powerhouse and a cornerstone of federal healthcare. Her strategic vision and innovative approach propelled rapid growth, expanded market reach, and built enduring partnerships across government and industry.
As CEO of Optum Health Solutions and later Chief Strategy, Innovation, and Transformation Officer for Optum Health, Patty led enterprise-wide transformations. She shaped the future of healthcare delivery and strategy, revolutionizing care for over 100 million consumers nationwide and relentlessly pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation, whole-person care, and health equity.
Patty’s commitment to transformative excellence extends far beyond healthcare. She has held senior executive roles at Accenture Federal Services, served on boards and advisory councils for leading nonprofits and academic institutions, and has played critical roles in national crisis response—from leading emergency operations at the Pentagon on 9/11 to spearheading innovation across the public and private sectors.
As the visionary founder of the 2Serve Together Foundation, Patty works domestically and globally to empower women veterans, active servicewomen, and their supporters ensuring that their vital contributions are honored and recognized.
A sought-after speaker and advisor, Patty is revered for her clarity of mission, transparent leadership, strategic vision, and ability to inspire and accelerate high-performing teams. Her leadership is anchored in humility, innovation, and a relentless drive to serve others and deliver lasting change. From hands-on crisis management to transformative, servant leadership, Patty Horoho’s legacy is one of exemplary achievement, operational excellence, and a profound, lasting impact on organizations, communities, and the nation.
Kathy Spangler, DNP, RN, COL (R)
Senior Director, Federal Health, Maximus
Kathy Spangler is the Senior Director of Health Mission Systems for Maximus Federal Services. Since joining Maximus, she has been instrumental in advancing the company’s strategic vision and program execution across the Department of War (DoW), Defense Health Agency (DHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other federal health partners.
With more than 28 years of distinguished military service as an Army Nurse leader, Kathy brings deep expertise in health system transformation, strategic planning, operational excellence, and mission readiness. Her work focuses on shaping technology-enabled solutions that enhance access to care, strengthen resilience, and deliver better health outcomes for service members, Veterans, and their families.
Kathy has experience within military medical settings, supporting the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Health System (MHS). She has held key leadership positions, including Senior Military Deputy for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and Director of Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center. Her diverse assignments span command, nursing leadership, and health education roles across the United States and abroad.
She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Bellarmine University, a master’s degree in health services leadership and management from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. Dr. Spangler can be reached at [email protected]
MAJ David C. Kosakowski RN, BSN, MHA
Chief, Department of Soldier Health, Winn Army Community Hospital- Ft. Stewart, GA
Major David Koakowski was born and raised in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. He earned Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. He joined ROTC and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2010. Upon graduation, Major Kosakowski commissioned into the United States Army Nurse Corps as a Medical Surgical Nurse (66H). He later earned a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2023.
His past assignments include Medical Surgical Nurse, Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Post Anesthesia Care Nurse, Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Brigade Combat Team Nurse, 173rd Infantry Brigade (Airborne), Vincenza Italy; Clinical Nurse Officer in Charge, Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center, Fort Meade, Maryland; Security Force Assistance Brigade Nurse, 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade, Fort Bragg North Carolina; instructor Medical Surgical, US Army Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He deployed with the 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel where he served as a Security Force Assistance Advisor within Train Advise Assist Command – West.
MAJ Kosakowski is currently serving as the Chief of the Department of Soldier Health at Winn Army Community Hospital, Fort Stewart Georgia.
His military education includes Intermediate Level Education, Common Faculty Development-Instructor Course, Brigade Healthcare Provider Course, Tactical Combat Medical Care Course, Combat Advisor Training Course, Master Resilience Trainer Course, Combat Casualty Care Course, Airborne School, as well as Combatives level 1 and 2.
MAJ Kosakowski’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Superior Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Basic Parachutist Badge, and Basic Army Instructor Badge.
Major Kosakowski is married to Major Leyla Kosakowski. Leyla is an Environmental Science Engineering Officer assigned to the 14th Field Hospital. They are loving parents to their dog Coco. MAJ Kosakowski can be reached at [email protected]
Lynette Hamlin, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM, FAAN
Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Director, USU Military Women’s Health Research Program
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing
Dr. Lynette Hamlin is a tenured professor who serves as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing and the Director for the Uniformed Services University Center for Military Women’s Health Research. Dr Hamlin is an accomplished scientist, educator and clinician. Dr. Hamlin is a Fellow in the American College of Nurse-Midwives and the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Hamlin can be reached at [email protected]
Sarah Bellenger, MBA, MSN, CRNA, LTC (R)
Founder, Manage You / Nurse Anesthetist
Sarah Bellenger has been a nurse for 25 years, including 20 years in the United States Army Nurse Corps. She completed the United States Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia (USAGPAN) in San Antonio. She served as a nurse anesthetist in Army hospitals and combat support hospitals, work she considers one of the great honors of her career.
From 2006 to 2009, Sarah served in the White House Medical Unit as Vice President Cheney’s nurse, an experience that showed her how healthcare operates within larger organizational and leadership systems. Throughout her military career, she held clinical management roles, leading teams and preparing members for deployments.
Rather than pursue a doctoral degree in anesthesia, Sarah made an unconventional choice: she enrolled in Vanderbilt University’s Executive MBA program while still on active duty, convinced that business tools could solve entrenched problems in healthcare. That conviction led her to found Manage You, a healthcare credentialing app born from lived experience. Credentialed more than 20 times herself, she built the solution she and her teammates needed.
Today, Sarah remains clinically active as a nurse anesthetist, staying connected to the bedside challenges that keep Manage You growing. Sarah can be reached at [email protected]
Bonny Kehm, PhD, RN, CNE
Assistant Provost and Founding Dean, College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Columbia Southern University
Bonny Kehm, PhD, RN, CNE, serves as Assistant Provost and Founding Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Columbia Southern University, a college built by nurses, for nurses. She is the immediate past president and a current member of the Missouri State Board of Nursing, where she has led key statewide initiatives to strengthen the nursing workforce, including data‑driven strategies that reduced student turnaways and expanded support for rural communities.
Dr. Kehm was serving on the Board when Missouri became the first state in the nation to approve the Air Force BMTCP 4N051 pathway, allowing enlisted medics who achieved the 5‑skill level to sit for the LPN exam and transition into licensed nursing roles. She currently chairs the Board’s Nursing Education Committee and also serves on the Board of Commissioners for the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (CNEA).
She has presented internationally at the International Council of Nurses Congress and the Royal College of Nursing conferences. Dr. Kehm holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Webster University, a PhD in Nursing Education from Capella University, and a postgraduate certificate in Health Care Informatics from Excelsior University. She is a Certified Nurse Educator through the National League for Nursing.