Alumni Spotlight: UMSN Alum Rises in Army Ranks to Prestigious Post

Edward Yackel had two goals growing up: He wanted to be a nurse, and he wanted to see the world. A native of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, he achieved both goals through a military career with stops from Hawaii to Iraq.

The inspiration to be a nurse came when Yackel had surgery as a young child. “I have a vivid memory after getting sick from anesthesia,” he explained. “The nurse let me stand on her feet as she walked backwards from the bathroom back to my bed. There is something about her taking care of me when I was not well that stayed with me. From that, I knew I wanted to be a nurse.”

Yackel took a nurses aid course during high school, and says, “Once I did that course, there was no looking back.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Lake Superior State University and decided to join the military.

In the Army Now

“I had school debt and I wanted to travel, so the Army seemed like a good option,” says Yackel, and it didn’t take long before he decided to make the military his career. It fit his goal-driven personality and provided opportunities for growth.

In his 26-year career, Yackel earned the rank of colonel and practiced nursing in numerous capacities, including oncology and pediatrics. He also worked on military bases making sure soldiers were prepared to be deployed, and overseas during times of military conflict. His journey includes domestic assignments in Washington, Virginia, and North Carolina, as well as deployments in Korea, Bosnia, Germany and Iraq.

It was a two-year stint as the Chief Nurse of an outpatient clinic at Italy’s Camp Darby that inspired Yackel to take the next step in his education.

FNP Specialization

“I realized I really enjoyed taking care of the families of soldiers,” says Yackel. That led him to enroll in the University of Michigan School of Nursing’s Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program.

“Ed was a natural fit for the FNP program because of his broad background and interest in providing care to military families,” says Cynthia Darling-Fisher, Ph.D., FNP-BC, a UMSN clinical associate professor. “It has been a joy as a faculty member to see how much he has achieved over the course of his career.”

Yackel’s specialization as an FNP led to one of his current roles as FNP Consultant to the Army Surgeon General. “We have about 170 NPs in the Army Nurse Corps. So, any time there are questions about FNP practice, I am consulted.” Then, with a quick chuckle he adds, “It’s a lot of emails.”

Yackel continued his education by earning a Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree from Duke University and a second master’s from the Army War College.

Currently, Yackel’s primary duties are with his position as Senior Staff Officer with the Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) specializing in quality and safety. He leads a team analyzing data, doing trend analysis, and comparing the Army’s healthcare outcomes against national benchmarks.

A Secret

While Yackel says his military career has been an ideal combination of challenging and rewarding, it created significant discord with his personal life. Yackel is gay, and until both “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act were repealed, there was always concern about being exposed, which could have led to his dismissal from the Army.

While a student at U-M, Yackel met Matt Kasperski and began a secret relationship that came with emotional and financial challenges. Kasperski has a systemic autoimmune disease that prevents him from working at times. Before the legal changes, the military did not recognize Kasperski as a spouse, so he and Yackel were forced to pay medical costs out-of-pocket.

Yackel also cites a stressful time when he was deployed to Iraq. Kasperski had surgery to remove his gall bladder, but Yackel was not able to reach him for four days. “There will always be communication issues when you are in a situation like we were in Iraq. But if we had been married, the military’s family support group would have been able to help to let me know he was okay.”

Yackel says now that he and Kasperski are married and the union is recognized by the military, it has led to a deeper sense of happiness and security. In addition, Kasperski now has access to specialists who are helping him manage his condition.

Facing Retirement

Yackel says in addition to being a part of such an important health care system, he also feels grateful for the opportunities within the military to fulfill his goal of seeing the world. “I gained an appreciation for the different cultures and the wealth of history we have in the world,” he says.

Now just a few years away from retirement, Yackel is considering opportunities in teaching and volunteer work.

He encourages nursing students who might be interested in the military to go for it. “It’s exciting and there is continual learning and growth. The military and nursing can be whatever you make them to be.”