| Kalayaan Celebrations 2024 KalCom Chair: Major Anna Sanchez |
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MAJOR ANNA SANCHEZ
Major Anna Sanchez has worked in healthcare for over 37 years. She is a Clinical Nurse for the 94 Aeromedical Staging Squadron and provides her clinical expertise in the Nursing Officer Core and Senior Noncommissioned Officers. She is Officer-in-Charge in her element in the Nursing Section and is responsible in instructing members on the Comprehensive Medical Readiness Program. She delivers a full spectrum of resources for nursing. She educates the Total Force (TF) Airmen that directly influences mental wellness, and deployment readiness.
She was appointed as SARC and was responsible for 2700 members. She overhauled the SAPR program and is a subject matter expert in the care for those who experience military sexual trauma. She singlehandedly organized a successful event where Distinguished Visitors and guests, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen learned different forms of therapy for trauma survivors such as Art Therapy, Horticultural Therapy, Recreation Therapy, Pet Therapy, Equine Therapy. She deployed in South Korea as the SARC and was responsible for over 3,000 members where she successfully engaged in service members, and the Republic of Korea Air Force.
Major Sanchez joined the United States Air Force in Aug 2011. She graduated from the Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB), Montgomery, AL in Sept 2012. She served as Officer-in-Charge at the 908th Aeromedical Staging Squadron Mental Health Section where she briefed members on suicide prevention and substance abuse programs. She earned her Master Resiliency Trainer certification and personally trained over 400 service members on three installations as Resiliency Training Assistants.
In her civilian capacity, Major Sanchez delivers excellent advanced practice care at the VA Hospital in Atlanta, GA as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in the Emergency Department. She is the Executive Director for Hope Center for Veterans and is an active board Member for VETLANTA. She continues to volunteer and engage in the community to empower veterans and service members. To decrease barriers in mental health, increase access to mental health, she opened up her private telepsychiatry practice, MSICS MensSana, P.C.
EDUCATION
1984 General Education, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
2008 Associate Degree in Science, Chabot Community College, Hayward, California
2009 Bachelor in Science in Nursing, Samuel Merritt College, Oakland, California
2012 Officer Training School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
2013 Sexual Assault Response Program Course, Maxwell, Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
2015 Master Resiliency Trainer, Joint Base McGuire-Dix, Lakehurst, New Jersey
2015 Master in Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner Program, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2018 Certificate Program, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2023 Certificate Program, Master in Public Health, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
ASSIGNMENTS
1. November 2011-November 2014, Maxwell Air Force Base. Montgomery, Alabama
2. Officer Training School, July 2012-September 2012, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
3. December 2014-September 2019, Sexual Assault Response Program, Victim Advocate, 94 Air Lift Wing, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, GA
4. October 2019 – June 2020, Clinical Nurse, 94 Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Dobbins, Air Reserve Base, GA
5. January 2019, May 2019, Coordinator, Sexual Assault Response Program, Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea
6. June 2021-Oct 2023 Coordinator, Sexual Assault Response Program, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, GA
7. October 2019 to Present, Clinical Nurse, 94 Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, GA
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, 94 AW
Air Force Achievement Medal, First Oak Leaf Medal
Air Force Humanitarian Award
Army Commendation Medal
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
2020 AFRC Nurse of the Year Award
2020 94 ASTS Outstanding CGO of the Quarter
2021 94 ASTS CGO Nurse of the Year
2022 94 ASTS CGO of the 1st Quarter’
2023 Nurse of the Year Award, Civilian
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Major, Aug, 2022
Captain, Aug 2016
(Current as of Aug 2023)
| 2024 Chair-Elect and 2023 Sponsorship Committee Chair: Natalie L. Ammons |
Ms. Natalie L. Ammons is currently the Director of Communications for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) in Atlanta, GA.
Ms. Ammons serves as the spokesperson for Fulton County’s 28th
Sheriff, Patrick “Pat” Labat, and the sheriff’s office to include coordinating
all aspects of media and public relations for the agency. Ms. Ammons joined
FCSO in June 2023 after she retired from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
(GBI) with 30 years of service, spending the last five years with the agency as
the Deputy Director of Public and Governmental Affairs. In this role, she
served as a spokesperson and legislative liaison to Georgia’s
legislature and the Governor’s Office for the agency. During her tenure at the GBI, she served at various work units within the Bureau to include the Local Violators Squad, Financial
Investigations Unit, Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), the
Deputy Director’s Office for Investigations, and the Director’s Office.
She has spoken nationally and internationally about managing critical incidents, social media management, the importance of non-sworn employees in a law enforcement agency, DEI, and as a member of the FBI’s National Use of Force Data Collection Task Force.
Ms. Ammons coordinates several law enforcement organizations on a local and national level. From 2011 to 2019, she served as conference coordinator and planned bi-annual conferences around the country for the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA) and remains a member of the ASCIA Use of Force Investigations Committee that focuses on state criminal investigative agencies’ response to use of force incidents and best practices. She is currently the President of the Georgia Chapter of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). Ms. Ammons was elected President in February 2022, becoming the first woman to hold this position since the chapter’s incorporation in 1985. Under Ms. Ammons’ leadership, the Georgia Chapter has won the national membership recruitment drive two years in a row and was selected as the 2023 Chapter of the Year for a large chapter at the NOBLE National Conference in Cleveland, OH in July 2023. She has coordinated monthly meetings with law enforcement and corporate security members of Atlanta Metropol, Inc. since 2011. Ms. Ammons served on the U.S. Department of Justice Global Advisory Council’s (GAC) Use of Force Investigations Task Team that produced “Considerations and Recommendations Regarding State and Local Officer-Involved Use-of-Force Investigations,” a resource that sets forth recommendations and issues to consider for law enforcement officials tasked with ensuring accountability for use of force incidents. She is also an active participant on the FBI’s National Use of Force Task Force that is leading the effort to bring accurate use of force reporting to law enforcement and the community nationwide. In 2017, Ms. Ammons was appointed to be a member of the GAC National Alerts Task Team, a committee focused on standardizing criminal justice alerts nationwide and was appointed to a second term as a member of the National Blue Alert Advisory Group through U.S. DOJ’s COPS Office in February 2020. Because of her efforts with the Blue Alert initiative, Ms. Ammons was added as a member of the FBI’s Beyond 2021 LEOKA SME Group. This group is working to enhance the data submitted nationwide to capture details of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted in the line of duty. In 2021, Ms. Ammons joined The Ohio State University’s Divided Community Project Thought Leaders Group, to provide perspective of challenges currently facing local leadership. In 2023, Ms. Ammons was selected by the Georgia Municipal Association to serve as a Public Safety and Restorative Justice Reviewer for cities applying to become a certified city of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB).
Professionally, Ms. Ammons is a member of the Georgia Association of Women in Public Safety, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, Peace Officers Association of Georgia, National Asian Peace Officers Association, Atlanta Metropol, Inc., and National Information Officers Association. Personally, she is a member of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, Filipino-American Association of Greater Atlanta, National Association of Asian American Professionals Atlanta, and Rotary Club of South DeKalb. Since 2019, Ms. Ammons has served on the Kalayaan Committee (KalCom), to assist with planning the annual Philippine Independence Day gala on June 12 in Atlanta.
Ms. Ammons was recognized as the 2018 NOBLE National Member of the Year at the Annual National Conference in Hollywood, FL and was the recipient of the 2018 Friend of NAMI Award. This award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness highlights a person outside the traditional behavioral health community that has demonstrated dedication to NAMI’s goal of improving the lives of those living with and touched by mental illness.
In 2021, Ms. Ammons was honored as one of 25 “Most Influential Asian-Americans in Georgia” by the Georgia Asian Times. Additionally that year, Ms. Ammons and her colleague Nelly Miles at the GBI received the Dr. Curtis McClung Motorola Award of Excellence from the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police for their role in managing public information during the death investigation of Ahmaud Arbery and subsequent civil unrest during the summer of 2020. In 2022, Ms. Ammons, along with Nelly Miles, was presented with a Women of Collaboration Award from the National Women’s Empowerment Ministry for promoting a spirit of collaboration over competition in governmental affairs.
She currently resides in DeKalb County, GA.
