Meet the Members Monday- Katherine R

Hi! We are John, Katherine, Kylan and Bella (the dog) Richardson. We are expecting our second child this summer and just found out today that he is a boy (name TBD)! My husband is an MS-III in the Air Force, but has nine years prior service as an Army Officer. He served as a Blackhawk pilot and spent two deployments totaling 2.5 years in Iraq doing search and rescue missions. We decided to make the switch to Air Force in hopes of shorter deployments and a bit more family support as we experienced some very difficult days during our Army service. So far, we have been incredibly impressed with the supportive environment at USUHS.

We met at a bar in Raleigh, NC (where I’m from) while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. I had just graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and had been accepted to a Ph.D. program in Pittsburgh, so my parents were thrilled when I came home and told them I met this guy in a bar who was eight years older than me, a soldier from Texas, drove a huge truck and lived in a trailer. But, eight years later we are happily married, have sold the truck, moved out of the trailer and they realize that he is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I have completed two Master’s degrees (Speech-Language Pathology and Music). After three years working on a Ph.D. in voice disorders, I took a leave of absence so John and I could live together since we’ve spent about half of our relationship living apart. Since then I have worked clinically as an SLP, mainly in sub-acute care. I’d been toying with the idea of medical school for many years and finally decided to go for it. I found out this fall that I’ve been accepted to USUHS!

John and I love traveling and all things active. I also enjoy cooking, drinking wine (when I’m not pregnant), reading, and music. Voice is my primary instrument (opera), but I also play the piano, violin and guitar. We are away on rotations until June, but look forward to being home and hope this baby stays put in my belly until we get back!