ABOUT

COL Young (John) Yauger is the current Executive Director of TriService Nursing Research Program, the only Department of Defense (DoD) program dedicated to military nursing. TSNRP is responsible for funding, training, and disseminating military nursing research and evidenced-based practice. Over a 22-year career as an US Army Nurse, COL Yauger served as a critical care nurse, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), an assistant professor in nurse anesthesia, and deployed 3 times in support of the war on terrorism, most recently in 2018 conducting golden hour offset surgical team operations for the Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan.
 

COL Yauger earned a PhD in neuroscience from the Department of Defense’s
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). COL Yauger is the first US Army CRNA to become a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) service chief fellow. His research interests include combat/ expeditionary nursing, resuscitation, anesthesia, traumatic brain injury, innovative technology, and neuroinflammation.

COL Yauger began his nursing career as an Army ROTC 4-year nursing
scholarship recipient at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. During his time at Marymount, COL Yauger served as the school’s Student Nurses Association. After earning a BSN in 2000, COL Yauger commissioned into the Army Nurse Corps. Initially, he served as a medical-surgical, pediatric, and critical care nurse at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. In 2003 at the onset of the Global War on Terror, COL Yauger deployed with the 28 th Combat Support Hospital to Iraq as a critical care nurse. While on deployment, COL Yauger met several Certified Register Nurse Anesthetists, which solidified his decision to pursue advanced practice nursing in the
field of anesthesia. He attended USUHS for nurse anesthesia school and graduated as the outstanding student of the class in 2007. While serving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he deployed as a CRNA with the 541 st Forward Surgical Team in Afghanistan in 2010. Next, He attended graduate school again to earn a PhD in Neuroscience. While in graduate school, COL Yauger studied the impact of iron on neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury.

Following graduate school, COL Yauger served as an assistant professor at the
US Army Graduate Program of Anesthesia Nursing (USAGPAN). He is a published author and assistant professor of anesthesia, biochemistry, and leadership. During his assignment at USAGPAN, He deployed with the 759 th FRST and conducted Golden Hour Offset Surgical Treatment (GHOST) operations with the Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan. In 2020, COL Yauger served at DARPA as a subject matter expert on neuroscience and combat anesthesia topics. His positive contributions focused project efforts toward the multi domain operational environment and led to the creation of new projects identifying potential artificial blood products and innovative
triage technology.