On April 30, Colonel Brenda Ruhrer retired from the Army National Guard after 32 years of service.
A native of Elgin, Nebraska, and daughter of Keith and LaVerda Clark, her military career started in 1989 upon enlisting in the Nebraska Army National Guard as an E-1 Supply Technician. Upon graduation from Midland Lutheran College, (1995) with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she was commissioned in 1997 as a 2nd LT Nurse with Nebraska’s Medical Detachment.
In 2004, she started working for the Nebraska National Guard as the State Occupational Health Nurse Specialist. In 2010, she deployed to Kabul Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, teaching Nursing to the Afghan Army. From 2013 to 2017, she served at National Guard Bureau as the Chief Occupational Health Nurse. Earning a master’s degree in 2016 from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in Public Health with a specialty in Occupational Health, she transferred to the Virginia Army National Guard where she has served the last three years as the Deputy Commander of Clinical Services, where she oversaw medical readiness of Virginia National Guard Soldiers.
COL Ruhrer responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as the Officer in Charge for Task Force COVID Shield, and as the Medical Advisor with the COVID Operations Cell, while responding to COVID-19 taskings and civil disturbances.
