Colonel Sarah Beard �42 Beard served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 until her retirement in 1978. She was an Assistant Chief Nurse and Education Coordinator and also conducted research on decompression sickness. Beard flew Air Evacuation in the Southeast United States and the Caribbean. She worked in the Pentagon for four years as a Special Assistant in Health Manpower. Her last assignment was Command Nurse for Air Force System Command.