Nicole Lauth was born in St. Marys on February 12, 1983, to Daryl and Stephanie Lauth. She graduated from St. Marys Memorial High School in 2001, enlisted in the United States Air Force the following month, and completed Basic Training and Medic training all before the age of 19. She was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) from 2002-2004, where she also served six months in the Honor Guard.

Nicole’s first deployment was to Jordan in January 2003 as a ground medic. Witnessing the elite Aeromedical Evacuation teams, she was inspired to seek additional training as a Flight Medic/Aeromedical Evacuation Technician. She completed training at Brooks AFB, Texas in 2004, then moved to Pope AFB, North Carolina. In 2005, she deployed three times: to Al Udeid, Qatar (Operation Iraqi Freedom), Djibouti, Africa (Operation Enduring Freedom), and Louisiana (Hurricane Katrina). Additional deployments occurred in 2006 to Balad, Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom), to Bagram, Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), and to Al Udeid, Qatar, in 2008 as an AE Controller in the Combined Air Operations Center. As a specialized Flight Medic, Staff Sergeant Lauth was a critical crewmember on cargo planes (qualified on C-130, C-17, KC-135, C-21, C-141) where her crews converted them into flying hospitals, managing the in-flight safety, medical monitoring, and emergency treatment of trauma patients, injured personnel, and military dependents during transport to higher echelons of care in high-stress environments.

She re-enlisted in 2007, continuing to serve as a Flight Instructor in Aircrew Training. From 2008 to 2010, she was a schoolhouse instructor at Brooks City-Base, Texas. She was selected for the Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program (NECP) and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Texas San Antonio Health Science Center. She was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 2012. While stationed at Brooks City-Base, she met her future husband, William T. Keating, an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. The two married in August 2010. They have three children. 

Following Officer Training, 2nd Lt Keating trained at University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, and then at Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, where she worked as a charge nurse on a medical-surgical unit and the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. In August 2016, she was promoted to Captain. Shortly after, Nicole attended Aeromedical Evacuation Flight Nurse training at Wright-Patterson AFB where she was the class Honor Graduate. The Keating family then moved to Pope Army Airfield (AAF), North Carolina in 2017.

In September 2017, Captain Keating deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan (Operation Freedom’s Sentinel), with a forward deployment as an AE Liaison Officer to Kandahar, and to an expeditionary unit at Ramstein Air Base, Germany in 2018. During these deployments, she was a Flight Nurse and Medical Crew Director, traveling by C-130s, Chinook helicopters, and special operations MC-130 aircraft to smaller FOBs picking up wounded service members and transporting them to higher echelons of care. She returned to Pope AAF and was selected to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology to be a Clinical Nurse Specialist. She moved to Buckley AFB, Colorado in 2019, where she earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Colorado. The family moved to Ramstein AB, Germany, in August 2021. Nicole became Board Certified as a CNS in November 2021 and was promoted to Major in March 2022. There, Major Keating was the Training Flight Commander and CNS while also serving as a Flight Nurse flying missions in support of Operations Allies Refugee, Allies Welcome, and Atlantic Resolve. She completed the STRATMEDEVAC missions redistributing patients from Europe back to the US.

Major Keating helped establish and define the CNS position in the Air Force and has published papers on her specialized knowledge and training. Deployed eight times with a cumulative five years overseas, she accrued 275 combat hours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations. Major Keating earned numerous awards and commendations for her service. She retired on August 31, 2025, and will complete a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree specializing in Veteran and Military Healthcare Leadership in December 2027. 



For 24 years of dedicated, exemplary service in the United States Air Force, overseas deployments in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 275 combat hours serving as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and on the elite Aeromedical Evacuation team, Major Nicole Lauth Keating is inducted into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame for Military Service to Country.