Serving His Country, His Profession

“MY UNIT’S PRIMARY MISSION WAS PROVIDING MEDICAL CARE FOR THE MILITARY WORKING DOGS … I CAN’T THINK OF ANYTHING MORE REWARDING THAN TAKING CARE OF MY SOLDIERS.”

Dr. John Coatney knew from the time he was a junior in high school that he wanted to be a veterinarian.

“I spent a day shadowing a veterinarian for extra credit in my anatomy class,” says Coatney. “I got a job at a veterinary clinic the following week and knew that vet med was what I wanted to do.”

Inspired by Dr. Jill Peale, class of 1995, Coatney studied hard, earned admittance and enrolled at OSU in the fall of 2001. However, one thing he didn’t plan on was joining the military.

“When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, I realized there would be a need for Veterinary Corps officers,” he says. “I was anxious to serve, to give back, and I wanted to help our soldiers.”

Immediately following his graduation in 2005, the Army assigned Coatney to a small Army base 20 miles west of Venice, Italy, for the next three years. Part of his mission was to perform food safety and public health services.

“Any time the Department of Defense procures food to send to soldiers, sailors, airmen or marines — whether in the United States or abroad — the Army Veterinary Services has to inspect that food system to make sure it is safe for them,” says Coatney.

“It is different than merely walking in to a supplier and inspecting the meat locker. The entire food process involved in producing and delivering the food has to be evaluated before the food is dispensed to service members.”

Coatney’s responsibilities took him to Bosnia, Romania, Turkey and five countries in Africa during his deployment in Italy. His next assignment was quite different.

In May of 2008, Coatney married Kristen Lowrey of Stillwater, Okla., and moved to Chicago, Ill., where the Army assigned him to Naval Station Great Lakes. Six months later, he went to Iraq.

“Leaving my new bride behind was the hardest part of my deployment,” says Coatney. “Luckily, I didn’t see any combat while I was serving in Iraq. The most challenging part for me was being away from Kristen.”

In Italy and Chicago, the Army assigned Coatney to the installation support mission, which did not involve deployable units.

In Iraq, he served with the 28th Medical Detachment Veterinary Medicine, which was part of the 64th Medical Detachment Veterinary Service under the command of OSU alumnus David Galloway, both deployable veterinary units.

Coatney worked at the military’s central veterinary hospital in Iraq with a small-animal surgeon and two veterinary technicians.

“My unit’s primary mission was providing medical care for the military working dogs or other governmentowned animals. When Veterinary Corps officers elsewhere in Iraq needed to MEDEVAC their dogs, they came to us.

“I was basically a ‘do everything’ veterinarian in Iraq,” Coatney says. “I would inspect food and bottled water facilities, make sure incoming food was safe, make sure military working dogs received appropriate medical treatment including emergency medical care, control the stray population on base, and consult on any zoonotic disease cases — animal bites, for example — that the human hospital saw.”

He was required to travel throughout north-central Iraq to provide veterinary support to outlying sites, which usually involved a Blackhawk helicopter flight.

“Flying in the Blackhawks was a real eye-opener, especially in the summer. All that hot, dry air whirling around — it was like flying in a convection oven,” he says.

“In Iraq, we saw the usual working dog issues — ear and skin problems, broken teeth, gastric-dilatation and volvulus. There were a few orthopedic injuries during training and occasionally out on a mission. I did see some dogs that received combat injuries.

“In Italy we saw Leishmaniasis occasionally. We learn about it in veterinary school, but it’s rare in the U.S.”

After completing his Iraq deployment in September 2009, Coatney returned to Naval Station Great Lakes and Chicago, where he will remain through the summer of 2010.

“I haven’t decided yet how long I plan to stay on active duty,” Coatney says, when asked about the future. “I intend to pursue a career in veterinary public health, and the Army is a great place for that particular career path.”

While he likes being in the Army Veterinary Corps, Coatney says he’s in the process of evaluating whether his family and career goals will fit with the Army.

“The variety of species we work with and the different aspects of medicine and surgery we see are phenomenal. And I’ve developed a great appreciation for the public health services we provide,” he says.

“I can’t think of anything more rewarding than taking care of my soldiers. And the travel has been tremendous. In the four years I’ve been on active duty, I’ve been to more than 15 countries in an official capacity.

“I absolutely recommend it on a person-to-person basis. The Army is not for everybody; however, I don’t think enough people realize their potential to do great things as a Veterinary Corps officer.”