Dave Sever was born September 23, 1960 in Coral Gables, Florida, though his father moved the family to Nampa, Idaho when he was very young.  He grew up there and attended college, studying psychology and going into the field of juvenile corrections.  He later went back to school to get his nursing degree and along the way he discovered that the air force reserves accepted medical personnel up to the age of 47.  Dave and his own family moved to Pennsylvania about this time, and while there he joined the air force at age 43.  He was attached to the 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron (ASTS), 911th Airlift Wing, Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station.  Lieutenant-Colonel Sever served as a Clinical Nurse in the ASTS and held numerous positions within the Squadron during his 20-year tenure.  These positions included OIC of Fitness Testing, OIC of Medical Logistics, Medical Readiness Officer and Chief of Clinical Training.  Lt-Col Sever also acted as an Observer/Controller/Trainer for several Air Force and Joint Training Exercises.  His deployments included:

January 2007 – May 2007, Launch and Recovery Nurse, 386th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility, Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait

December 2009 – July 2010, OIC Night Shift, 455th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility, Bagram Airfield Afghanistan

April 2020 – May 2020, Team Lead, Javits Center, Manhattan, New York and Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, New York.  This was done at the height of Covid.

June 2021 – January 2022, Medical Operations Flight Commander, 379 Medical Operations Squadron, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.  This deployment coincided with the end of U.S. operations in Afghanistan, and there was a massive and chaotic outflow of Afghan refugees that Dave and his team had to care for.  These were the images Americans and others around the world saw, and it left Dave and many veterans with complicated feelings after the commitment they put forward – and the losses they suffered.  Dave continues to work in the medical field and in service of veterans, though he has retired from the air force.  He was interviewed over zoom by Crestwood students in May 2025.