Ann Sarkes at IWP“I had no idea what national security was until I went to IWP. Then I realized how amazingly, critically important it is for medicine and national security to be paired up, at least in the highest levels of government.”
-Ann Sarkes, IWP Alumna and Nurse
At the beginning of her medical career, Ann Sarkes took a few courses at IWP that introduced her to a vital but little-known intersection: medicine and national security. Since then, she has served as a nurse across the federal government and U.S. military, supporting law enforcement personnel, diplomats, and active-duty military and veterans around the world.
Much of her work remains classified, but her impact is undeniable. Ann has protected U.S. personnel, facilitated diplomacy between nations, helped institutionalize medical intelligence within the U.S. government, and helped build the network of medical professionals focused on national security.
In this interview, she reflects on her lifelong passion for nursing, her adventures abroad, and the important work she has done in an increasingly complex world.
A Passion for Nursing Meets National Security
Ann Sarkes knew from a young age that she wanted to be a nurse. After a short time working as a schoolteacher in Boston, she pursued her dream at Northeastern University Boston, completing a five-year work-study program before beginning her career in private-sector nursing.
Her first foray into a national security-adjacent role was a job with the Bethesda Navy Hospital (now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center). There, she was assigned to a middle management role overseeing a more than 8,000-employee health unit, planning and assisting with medical aspects of contingency operations.
Her next step led her into uncharted territory: the FBI. There, she was assigned to employee health intelligence and safety operations. “The nursing and medical side of this work was routine,” she recalls, “but the national security side was totally foreign to me.”
Soon, Ann assisted on missions to support medical preparedness for the Bureau’s international efforts.
Discovering a New Field at IWP
While at the FBI, Ann heard about IWP and enrolled in an international relations course taught by the school’s founder, Dr. John Lenczowski. Fascinated, she took a second course on national security with Prof. Ken deGraffenreid, who was then the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Support.
“I discovered there was a whole medical component to national security,” said Ann. “I’ve been hooked ever since!”
Encouraged by her studies at IWP, she took some courses on medical intelligence elsewhere. Ann examined many sides of medical intelligence, with a growing awareness of the role that medicine has played in national security since biblical times and continues to play today. One memorable topic she explored was how international terrorist groups get their medical care during contingency operations.
Through these studies, she connected with a network of U.S. medical officials, including the Surgeons General of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and other medical entities.
Putting Medical Intelligence into Practice
Armed with new insights, Ann began producing medical briefings for leadership. These reports offered critical health information for personnel on international missions—details such as disease risks, regional medical infrastructure, and safety protocols.
Ann was also involved in contingency planning. One example involved ensuring that foreign hospitals used for potential evacuations were properly accredited and free from adversarial control. In one case, Ann discovered that a hospital off the coast of a foreign country was owned and operated by Hezbollah. “You don’t want to send the director of a U.S. government agency to a Hezbollah-run hospital,” she said.
Ann also saw the intersection between medicine and national security on a larger scale: our adversaries are developing bioweapons that could pose a grave risk to public health, especially amongst unvaccinated populations.
Safeguarding Lives and Building Diplomacy
Ann shared one powerful example that illustrates both the life-saving and diplomatic value of medical intelligence.
Before a mission to investigate a mass grave in a developing nation, Ann and her team assessed the region’s health risks and conducted a soil analysis of the planned base camp site. The results revealed significant contamination. Based on her recommendations, the U.S. team relocated the tent city several miles away to ensure safety.
This decision protected personnel, enabled the investigation to proceed, and helped bring justice to the affected community.
More importantly, the host nation appreciated the support, and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and that country improved. “This is soft diplomacy,” Ann explained. “You win hearts and minds.”
Institutionalizing Medical Intelligence
During the events surrounding 9/11, Ann worked to raise awareness of medical intelligence.
After studying at IWP, she realized her agency lacked a medical desk in its command post. She proposed the idea to leadership, and it was implemented.
She later helped establish a national network of medical and legal professionals to support national security and law enforcement medical operations, further embedding medical intelligence into institutional frameworks.
Serving Those Who Serve
Ann’s career has taken her through the halls of Congress, the Department of Justice, the State Department, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Now retired from full-time federal service, she continues to support military personnel through the Defense Health Agency.
In her current role, she provides medical case management for returning soldiers and delivers pre-deployment medical briefings. Though no longer operating in high-stress environments, Ann remains proud to serve.
Her story is a testament to how nursing can transcend traditional boundaries—and how one person can shape the future of national security from a hospital room, a command post, or a tent in a foreign land.
Prof. Ken deGraffenreid speaking at IWP in 2001