Seth Barta, a student at Grand Canyon University’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, has shifted from a long military career to pursuing a new path in health care. Barta joined the United States Air Force after leaving home as a young adult, recalling his father’s words: “The minute I joined, it was like, my dad gave me 200 bucks and said, ‘Here ya go, kid. Good luck.’”
During his time in the Air Force, Barta served with pararescue special operations. He trained to become a paramedic at the Northern Warfare Training Center in Alaska and eventually led teams during combat and rescue deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. The selection process for this elite unit was rigorous: “We were selected out of basic training in San Antonio,” he said. “Those who passed moved on to specialty training. Over 90% of the team washed out.”
Earning his badge as a pararescueman took three years. His experiences also included personal challenges. “I did get married while I was in training, and that was a really bad decision,” Barta said. “I was young and foolish. I mean, I learned a lot from it, and it definitely changed my life for the good.” He explained that marriage helped him better understand what he wanted in life.
Barta’s military service involved more than a dozen deployments. “My last deployment was the start of the Russian-Ukrainian War,” he said. “We were tasked with supporting the embassy evacuation out of Kyiv.” Prior to that assignment, he had been deployed 12 times.
As he transitioned out of military service after 21 years, Barta participated in the SkillBridge Program—a Department of Defense initiative designed to help service members move into civilian careers by providing opportunities with private sector employers while still on active duty pay status.
His background in trauma medicine guided him toward nursing and surgical support roles in civilian health care settings. “As I was getting into the nursing program and training, deployments put me where the dirtiest, nastiest, most horrible things are,” Barta said. “I got to the point where I was no longer doing medicine, and I was leading a team and managing about 25 special operators. We were planning things like airfield seizures, contingency operations that could happen around Europe, so I was stationed in Europe.”
In August 2024, Barta went to Boston for further training that combined classroom instruction with supervised clinical experience at South Shore Hospital’s intensive care unit. This exposure encouraged him to pursue work as both a flight paramedic and critical care paramedic: “My plan is to study up and take the test for a flight paramedic and critical care paramedic,” he said. He worked alongside anesthesiologists with an interest in intubations and anesthesiology procedures.
After completing his training assignments under supervision, Barta sought an online program where he could complete his bachelor’s degree—leading him to enroll at Grand Canyon University (GCU), where he received a scholarship.
“I can do those things because I’m a nationally registered paramedic,” he said. “This is such a cool job and so much fun. I want to do this now.”
Barta left both the Air Force and SkillBridge program in January.
“From the age of 18, I’ve lived with a certain amount of pressure in my life,” Barta said. “I actually battled pretty well with some depression in the transition of leaving the military.” Between February and April this year alone, four fellow soldiers died by suicide; throughout his deployments he lost 18 colleagues in combat.
Raised Christian within a devout Mormon household but having struggled with organized religion during his military years abroad, Barta reflected on how faith continued to shape his outlook: “The thing is, I always go back to the first things that I was taught,” he said. “In Christianity, it’s, you know, like love your neighbor. Treat others as you would want to be treated. At the end of the day, the way I travel through the world is if I can do good, I’m going to try my best to do it.”
He summarized his approach simply as avoiding judgment while striving to do what is right.
