Faces of Fairchild: 1st Lt. Shanell Guardo

As the group practice manager at Fairchild’s medical clinic, Guardo handles the business side of health care.

“I’m a numbers person,” said Guardo, who holds degrees in economics and business administration from East Carolina University. “My job is to match the patient with what they’re trying to buy.”

Guardo, 31, grew up in a military family in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Her dad and husband served in the Army, and she did too before joining the Air Force in 2015.

“We just have a love for troops,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what their uniforms look like.”