In 1993 she transferred to active duty that included service at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, South Korea and the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.[4] Ortiz became interested in nursing and pursued her objective of becoming a registered nurse by continuing her academic education at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus.

Ortiz was assigned to Kirk U.S. Army Health Clinic at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where she was chief nurse of general medicine.

In September 2006, she was reassigned to the 28th Combat Support Hospital, 3rd Medical Command in an area known as the "Green Zone" in Baghdad, Iraq.

That area had been the target of a series of recent attacks which had added to safety concerns for key Iraqi and international officials who live and work there.

[8] Nurse killed in Iraq remembered] Retrieved July 19, 2007 [dead link‍] A plaque was placed at the entrance of the Forward Operating Base Prosperity clinic which was named after her, thus honoring the memory of Capt.