Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, MD

Vice Admiral Raquel Bono's career in medicine and the military is distinguished by leadership in key roles. As a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, Bono's duties included serving as the director of the Defense Health Agency and playing an instrumental role in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as head of Casualty Receiving, Fleet Hospital Five in Saudi Arabia. She obtained her MD from the School of Medicine at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and completed a General Surgery residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. Her knowledge and skills were further honed through a Trauma and Critical Care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine.

Bono's medical expertise has been recognized and utilized in various capacities. Some of her notable roles include serving as a surgeon in the General Surgery department, surgical intensivist in the Medical/Surgical Intensive Care Unit, and attending surgeon at the Burn Trauma Unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. She was also appointed to numerous leadership roles, such as the director of Restorative Care at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and the executive assistant to the 35th Navy Surgeon General of the Navy and Chief Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Bono's dedication to her profession is underscored by her affiliations as a Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Her post-navy career has seen Bono continue to contribute to the field of health care. She currently serves as the Chief Health Officer for Viking Cruises and is a Senior Fellow for Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. In a testament to her leadership and expertise, she was named by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee to lead the state health system's response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Bono's career, characterized by unwavering commitment and exceptional leadership, has made significant contributions to military and civilian health care.