Raquel C. Bono MD, MBA

Vice Adm. Raquel C. Bono is the Director, Defense Health Agency (DHA), Defense Health Headquarters, Falls Church, VA. She leads a joint, integrated Combat Support Agency enabling the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both peacetime and wartime. In support of an integrated, affordable, and high quality military health service, the DHA directs the execution of ten joint shared services to include the health plan (TRICARE), pharmacy, health Information Technology, research & acquisition, education & training, public health, medical logistics, facility management, budget resource management, and contracting. The DHA administers the TRICARE Health Plan providing worldwide medical, dental and pharmacy programs to more than 9.4 million uniformed service members, retirees and their families.

Commissioned in June 1979, Vice Adm. Raquel Bono obtained her baccalaureate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and attended medical school at Texas Tech University. She completed a surgical internship and a General Surgery residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, and a Trauma and Critical Care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine in Norfolk.

Shortly after training, Bono saw duty in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as head, Casualty Receiving, Fleet Hospital Five in Saudi Arabia from August 1990 to March 1991. Upon returning, she was stationed at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth 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. Her various appointed duties included division head of Trauma; head of the Ambulatory Procedures Department (APD); chair of the Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee; assistant head of the Clinical Investigations and Research department; chair of the Medical Records Committee, and command intern coordinator. She has also served as the specialty leader for Intern Matters to the Surgeon General of the Navy.