Navy Rear Admiral Raquel C. Bono. Image credit: http://www.defense.gov
President Obama nominated Navy Rear Admiral Raquel C. Bono (Global FWN100™ '09) for promotion to the rank of vice admiral in the United States Navy and for the position of Defense Health Agency (DHA) director, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced last week. Congratulations Admiral Bono!
If her nomination is approved, Navy Rear Admiral Raquel C. Bono will become the highest ranking Filipino-American naval officer in the US.
Bono currently serves as director of the DHA’s National Capital Region Medical Directorate and the 11th chief of the Navy Medical Corps.
Bono and her brother, now retired Rear Admiral Anatolio B. Cruz III, made history in the US Navy earlier when they became the first and only siblings of Filipino descent to hold flag-officer ranks simultaneously, according to the DHA website.
Vice Admiral Matthew L. Nathan, US Navy surgeon general, has described Bono as a “role model” for others to emulate and acknowledged the contributions of her family.
Bono’s grandfather was a Filipino obstetrician who served in the US Army as a colonel during World War II. Two decades after the war, Bono’s parents migrated to the US and settled in Minnesota, where her father completed his surgical residency and became part of the Navy Reserve, retiring as a captain.
Her brother, retired Rear Admiral Cruz III, served as deputy commander of the US Naval Forces Southern Command and deputy commander, US Fourth Fleet.
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