Captain Joel M. Schofer
Medical Corps, United States Navy
Director, U.S. Naval Hospital Guam
Capt. Joel Schofer, a native of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, received his bachelor's degree from Ursinus College. He was commissioned in 1997 and earned his medical degree from MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine in 2001. Schofer completed his emergency medicine residency as academic chief resident at Naval Medical Center San Diego in 2006 and a fellowship in emergency ultrasound at Christiana Care Health System in 2009. He received his executive master’s degree in business administration from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2014. Schofer is also a graduate of the Naval War College Fleet Seminar Program and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College, National Defense University.
Schofer has served in several operational roles. In 2002, he served as a general medical officer with the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, California, where he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2010, he deployed as an individual augmentee with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Pearl Harbor. From 2015 to 2016, Schofer served as commander of the Joint Medical Group and Joint Task Force surgeon at Guantanamo Bay. From 2018 to 2019, he served as executive officer of Expeditionary Medical Facility Juliet.
Schofer has also held several leadership positions at military treatment facilities. From 2006 to 2008, he served on the executive committee of the medical staff at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan. From 2009 to 2014, he held several roles at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, including emergency ultrasound director, fast track director, emergency department senior medical officer, associate director of medical services, physician advisor for quality management, and chairman of the performance improvement committee. From 2016 to 2019, he served another tour at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, where he was acting chair of the emergency department and associate director and director of healthcare business.
Schofer has also served in several headquarters roles. In 2014-15, he served as a detailer at Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tennessee. In 2018, he completed a three-year tour as the emergency medicine specialty leader, overseeing one of the largest communities in the U.S. Navy’ Medical Corps, with more than 270 physicians working in 15 emergency departments across the Department of Defense. From 2015 to 2019, he served as the U.S. representative to the Committee of Chiefs of Military Medical Services NATO Expert Panel on Emergency Medicine. From 2019 to 2022, he served as deputy chief of the Navy’s Medical Corps at the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, overseeing 4,300 active and reserve physicians. From 2022 until 2024, he served as deputy commander of Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Portsmouth and deputy director of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
Schofer has served as the director of U.S. Naval Hospital Guam since June 2024.
He is board-certified in emergency medicine and is a certified physician executive. Schofer holds an academic appointment as an associate professor of military and emergency medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is a fellow in the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and the American Association for Physician Leadership.
His military decorations include a Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, a Fleet Marine Force Ribbon, and a Combat Action Ribbon.
Captain Virginia H. Damin
Nurse Corps, United States Navy
Deputy Director, U.S. Naval Hospital Guam
Capt. Virginia "Gini" Damin graduated from Purdue University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and was commissioned an ensign through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
Damin reported to Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, where she worked as a staff nurse. A year into her initial tour, she deployed to Al Taqaddum, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving as an en route care and trauma nurse. In 2006, Damin transferred to Naval Medical Center San Diego, where she deployed for a second tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and found her niche as a critical care nurse.
In 2010, Damin transferred to Norfolk, Virginia, where she served as a critical care nurse with Fleet Surgical Team II. During this tour, she deployed aboard USS Iwo Jima and participated in pre-deployment exercises aboard USS Kearsarge.
In 2012, Damin transferred back to Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, where she served as department head of the multi-service ward and intensive care unit. In 2015, she earned a master's degree in health care administration and was selected for full-time out-service duty under instruction.
Damin graduated from Old Dominion University in 2017 with a second master's degree, focused on the education and training master specialist program. She reported to Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton for a third tour, serving as head of staff education and training, and later as associate director for nursing services. Damin served as officer in charge of the Navy Medicine Operational Training Command Detachment Naval Expeditionary Medical Training Institute from 2020 to 2023.
In July 2023, Damin assumed her current role as the deputy director of U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.
Damin maintains professional certification and clinical expertise as a certified critical care nurse. Her qualifications include being a Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer and a Surface Warfare Medical Department Qualified Officer.
Personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (5 awards), and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (3 awards).
Command Master Chief Petty Officer (FMF/EXW) Anthony A. Royal
Command Master Chief
Command Master Chief Petty Officer Anthony Royal, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 22, 1988. He completed recruit training and Hospital Corps "A" School at Great Lakes, Illinois; Field Medical Service School at Camp Johnson, North Carolina; Expeditionary Combat Skills training at Gulfport, Mississippi; and Riverine Combat Skills training at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Royal also earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration with a focus on health care management from Saint Leo University. He is a graduate of the Senior Enlisted Academy, Class 195, and the Command Master Chief and Chief of the Boat Course.
Royal served six years, 10 months, and 28 days on active duty during his first enlistment before transferring to the Navy Reserve, where he spent the next six years. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Royal accepted a reduction in rank of three pay grades to E-3, in order to return to active duty on Nov. 28, 2001.
Royal's duty assignments have included Naval Hospital Groton, Connecticut; Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Officer Candidate School, Quantico, Virginia; and 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, and deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991. He also deployed with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit during Operation Provide Comfort from 1991 to 1992.
Other assignments have included Naval Hospital Millington, Tennessee; 4th Marine Division, Memphis, Tennessee, where he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines; the U.S. Army Reserve’s 8th Brigade, 100th Division, Memphis, Tennessee, where he served as a combat medic instructor; and 2nd Force Service Support Group, Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he deployed with Alpha Surgical Company in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit to Al Anbar province, Ramadi, Iraq, in 2004.
Royal has also served at Headquarters Marine Corps Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia; Riverine Squadron One, Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Red Dawn in 2010; 3rd Marine Division, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, where he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, and deployed as part of the Unit Deployment Program in 2013 and 2014-2015; Naval Health Clinic Hawaii, where he served as director of public health and director for administration; and Expeditionary Medical Facility, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa, where he served as senior enlisted advisor during an overseas assignment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Djibouti from 2018 to 2019. Royal served as senior enlisted leader for the Directorate for Clinical Support at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. He reported to U.S. Naval Support Facility, Diego Garcia, on July 7, 2022, as the installation command master chief.
On Sept. 6, 2023, Royal reported to U.S. Naval Hospital Guam to serve as the Command Master Chief.
Royal's personal awards and decorations include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat "V," and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, as well as various unit and campaign awards. He is authorized to wear the Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist and Enlisted Expeditionary Warfare Specialist insignia.