Deputy Commander

Captain Bonnema, a native of Storm Lake, Iowa, attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts on a four-year Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Life Sciences and was commissioned as an unrestricted line Ensign. After completing flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, he was awarded his wings as a Naval Flight Officer. His first operational tour of duty was with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron THREE (VQ-3) based ashore at NAS Barber’s Point, Hawaii. There he qualified as a Navigator, Airborne Communications Officer, and Mission Commander, flying 199 TACAMO strategic command and control missions in the EC-130Q aircraft. Captain Bonnema then served as an Assistant Professor of Naval Science at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts where he taught Leadership and Naval Operations to NROTC Midshipmen.

In 1989 Captain Bonnema was accepted into medical school at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and received a commission in the Medical Corps. As a senior medical student he served as an Exchange Officer with the British Royal Navy at HMS Seahawk and Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, Portsmouth, England. He graduated in 1993 with a Doctor of Medicine degree and received the U.S. Navy Surgeon’s General Award. A Transitional Internship and Residency training in Anesthesiology were completed at Naval Medical Center San Diego, California.

His first medical department tour of duty was as staff anesthesiologist at Naval Hospital Oak Harbor, Washington, where he also served as Department Head of Anesthesia and Chief of Hospital Services. He then transferred to Naval Ambulatory Care Center Newport, Rhode Island as the chief anesthesiologist and Surgical Division Head. While there, he deployed in 2003 to the Persian Gulf aboard USNS COMFORT (T-AH 20), U.S. Fifth Fleet Strike Force, in support of initial combat actions for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Captain Bonnema was assigned to Naval Hospital Pensacola, Florida in 2004 and served as Director of Surgical Services. During that tour he deployed to Camp Lemonier, Djibouti as Command Surgeon, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. CJTF-HOA is responsible for regional stability operations throughout the Horn of Africa and Captain Bonnema successfully accomplished the first ever medical diplomacy mission to the Republic of Yemen. In 2008 he became Deputy Commander of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia.

Captain Bonnema’s personal decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), and multiple unit, campaign, and service awards. He has 2,200 flight hours in four models of military aircraft. He is board-certified by the American Board of Anesthesiologists, and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the American College of Physician Executives.