Navy Medicine > Naval Medical Research Command > R&D Commands > Naval Medical Research Unit EURAFCENT > NAMRU EURAFCENT Leadership

Captain Virginia S. Blackman, NC, USN
Commanding Officer

Captain Virginia Schmied Blackman, originally from rural upstate New York, was commissioned in 1995 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship program upon graduation from Georgetown University, Washington, DC where she was a John Carroll Scholar.

She began her career as an inpatient nurse at Naval Medical Center San Diego, California in internal medicine and intensive care. She then served in Okinawa, Japan with the 3rd Medical Battalion, operations and training. After serving as a medical officer programs recruiter, she was selected for full-time duty under instruction, and earned a Master of Science in Critical Care and Trauma Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. She served as Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia. She was competitively selected to serve as the “plankowner” Ship’s Nurse on the USS GEORGE H. W. BUSH (CVN 77),

Captain Blackman was again assigned to duty under instruction in 2010, and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California, San Francisco in 2014 with a follow-on tour at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda, Maryland. She joined the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Graduate School of Nursing faculty in 2016. Her research and publications focus on readiness and training for military trauma care providers, particularly pre-hospital and emergency department pain management in the military pre-hospital environment. The Navy Surgeon General appointed Captain Blackman as the Specialty Leader for Nursing Research in 2018.

Captain Blackman was selected for Executive Medicine in 2019, and assigned in August 2020 as Executive Officer at Naval Medical Research Unit-TWO (NAMRU-2), with headquarters in Singapore and additional research operations in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The command mission was to develop and maintain strong regional partnerships and military medical collaborations through research and biomedical surveillance on infectious diseases of critical military importance.

In July 2022, CAPT Blackman reported to NAMRU-3 as Commanding Officer. She earned both the Fleet Marine Force Ribbon and the Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer designation. Her military decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (5), as well as various unit commendations.

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
7700 Arlington Blvd. Ste. 5113 Falls Church, VA 22042-5113
This is an official U.S. Navy website
This is a Department of Defense (DoD) Internet computer system.

General Navy Medical Inquiries (to Bureau of Medicine and Surgery): usn.ncr.bumedfchva.mbx.bumed-general-inquiries@health.mil

Captain Virginia S. Blackman, NC, USN Commanding Officer

Captain Virginia S. Blackman, NC, USN
Commanding Officer