About Us

Commanding Officer, Captain Shelley Perkins, Medical Corps, United States Navy

A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Captain Perkins graduated from Whittier College with a BA in Chemistry and then attended Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana through the Health Professions Scholarship Program. She completed internship in surgery at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda in 1994-95 and then flight surgery training in Pensacola, Florida. She then served as a flight surgeon with HMM 261 at Marine Corps Air Station, New River, in North Carolina from 1996-1998 where she served on a six month deployment aboard the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) and on multiple smaller exercises with the wing.

After completion of General Surgery Residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth from 1998 to 2002, she served as a staff general surgeon, Department Head of General Surgery, and Assistant Director of Surgical Services at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC. She deployed to Iraq twice as a General Surgeon in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with both First and Second Medical Battalion in 2003 and 2006.

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Executive Officer, Captain Joel M. Schofer, Medical Corps, United States Navy

Captain Joel M. Schofer is a native of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, and received his Bachelor of Science from Ursinus College. Commissioned in 1997, he earned his Doctor of Medicine from MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine in 2001.

He 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 in Business Administration from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2014. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College Fleet Seminar Program (Joint Professional Military Education or JPME I) and Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College, National Defense University (JPME II).

Captain Schofer has served in a number of operational roles. In 2002, he served as a General Medical Officer with the United States Marine Corps, Camp Pendleton, California, where he deployed in support of Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom I. In 2010, he deployed as an individual augmentee with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Pearl Harbor. From 2015 to 2016, Captain Schofer served as the Commander of the Joint Medical Group and Joint Task Force (JTF) Surgeon, JTF GTMO. From 2018 to 2019, he served as the Executive Officer of Expeditionary Medical Facility Juliet.

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Command Master Chief, Mercedes N, Cleveland, United States Navy

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Master Chief Cleveland began her naval career in November 1994 at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois, where she attended boot camp and Hospital Corpsman “A” School. She went on to serve her first tour of duty at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia, charting a course toward Field Medical Service School in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and the completion of her technical proficiency in Surgical Technologist “C” School at the Naval School of Health Sciences, Portsmouth, Virginia.

Her sea assignments include the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; 3rd Marine Logistics Group, Camp Kinser, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan; and Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, Naval Support Activity, Indian Head, Maryland. Master Chief Cleveland has completed three deployments during USS Kearsarge’s designation as flagship for Amphibious Task Force East and primary Casualty Receiving Ship for Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Shinning Express (a Non-combatant Evacuation Operation during the 2^nd Liberian Civil War), and Operation Iraqi Freedom III. Additionally, she augmented the operations of several multinational, humanitarian, and emergency response missions in support of Balikatan, PHIBLEX, Cobra Gold, and Operation Tomodachi.

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