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Women's History Month Spotlight: Col. Sheila Marcusen

  • Published
Colonel Sheila Marcusen is the Reserve Deputy Command Surgeon for the United States Transportation Command and a member of the Air Force Element (954th Reserve Support Squadron) of the USTRANSCOM Joint Transportation Reserve Unit, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

In this role, she provides service, support, and consultation to the USTRANSCOM Command Surgeon and deputy Command Surgeon. She is responsible for the leadership, supervision and activities of all unit medical personnel supporting peacetime, wartime, and disaster operations.

She deploys with and leads Air Force, Army and Navy Reserve and Active Duty medical personnel to support Joint Task Force Combatant Command Surgeons for patient movement operations and planning; and provides backfill and augmentation support to the USTRANSCOM Surgeon’s patient movement mission, moving over 28,000 patients annually.

She also collaborates with local, state, and National Disaster Medical System representatives to safely move medical evacuees during natural disaster operations.

Marcusen is a career Medical Service Corps officer who entered active duty with the Air Force in 1987 upon receiving a direct commission as an MSC. She served nine years active duty in a variety of commands and assignments including squadron section commander, medical logistics officer, medical resource management officer, aeromedical evacuation operations officer, detachment commander, and medical information systems flight chief.

She deployed to King Abdul Aziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia, where she supported Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield as the director of operations for the 1611th Provisional Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.

Marcusen joined the Air Force Reserve unit program in 1996 where she has held a number of positions supporting medical operations, aeromedical evacuation and joint patient movement operations including aeromedical staging, medical regulating, and patient movement requirements center operations.

She was recalled to active duty for one year immediately following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and since then has fulfilled long-term deployments and strategic short-term tours to the Middle East and to Europe in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.