Captain Stacie Milavec was born in the District of Columbia and raised in Maryland, enjoying her summers on the Severn River near Annapolis and in the mountains of Garrett County. CAPT Milavec attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine under full academic scholarship, graduating with Honors in May 1995, earning a Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science. In November 1999, CAPT Milavec accepted a commission into the United States Navy and completed Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, RI, in December 1999. In December 2008, CAPT Milavec earned a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration from Concordia University Wisconsin.
CAPT Milavec served the majority of her career in the Naval Medical Forces Pacific region. Her first tour of duty was in the Mojave Desert aboard the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command/Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms, CA, as the Laboratory Division Officer from 1999-2002. Her second tour of duty was at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, CA, where she served as the Laboratory Division Officer and Assistant Department Head from 2002-2006. During this tour, she was assigned to the Camp Pendleton Fleet Hospital Detachment, where she participated in several field training evolutions as well as an Operational Readiness Evaluation to assess fleet hospital deployment readiness during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. For her third tour, CAPT Milavec served overseas at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, JA, as the Assistant Department Head and the Laboratory Manager from 2006-2009. CAPT Milavec then transferred to Naval Medical Center San Diego, CA, where she served as the Core Laboratory Division Officer and then the Laboratory Manager from 2009-2012. In September 2012, she returned to Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms, CA, as the Laboratory Department Head. She was appointed Director for Clinical Support Services her first week aboard, becoming the only O4 on the Commanding Officer’s Board of Directors. During this tour, she successfully brought both mammography and MRI imaging into the command to better support the needs of the beneficiaries and the warfighters at this remote base. In 2015, CAPT Milavec returned overseas to U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, JA, to serve as the Associate Director for Clinical Support Services and the Laboratory Department Head from 2015 to 2018.
CAPT Milavec transferred to the East Coast to serve at the Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, VA, in May 2018. In this joint billet, she was dual-hatted as the Division Chief of the Center for Laboratory Medicine Services and the Director of the Navy Clinical Laboratory Improvement Program. She also served as the Specialty Leader for the Navy's Medical Laboratory Science Community of 84 lab officers from 2018- 2021. During this tour, her engagement was pivotal in assisting the DoD and the Military Health System with responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic as a clinical laboratory subject matter expert, directly supporting the Fleet, BUMED, and DHA. In July 2021, CAPT Milavec reported to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command/Expeditionary Medical Facility – Juliet, Portsmouth, VA, to assume the role of Laboratory Department Head, Tidewater Market Pathology/Laboratory Product Line Leader and for EMF- Juliet, she supported the platform in the capacity of a laboratory leader and subject matter expert. CAPT Milavec is presently attending the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI, pursuing a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, an additional graduate certificate in Ethics and Emerging Military Technology, and earning Joint Professional Military Education Phase II credit. Upon graduating in June 2024, she will report to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Unit Bahrain to assume the role of Officer in Charge.
CAPT Milavec is a board-certified Medical Laboratory Scientist by the American Society for Clinical Pathology and American Medical Technologists. She is a sitting board member of the Society of American Federal Medical Laboratory Scientists. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is affiliated with a number of other professional organizations.