Lieutenant Colonel Murphy graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2004. Her operational assignments include Marine Wing Support Squadron 374, where she completed two deployments to Iraq, Marine Corps Forces Central Command (MARCENT) Coordination Element – Bahrain, where she represented MARCENT at the U.S. Embassy Bahrain Country Team Meetings and supported regionally focused military exercises, Combat Logistics Battalion 24, where she served as the Operations Officer and deployed with the 24^th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and 2d Marine Logistics Group, where she served as a planning lead for brigade and division-level exercises.

Lieutenant Colonel Murphy’s supporting establishment assignments include the Congressional Fellowship (2010), where she served in the Office of Senator Chris Dodd, Action Officer and Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, Marine Corps Installations Command, DoD planner to an Interagency OPT with the Department of Homeland Security to develop a U.S. Government campaign plan to manage mass migration on the Southwest Border, Joint Staff J-5 where she served as a strategic planner and Deputy Executive Assistant to the Director, Joint Staff J-5, and  Executive Secretary and Defense Advisor in the Office of the Vice President where she served as the focal point for National Security Council and Interagency coordination for the Vice President's National Security Affairs team.

Lieutenant Colonel Murphy is a graduate of the Marine Corps War College, the School of Advanced Warfighting and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JPME II). She holds a Master of Policy Management degree from Georgetown University, a Master of Strategic Studies from the Marine Corps University, and a Master of Operational Studies degree from Marine Corps University.