Hoover Announces National Security Affairs Fellows for 2006-2007

Business Wire, Sept 21, 2006

STANFORD, Calif. -- Hoover Institution director John Raisian has announced participants in the National Security Affairs Fellows Program for the 2006-7 academic year.

The program offers representatives of the U.S. military and government agencies the opportunity to spend a year in intensive study at Hoover. Since the program began in 1969, more than 100 people have participated in it.

The national security fellows bring their experience in the U.S. Armed Forces or the U.S. State Department to the Hoover Institution's fellowship programs. Participants undertake independent research on topics relevant to their respective branches of government and to the practice of diplomacy. Admission to the program is based on direct nominations from each governmental branch.

The program is administered by Hoover Deputy Director David Brady, who serves as the program's executive secretary, assisted by Joy Kelley.

This year's participants are

Colonel David F. Aumuller from the U. S. Marine Corps. Commissioned in 1984 upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, he was designated an Air Command and Control Officer in 1985 and has served in multiple operational assignments in all three active component Marine Aircraft Wings and as an Exchange Officer with the Royal Air Force in Scotland. He has participated in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, wherein his command was responsible for the complex airspace control plan during combat operations in Fallujah. Colonel Aumuller is a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps' Command and Staff College, and a graduate of the School of Advanced Warfighting. Colonel Aumuller earned his masters degree in Military Studies from the Marine Corps University in 1999, focusing on the research and development of automated command and control systems within the Marine Corps during the 1960s, and the historical backdrop it provides in regards to transformation. Colonel Aumuller intends to focus his research on the relationship between the State and Defense Departments in developing national, military, and diplomatic strategies in the post cold war era, with a specific analysis of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act, and its impact on diplomacy.

Jason L. Davis from the U. S. State Department. From 2003 to 2006, Davis served as principal officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai, U.A.E., a growing and dynamic post with more than 100 employees from seven U.S. government departments and agencies. Davis entered the Foreign Service in 1990, and has served in political sections at U.S. Embassies in Tel Aviv (1990-1992), Cairo (1993-1995), and Beirut (1997-1998). From 1999-2002 he was political section chief at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem. In addition to his overseas assignments, Davis has served in two positions at the Department of State in Washington, D.C.; first as staff assistant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (1995-1996), and then as political/military officer in the Office of Egyptian and North African Affairs (1998-1999). His research at Hoover will focus on political Islam and democratization in the Middle East.

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Gibson from the U. S. Army. LTC Gibson graduated magna cum laude from Siena College with a bachelor of arts degree in History and earned his commission through its ROTC Program. Over the course of his career, he has had a variety of command and staff assignments with the 82nd Airborne Division and other Light Infantry units and served three combat tours to Iraq and a NATO peace enforcement tour to Kosovo. He most recently served as the Commander of 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry and his unit was decorated with the Valorous Unit Award for their actions in Mosul. LTC Gibson also taught American Politics at West Point and served two liaison tours with the US Congress. He earned masters degrees in public policy and government and a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University. He was the Distinguished Honor Graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College. Among his personal awards and decorations are three Bronze Star Medals, a Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge with Star and the Ranger Tab. His published works on National Security and US Civil-Military Relations have appeared in Armed Forces & Society, Military Review, and Harvard University's John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies Project on US Post Cold-War Civil-Military Relations. His research at Hoover will focus on civil-military relations.

Lieutenant Colonel Scott F. "Dutch" Murray from the Department of the Air Force. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Lt Col Murray graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in international relations (1987). He is a career intelligence officer having served in a variety of tactical, operational and headquarters assignments worldwide most recently as the Director, Commander, Pacific Air Forces, Action Group then as the Commander of the 26th Air & Space Intelligence Squadron, both at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. He is a distinguished graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School (1991) and also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College (2002) and USAF Air War College (2006). He received a master of arts degree in ethics & policy studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1997) where he authored "Civic Virtue and Public Policy: Discerning the Particulars of Reforming the General Mining Law of 1872." Lt Col Murray also has a master of airpower art & science degree from the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (2003) with a thesis titled "The Moral and Ethical Implications of Precision-guided Munitions." His published works include "Battle Command, Decision-Making and the Military Panopticon" in Military Review (2002). In 2000, Lt Col Murray received the Major General Jack E. Thomas Award presented by the National Military Intelligence Association to the Outstanding U.S. Air Force Professional for his work during Operation Allied Force, the air war over Serbia. His research will examine the impact of the Intelligence Reform & Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 on national security assessment and estimate processes, ongoing military ethics debates and a review of General Claire Chennault's personal papers housed in the Hoover collection.