Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
of White House Fellows
The President's Commission on White House Fellowships named 30
finalists May 6. The military finalists are Navy Lt. Cmdrs.
Douglas J. Dennehy and Michael J. Dobbs, Army Majs. Peter F.
Najera and Barrye L. Price, Navy Lt. Juan M. Garcia III, and
Coast Guard Lts. William "Casey" Jones and Daniel J. Ostergaard.
White House fellows spend a year serving the president as full-
time paid special assistants to members of the Cabinet and
senior White House staff. They also take part in an education
program that includes off-the-record meetings with high-ranking
government officials, scholars, journalists and private-sector
leaders.
Dennehy, 36, is executive assistant to the deputy director for
operations, information operations, on the Joint Staff at the
Pentagon. He is a graduate of the Naval Academy, Naval War
College and Armed Forces Staff College and holds a master's in
national security studies from Georgetown University,
Washington, D.C. He is a former carrier squadron maintenance and
operations officer, the Pacific Fleet F-14 Naval Flight Officer
of the Year for 1997 and a former Top Gun instructor.
Dobbs, 37, is executive officer of the nuclear attack submarine
USS Jefferson City, based in San Diego. He is a graduate of the
Naval Academy and, as an Olmstead Scholar, earned an master's in
political science from the University of Grenoble, France. Dobbs
previously served as a personnel policy maker and program
manager at the Bureau of Naval Personnel. He also authored a
report to Congress on behalf of the secretary of the Navy, on
ways to improve the retention of nuclear-trained submarine and
surface warfare officers.
Najera, 33, is an Army Headquarters strategist and policy
analyst at the Pentagon. A Gulf War veteran armor officer, he
holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame and
a master's from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard. He is a former aide-de-camp to the commanding general
of the Seventh Army Training Command in Germany and a 1995
winner of an Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.
Price, 36, is assistant chief of staff G1 at the 13th Corps
Support Command, Fort Hood, Texas. He graduated from the
University of Houston and has a master's from Texas A&M
University. In 1977, he became the first African American to
obtain a doctorate in history in the 122-year history of Texas
A&M. Price has also served at Fort Polk, La.; Doha, Kuwait; and
Fulda, Germany; and U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Garcia, 32, is aide-de-camp in London to the deputy commander in
chief of U.S. Naval Forces Europe. He graduated from UCLA and
became a naval officer after receiving a joint juris doctor and
master's in public administration degree from Harvard. Prior
assignments include Naval Air Station Barber's Point, Hawaii,
where he accumulated more than 1,200 hours piloting the P-3
Orion, and 30 armed missions in support of Operation Desert
Thunder in the Persian Gulf.
Jones, 30, is an assistant professor in the Department of
Leadership and Management at the Coast Guard Academy in New
London, Conn. He is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and
holds a master's from the Wharton School of Business at the
University of Pennsylvania. He served as executive officer of
the cutter USCGC Citrus, holds the Coast Guard Commendation
Medal for outstanding achievement and twice received the Coast
Guard Achievement Medal for superior performance of duty.
Ostergaard, 27, is Atlantic Fleet fiscal and budget manager in
Portsmouth, Va. He is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy.
While assigned aboard the cutter USCGC Midgett, he participated
in the maritime enforcement of U.N. sanctions against Haiti and
helped repatriate more than 3,000 Haitians from Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. He commanded the cutter USCGC Point Evans and a shore-
based rescue station on Kauai, Hawaii.
The White House Fellowship program was established in 1964.
Program alumni include retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, former
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army Gen. Wesley K.
Clark, supreme allied commander, Europe.
Program officials said selection criteria for fellowships
include a record of remarkable achievement early in their
careers, the skills required to serve at the highest levels of
government, professional leadership potential, and public
service record.
Disclaimer of Endorsement:
Reference herein to any specific commercial products,
process, or service by trade name, trademark,
manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily
constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation,
or favoring by VNIS. The views and opinions of
authors expressed herein do not necessarily state
or reflect those of VNIS, and shall not be used for
advertising or product endorsement purposes.
VNIS is not a government agency and is a sole proprietorship,
own and operated by Christian L. Wilson USN/Ret
