Hoover National Security Affairs Fellows named for 2006-07

The Hoover Institution has selected its National Security Affairs Fellows for the 2006-07 academic year. The program, established in 1969, has enabled more than 100 representatives from the U.S. military and government agencies to take a leave of absence from service to pursue independent research on topics relevant to their respective branches of government and to the practice of diplomacy. Hoover Associate Director David Brady, assisted by Joy Kelley, administers the program. This year's fellows are:

Col. David F. Aumuller, U.S. Marine Corps. Commissioned in 1984, Aumuller has served in multiple operational assignments 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, where his command was responsible for the complex airspace control plan during combat operations in Fallujah. Aumuller is a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps‚ Command and Staff College, and a graduate of the School of Advanced Warfighting. In 1999, he earned his master's degree from the Marine Corps University. Aumuller plans to research the relationship between the State and Defense departments in developing national, military and diplomatic strategies in the post-Cold War era.

Jason L. Davis, U.S. State Department. From 2003 to 2006, Davis served as principal officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Davis entered the Foreign Service in 1990 and has served in political sections at U.S. Embassies in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Beirut. From 1999 to 2002, he was political section chief at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem. Davis also has served at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., as staff assistant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and as political/military officer in the Office of Egyptian and North African Affairs. His research at Hoover will focus on political Islam and democratization in the Middle East.

Lt. Col. Chris Gibson, U.S. Army. Gibson 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 commander of the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, and his unit was decorated with the Valorous Unit Award for its actions in Mosul. Gibson earned master's degrees in public policy and government and a doctorate in government from Cornell University. He has been decorated with three Bronze Star medals, a Purple Heart and other honors. His research at Hoover will focus on civil-military relations.

Lt. Col. Scott F. "Dutch" Murray, Department of the Air Force. Murray is a career intelligence officer who served most recently at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and USAF Air War College. He earned master's degrees from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the USAF School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. In 2000, Murray received the Major General Jack E. Thomas Award for his work during Operation Allied Force, the air war over Serbia. His research will examine the impact of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 on national security assessment and estimate processes, ongoing military ethics debates and a review of Gen. Claire Chennault's personal papers.

Cmdr. Mark R. Williamson, U.S. Navy. Williamson earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York-Brockport and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and the U.S. Naval War College (awarded a Master of Arts degree). He is matriculated in the Master of Business Administration program at Salve Regina University. Williamson has served in the Joint U.S. Military Affairs Group-Korea and commanded the Navy Consolidated Brig Miramar, the largest prison in the U.S. Navy. At Hoover, he will be enrolled in the International Policy Studies master's degree program. His thesis will focus on the general psychology and human motivation that fuels insurgencies, and how that insight could be used in formulating U.S. policy in the Middle East.

-30-