Senior Policy Advisor

Captain Booker hails from Portsmouth, VA. He received his commission from Officer Candidate School in 1996. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University and a Master of Business Administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He also earned a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies and is a Gravely Group Advanced Research Fellow from the Naval War College.  Captain Booker is a Harvard Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellow, and a graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School Institute for Defense and Business, Advanced Program in Logistics and Technology course.   He is a Naval Aviator and flew the venerable SH-60B “Seahawk” as his warfighting platform, and is a Joint Qualified Officer. 

His sea assignments include western and northern pacific deployments onboard USS THACH (FFG 43) and USS SHILOH (CG 67) as the HSL-49 air detachment operations and assistant maintenance officer; the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA as a START Treaty/Nuclear Policy Liaison Officer and Deputy Site Commander while deployed to Votkinsk, Russia in support of Continuous Monitoring Operations.

His shore assignments include HSL-41 as a Flight Instructor and SH-60B aircraft series Crew Resource Management Model Manager; HT-8 as a Flight Instructor and the Squadron Operations Officer; Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) N13 as the assistant Deputy Director and Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plans and Policy Division Lead; OPNAV N81 as the Executive Assistant to the Director, Navy Assessments; Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs / Total Force Integration as the Special Assistant, Navy Reserve; Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Chief of Staff, Manpower and Personnel Directorate (J1), and OPNAV N4Z, as the Chief of Staff,  Installations and Logistics Integration Division.  Captain Booker assumed the duties as Senior Policy Advisor, Navy Reserve in April 2023.

His command assignments include:  Commander command, Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC), Newport, RI, where his command earned the 2013 and 2014 “Large NOSC of the Year” Award for Readiness Excellence for the sustained mobilization readiness of over 600 Reservists; and Major command at NOSC Washington, DC, our Navy’s largest NOSC, where his command earned the 2018 “Super NOSC of the Year” Award for Readiness Excellence in their sustained mobilization readiness of over 2,600 Reservists.  Captain Booker has successfully screened for his sequential major command assignment as Commander, Reserve Region Readiness and Mobilization Command. 

Captain Booker’s awards and highlights include Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and various unit and campaign awards. He has logged over 2,300 mishap-free flight hours in rotary-winged and fixed-winged aircraft, with over 250 flight hours using night-vision devices.  He has served as a Committee Chairman on the Navy Reserve Policy Board.  Captain Booker also has the historic distinction of being the first U.S. START/Nuclear Inspection Officer to lead an inspection of Russia’s then newest prototype Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, the RS-24.

Captain Booker’s service is enabled by his lovely wife, the former Lieutenant TyQuili Knight, US Navy, JAG Corps, who currently serves as a civilian attorney. Together they have three handsome and outgoing sons.

 

(Current as of July 20, 2023)

Captain DeWuan L. Booker