WHO

William A. Navas, Jr.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs

Mr. Navas was nominated on 6 June 2001 by President George W. Bush to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), and was sworn in on 17 July 2001. In this capacity, he acts on matters pertaining to manpower and personnel policy within the Department of the Navy. His purview also includes personnel readiness, quality of life and health care programs and issues affecting active duty and reserve Sailors, Marines, and Department of Navy civilians.
: Mr. Navas retired as a Major General in 1998 after a 33-year career. His last active duty assignment was as the Director, Army National Guard (1995 to 1998), managing a $6 billion budget and responsible for over 362,000 citizen-soldiers across 54 states and territories.
: Prior to this assignment, General Navas served in a variety of senior level positions in the Department of Defense, such as the Deputy Director Army National Guard (1987 to 1990), Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau (1990 to 1992), Military Executive of the Reserve Forces Policy Board (1992 to 1994) and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense/Chief of Staff for Reserve Affairs (1994 to 1995 ); Mr. Navas is a native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, and was commissioned as a Regular Army officer in 1965. Lieutenant Navas first served with U.S. forces in the Federal Republic of Germany. He later commanded a Combat Engineer company in Vietnam. Captain Navas left active duty in 1970 and joined the Puerto Rico Army National Guard. In the Guard he commanded a Combat Engineer Company; and Military Police and Infantry Battalions.
: His military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (two awards), Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Air Medal, and Army Commendation Medal (three awards), and numerous state awards.
: In addition to an undergraduate degree in civil engineering, Mr. Navas holds a Master of Science in Management Engineering from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. He has attended numerous military schools, including the Command and General Staff College, and the Inter-American Defense College. In addition, Mr. Navas attended the program for Senior Managers in Government at Harvard University.; Mr. Navas has served as a member of numerous organizations including the American Veterans for Puerto Rico Self Determination, Minuteman Institute for National Defense Studies and the Army Engineer Association.
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As a colonel in the Puerto Rico National Guard, Navas was the Task Force Commander of the Panama Engineer Training Exercise (later renamed Minuteman Exercise) conducted in the Veraguas Province of Panama in early 1984 -- the first military engineering exercise conducted in Latin America and the first to involve the Army National Guard. It was the beginning of the long-running Blazing Trails / Strong Roads (Fuertes Caminos) / New Horizons (Nuevos Horizontes) series of military engineering humanitarian civic action exercises conducted in Central and South America and the Caribbean. (WHO's comment)