Cmdr. Roosevelt White Jr.
Executive Officer, USS Donald Cook (DDG 75)
23 November 2020
Roosevelt is the son of a Navy Chief and a native of San Antonio, Texas. He is a 2006 graduate of Prairie View A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. He holds a master’s degree from Naval Postgraduate School in Systems Engineering Analysis and has completed Joint Professional Military Education Phase I.
At sea he completed his division officer tours in USS Laboon (DDG 58) and in USS Vicksburg (CG 69) and as a department head in USS Philippine Sea (CG 58). Selected for Early Command, he served as the Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of USS Gladiator (MCM 11), forward deployed in Manama, Bahrain. He has deployed to FIFTH FLEET in support of operations ENDURING FREEDOM and INHERENT RESOLVE and to SIXTH FLEET in support of Operations ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR and NOBLE MIDAS as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG-2).
Ashore, his assignments include serving as the deputy executive assistant to the Director, Navy Staff in the Pentagon and as the 2021 National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and multiple unit, campaign, and service awards.