WASHINGTON-The Department of the Navy Office of Strategic Assessment is pleased to announce the inaugural cohort of the Naval Strategic Studies Group.
Members represent the Navy, Marine Corps and DON civilian workforce, and come from a range of backgrounds. They are the first cadre of participants in the NSSG program, which is meant to develop advanced strategists who are prepared to lead our Navy and Marine Corps through uncertain times.
“As we think about strategic challenges in the naval domain, it’s important for leaders to have varied professional backgrounds to draw upon when generating potential solutions. The six cohort members bring a range of experiences and expertise to NSSG and will be able to apply these to their research on some of the DON’s most pressing strategic concerns,” OSA Director Dr. Cara LaPointe said.
2025 NSSG Members
CAPTAIN TARA GOLDEN is a naval flight officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and also a veterinarian. She served in both the active and reserve components, currently as the deputy director of the Joint Staff J35 Reserve Component. Golden has held policy and strategy positions at U.S. European Command, NATO’s Allied Command Transformation, Navy Warfare Development Command, and U.S. Central Command. In her civilian life, Golden is the owner and lead veterinarian at Golden Paws Veterinary Service and Housecalls in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. She is a 1998 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
COLONEL NATHAN FLEISCHAKER most recently served as the Inspector-Instructor for 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, a reserve infantry battalion. In the operational force, he has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Australia. Additionally, he has served as a MAGTF planner, chief of plans, and deputy for strategies, plans, and policy at U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command and Joint Task Force ARES, and as a strategic advisor in the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Office of Net Assessment. Fleischaker graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2003 and also holds degrees from Oxford University, the Marine Corps University, and Stanford University.
COMMANDER KATHLEEN CRAIG is the commanding officer for the Office of Naval Research Science and Technology Unit 206 in Atlanta. She commissioned as a surface warfare officer in 2004. Since joining the reserve component in 2011, she has largely supported the research and development community, including assignments at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in Indian Head, Maryland; the Office of Naval Research Det 112 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and a U.S. Fleet Forces unit in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Craig is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she earned both a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management.
MAJOR CHRISTOPHER HUFF is an MV-22 pilot who most recently served as a strategic analyst at the U.S. Marine Corps Headquarters office. He began his Marine Corps career as an infantry officer before training as an AH-1Z light attack helicopter pilot and then an MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor pilot. Huff deployed to Afghanistan, Japan and Djibouti. He has published several papers in the Marine Corps Gazette over the past four years, including “Strategic Gap in the Pacific” in July 2024. Huff is a graduate of San Antonio College, Texas Tech University, and the Naval Postgraduate School.
HUNTER STIRES is the maritime strategist to the Secretary of the Navy. He is also the project director of the U.S. Naval Institute’s Maritime Counterinsurgency Project; a fellow with the U.S. Naval War College’s John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research; and a non-resident fellow with the Navy League’s Center for Maritime Strategy. Stires has been recognized twice with the U.S. Naval Institute's General Prize. He is a graduate of Columbia University.
MICHAEL TEHRANI served both the Navy and Defense departments’ intelligence communities since 2019. He is currently a program analyst for the Technology Studies Group under the Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy for Intelligence and Security, where he focuses on undersea warfare, as well as a senior strategic advisor to the deputy director of the Influence and Perception Management Office that falls under the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. Tehrani also worked on the Hill, both on the House Armed Services Committee staff and the staff of Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.). A former Army airborne infantryman, Tehrani holds degrees from University of Florida and The Institute of World Politics.
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