Interior Announces New Guam Field Representative

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Douglas W. Domenech has announced that a long-vacant, federal position on Guam – the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) Guam Field Representative – has now been filled.

“In a strong show of support for Guam, Secretary Bernhardt and I are pleased, on behalf of the Trump Administration, to fill the OIA Guam Field Representative position that has been vacant for nearly a decade,” said Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Douglas W. Domenech. “The field representative, representing OIA, has an important responsibility to help liaise between the Government of Guam and other federal partners on issues of importance to both the federal government and Guam. We look forward to strengthening our working relations with the government and the people of Guam.”

Mr. Dong Hun Choe, who was born and raised on Guam and is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, is the new Guam Field Representative for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs. Choe has over ten years of experience working in the government of Guam, both in the executive and legislative branches, as well as with the Guam Economic Development Authority. Choe is involved in many civic organizations on Guam.  Mr. Choe was competitively selected through the federal government’s hiring process.  

The Office of Insular Affairs operates from Interior’s headquarters in Washington, DC, and maintains a regional office in Honolulu, Hawaii. In addition, OIA currently maintains offices in American Samoa, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in the Federated States of Micronesia, and in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Within the past year, the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has also hired the following professional staff located in Washington, DC:   

Melissa Braybrooks has been hired as an economist and splits her time between the Office of Insular Affairs and Interior’s Office of Policy, Management, and Budget. Braybrooks comes to Interior from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Kelsey Marand is a new full-time OIA employee who serves as a budget analyst in the Office of Insular Affairs’ Budget Division. Marand holds a law degree and is a member of the Virginia Army National Guard.

Howard Hills is serving on temporary assignment as a special advisor in the Office of Insular Affairs, providing staff support for U.S. government discussions with the freely associated states on the renewal of expiring provisions of the Compacts of Free Association. As a Navy JAG (Lieutenant Commander), Hills served previously as legal advisor for the Micronesian Status Negotiations and as lead counsel for the U.S. during final negotiations of the first Compact of Free Association agreements signed in 1986.

For more information about staff in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, visit:  https://www.doi.gov/oia/who-we-are/oia-office.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, @ASIIADomenech, and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Follow and “like” OIA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InsularAffairs.

###