A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Dwaine Whitham enlisted in the Navy in 1982, and after advancing to the rank of Chief Petty Officer was commissioned as a Limited Duty Officer (LDO) Bandmaster, where he served until his retirement in 2016. Highlights of his military service include leading Navy Showband West and the United States Navy Showband, extended tour as Head, Navy Music Program (Program, and officer and enlisted community management), culminating in his final assignment as the Commanding Officer, Naval School of Music. He was the first LDO Bandmaster ever to lead the United States Navy Showband, and while in that position was the first, and ever, LDO Bandmaster to earn Officer of the Deck Underway certification while on board USS O’Bannon (DDG-987).
Following the very successful active-duty career, he was selected for a position at Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Tennessee to fulfil a newly created position as the Enlisted Recruiting Program Analyst. Wanting to move out east he applied and was selected for a position at Navy Region Mid-Atlantic in the Comptroller Department as the Lead in Labor and Payroll. He later went on to be the Labor and Payroll supervisor along with being the Funds Control supervisor at the same time. In these roles he was responsible for overseeing the civilian labor accounts for all of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic as well as overseeing the complete funds distribution across all programs within the Region.
He later applied and was selected as the Installation Plans, Program, and Readiness Integrator (IPI) position at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. In this position he served as the Commanding Officer’s principal advisor and integrator on matters of Installation Base Operating Support (BOS), Shore Installation Management (SIM) and program management readiness integration. Often coordinating, mediating and reconciling diverse perspectives of COs, N Codes, Special Assistants (SAs), Region Program Directors (RPDs), Program Managers (PMs), Installation Program Directors (IPDs), and Staff Directors (DIRs).
In January 2025, the IPI position was converted to be an Executive Director (ED) supervisory position. Similar to the IPI position, he functions as the senior civilian advisor within the command providing leadership continuity across transitions of military leadership and works directly with the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer on a wide variety of high-level issues for the Command. The ED is the commander's strategist and business advisor, working to accelerate organizational effectiveness and mission readiness through strategic thinking, robust business analytics, and effective integration of resource management and business processes.
Last Updated: 10 December 2025