 From August 1991 to July 1994, Napper served as Director of the Department's Office of Soviet Union Affairs, reorganizing it as the Office of Independent States and Commonwealth Affairs following the collapse of the Soviet Union.During his tenure, the United States established diplomatic relations with each of the fifteen independent states that emerged from the Soviet Union, opening embassies in each of their capitals.Napper received the Presidential Meritorious Service Award in 1994, as well as other State Department individual and group awards.