Whittet was informed of his selection in mid-June by USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States.
In late June, Whittet traveled to Rochester, N.Y., with U.S. U-17 head coach Eric Rud for the 2008 USA Hockey Select 16 Player Development Camp to determine the team's composition.
"[The selection process] was totally based on the performance at this development camp," Whittet said. "I'm familiar with the team now because one of the requirements in coaching the team was picking [it]."
The team will depart from Washington, D.C., on Aug. 15 for practice and an exhibition match against Slovakia in Vienna.
Play for the Five Nations contest begins on Aug. 20. The U.S. team will face Switzerland in the first round.
The contest's hectic schedule leaves the coaching staff little time to prepare the team for competition.
"It's going to be a really short time frame, so the most important thing is going to be to stressing the team aspect," Whittet said. "We're going to do some team building stuff and we'll do some system play, but it's really going to be about playing hard and representing your country. I want to make sure that the players feel comfortable with each other and that they get to know the coaching staff."
Whittet is entering his eleventh season as an assistant coach at Dartmouth. He has previously served as an assistant men's hockey coach at Brown University and Colby College.
The Under-17 Five Nations Tournament will be his first international coaching experience.
"My understanding is that all of the teams have relatively strong programs and the players are skilled and skate well," he said. "It'll be a learning process for me."
The U.S. roster is composed of 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies.
Although the players are still young, Whittet noted that his role as assistant coach could lead to recruiting opportunities for the Big Green men's ice hockey team.
"They're still young kids. Some of them are just going into tenth grade. Some will have a future in pro hockey, as the track record shows," he said. "These are the elite kids in their age group, so I would say 99 to 100 percent will end up as NCAA Division I caliber kids, and if some of these kids fit the profile academically and athletically, they might be kids we look at in the future."
Rud, the U-17 team's head coach, is currently entering his fourth season as assistant coach at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn.
Rud previously served as an assistant coach at Colorado College, where he helped the team earn a berth in the 2005 NCAA Men's Frozen Four.
Last season, the U.S. team took silver in the Under-17 Five Nations Tournament.
Team USA fell to the Czech Republic 7-2 in the final to finish with a 3-1-0 record. The 2007 tournament was held in the Czech Republic.
In addition to the U.S. team, the tournament features teams from Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and host nation Slovakia.
Staff writer Heita Miki contributed to the reporting of this article.
