JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- (July 23, 2015) The director for the Mission and Installation Contracting Command at Fort Rucker, Alabama, is retiring July 28 after more than 30 years in the contracting and program management.
Mike Coburn brings to an end a career spanning successes in uniform, as a business owner, contractor and government contracting leader.
Coburn has certainly been no stranger to change during his professional career. He has seen three drawdowns of forces following Vietnam, the end of the Cold War and the ongoing force reduction following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. That transition has continued during his four years with the MICC. Coburn said he is proud to have been among the first field directors in the MICC along with Clay Cole, Tim Tweed, Deborah Emerson and Carl Forshay.
As the Army continues force management actions in a time of fiscal constraints, he said the greatest change he's seen in contracting is "the awesome impact our 51 Charlies and Army civilians have made in contingency contacting for our Soldiers."
The Tallahassee, Florida, native admits that he'll miss the top-notch civilians and contracting Soldiers who make a difference in the Army every day despite declining resources.
Coburn's federal service began with the Army, completing a variety of communications and electronics assignments with Signal Corps, Airborne Infantry and Mechanized Field Artillery units. He also served multiple active-duty assignments in contracting and program management, wrapping up his career in uniform as the deputy principal assistant responsible for contracting for the Army Space and Strategic Defense Command's Contract and Acquisition Management.
Following retirement from the Army, Coburn leveraged his knowledge to spend the next 10 years as the president and CEO of Tallahassee Technologies Inc., growing the company from a store front operation to a modern production facility with 120 employees and annual revenues greater than $70 million.
Coburn also filled a contract role as an executive mentor to the Afghanistan National Army's assistant minister of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and director of the Afghanistan Army Acquisition Agency in Kabul.
He went on to federal assignments that included serving as director of the Army Test and Evaluation Command contracting office at Fort Hood, Texas, and deputy director of the Defense Contract Management Agency for ATK Launch Systems at the NASA Product Operations Office in Brigham City, Utah.
During his first year of retirement, he plans to sharpen his renovation skills on a new house.
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