paul cole

Lead planner for the movement of US and coalition personnel into and out of Afghanistan, delivering to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander the forces required to win the war. I successfully planned, developed, and executed the force uplift of more than 30,000 troops, the largest troop increase to a combat theater since the Vietnam War. I managed the forces in Afghanistan with precision, ensuring the ISAF Commander remained below the Congressionally-mandated 98,000 troop cap while simultaneously delivering the combat power necessary to wrest momentum from the insurgency during an historic point in the war.

Developer and coordinator of a new reset model, an Army-wide transformational initiative that created a paradigm shift in how the Army conducted soldier, family, and unit recovery and preparation for deployment; integrator of Army force structure actions under that new model. Implementation of the reset model improved manning, equipping, sustainment, and training of units for follow-on missions, which expanded the amount of time soldiers could spend at home with their families between deployments and ensured reconstituted and ready units for years to come. I also led numerous task forces and traveled the world extensively visiting returning units to assess the Army’s ability to provide resources to redeploying units.

Commanded a recruiting company consisting of 55 personnel and eight geographically-dispersed recruiting stations covering 1,870 square miles in the Boston metropolitan area. As the commander of the largest recruiting company in New England, I successfully led the company to finish in the top third of all recruiting companies throughout my assignment, supervising the successful enlistment of over 1,000 Soldiers, Warrant Officer Candidates, Officer Candidates, and other special mission categories into the Regular Army and Army Reserve.

Commanded a basic combat training company consisting of 23 permanent cadre, 13 headquarters and staff personnel, and the initial entry training of 1219 new soldiers (at a rate of 257 Soldiers every nine weeks). I also successfully maintained the 100% operational readiness of a 257-man barracks with offices, a separate dining facility, two commercial trucks, and all accompanying equipment with a total estimated value of over $3 million.

Assigned, planned, coordinated and documented human resources meetings with the Secretary of the Army; Chief of Staff, Army; Under Secretary of the Army; Vice Chief of Staff, Army; and the Director of the Army Staff. Drafted and published minutes to capture leader intent, guidance, decisions, and requirements. Managed, reviewed, and tracked staff actions to and from the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs); Army G-1 and others in the Army human resources community to ensure they were coordinated and complete. I was the subject matter expert and facilitator for human resources and personnel matters involving the Army's senior leaders. I was a functional expert for meetings and briefings involving the Army's Sexual Assault / Harassment Response and Prevention (SHARP), Ready and Resilient Campaign and suicide response programs. In the 13 months I was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff, Army, I coordinated, flawlessly planned, and executed 117 meetings and briefings.

* Army representative in the Joint Staff's acquisition review process, the Joint Requirements * Oversight Council; also Army biometrics, forensics and counter-improvised explosive device (IED) * functional expert / representative to multiple Department of Defense (DoD) and interagency bodies * Focused diverse, contentious groups across the DoD to secure approval and funding for several * Army programs worth over $1B through FY 2020; this included the $500M Automated Biometrics * Identity System, Biometrics Enabling Capability and tactical collection devices programs * Hand-selected to serve as a member of the Chief of Staff's Acquisition Reform team, formed to * respond to the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act; made recommendations which, when * implemented, eliminated bureaucracy, created efficiency, and improved the Army's requirements * approval process, which will reduce years of staffing time and save the Army millions of dollars * Special Assistant to the Director of the Army Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff 2013 - 2014