Our Team


Brigadier General John Kubinec, USAF, (Ret)  President/CEO

 Brigadier General John Kubinec, USAF, retired, serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the 21st Century Partnership in Warner Robins, Georgia. He is responsible for implementation of the vision, mission and strategies of the Partnership.

A Georgia nonprofit corporation, the 21st Century Partnership is the only community enterprise dedicated solely to preserving the military presence of Robins Air Force Base, while helping Middle Georgia communities prepare to avert potential efforts to marginalize the missions of the base.  The Partnership accomplishes these goals principally by working closely with national, regional and local leadership along with community organizations to make Middle Georgia as conducive as possible to build on current missions and accept new missions; thereby enhancing the 70-plus year partnership between the base and community.  For more than 25 years, the Partnership has been a key participant in all large-scale Department of Defense decision-making of impact to Robins Air Force Base.

General Kubinec served as the Commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.  He is an AF Academy graduate and a career aircraft/munitions maintenance officer.  He has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels as well as served in key staff positions at the Center, Major Command, Headquarters Air Force, and Combatant Command levels.

For General Kubinec official Air Force Bio:  https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/949525/brigadier-general-john-c-kubinec/

 

Mr. Daniel Rhoades, Chief Operations Officer

Mr. Rhoades joined the Partnership as the Director of Strategy in August of 2017 and became the Chief Operations Officer in August 2018. Dan discovered the Middle Georgia area after having spent summers in Macon as a child, choosing this location to settle after he retired from the US Navy.  He began his military career in the Army Reserve National Guard, transitioning to full time service with the U.S. Navy.  He retired in 2006 with 24 years of service, most of them in the Intelligence community.  He built his strategic portfolio at U.S. Space Command, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Transportation Command.  He spent over two years in Iraq providing intelligence analysis to the Iraqi government and other U.S. Allies.  During his time in Iraq, and on his return, he worked with L3, SAIC and X-Technologies as a contractor.  He then joined Air Force Reserve Command as a civil service employee working the 2005 BRAC.  He participated in the founding of the Air Force Strategic Basing and Total Force programs.

As the Chief Operations Officer, Dan is responsible for development and execution of strategies and action plans to enable achievement of the Partnership’s goals.  The 21st Century Partnership is a Georgia nonprofit corporation and is the only enterprise dedicated solely to actively support the current missions of Robins Air Force Base and ensure that both the base and the Middle Georgia community are best postured to accept new base missions.  The Partnership accomplishes these goals principally by working closely with national, regional and local leadership along with community organizations to positively influence those primary factors that will likely be considered under a future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. For more than 20 years, the Partnership has been a key participant in all large-scale Department of Defense decision-making of impact to Robins Air Force Base.

 

Bob Herrmann, Executive Director, Middle Georgia STEM Alliance

Mr. Bob Herrmann joined the Partnership in October 2022 and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Middle Georgia STEM Alliance.  The Middle Georgia STEM Alliance is a loosely knit regional collaboration of key organizations and individuals from across Middle Georgia focused on elevating STEM by working together to advance STEM workforce development.

Mr. Herrmann retired from government service as the Director of the 402d Software Engineering Group (SWEG) at Robins AFB, GA.  He was responsible for an organization of 1500+ personnel, including almost 1000 engineers and computer scientists, as well as highly skilled technicians and staff members, supporting test program sets, operational flight programs and applications for a wide variety of Air Force systems.  402 SWEG programs serve all branches of the Armed Forces and over 30 allied and NATO nations.

Mr. Herrmann graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1986 and from Georgia College and State University with a Master’s degree in Logistics Management in 2008.  Mr. Herrmann held various positions within the Software Engineering Group at Robins AFB as well as several career broadening assignments including the Director of Staff for the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex where he was responsible for integrating daily operations, management, resources, and executive administrative activities in support of the Complex. 

 

Debra Cox
Executive Assistant/Community Relations

Debra Cox has a heart for community!  Through working in and with various leadership programs and volunteering for events, Debra has gained much knowledge on the numerous partnerships it takes to make Middle Georgia, Robins Air Force Base, and Houston County a thriving community. She has also gained a circle of friends and collaborators that have a desire to grow community.

Investing in our students, through the Perry Youth Leadership program, is one of Debra’s passions. As Co-Leader of the PYL program, Debra’s goal is that the students not only learn leadership skills, but they meet the individuals behind the scenes who are giving of themselves for the betterment of the community. Her desire is that, with the knowledge and information they gain in the Perry Youth Leadership Program, the students will want to live, work, play, and be innovators in the future for Middle Georgia.

Debra loves connecting people, process innovation and being creative. She joined the 21st Century Partnership team in March of 2021.

Ms. Cox can be contacted at (478) 225-9905 or admin@robins21.org.

 

Lori Freeman

Executive Assistant/RAFB Community Relations

Lori Freeman joined the 21st Century Partnership in January 2021.  She retired from Robins AFB in January 2020 after 29 years of federal service, most recently as the Chief of thePlans andPrograms Office, 78th Air Base Wing.

Most of Lori's career was  spent in strategic planning; contingency, wartime and emergency operations; production planning; process improvement; and community partnerships.  She has extensive experience in strategic basing and planning for new missions at Robins AFB and was the lead project officer instrumental in bringing the RQ-4 Global hawk to Robins. She has two sons and three granddaughters and two rescue dogs.

 Education:

Bachelors Degree in Business Management; Valdosta University
Master's Degree in Public Administration; Georgia College
Ms. Freeman can be contacted at (478) 225-9005 or admin@robins21.org.