BIO – JANET L. COBB, MG (USA Retired)
Executive Director, USS Alabama Battleship Commission and Battleship Memorial Park, Mobile, Alabama
Janet Cobb became the eighth executive director of the USS ALABAMA Battleship Commission and Battleship Memorial Park on December 14, 2015.
She enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in May 1974 and served until August 1976. She was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, Signal Corps in May 1978 from the University of Alabama ROTC program, where she was named a Distinguished Military Graduate. MG (Ret.) Cobb was the fifty-fourth general officer and first female general officer to graduate from the University of Alabama. In April 2017, MG (Ret.) Cobb was one of seven selectees for the inaugural University of Alabama ROTC Hall of Fame.
She commanded at the detachment, battalion, brigade, directorate/brigadier general and major general levels. Her deployments include post-Desert Storm operations at the Ports of Al Jubayl and Ab Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Operation Iraqi Freedom port operations, Port of Ash Shuyabah, Kuwait (2002-2003).
MG (Ret.) Cobb’s additional deployments were joint assignments, where she served as Commander, 598th Transportation Group (Terminal)(2007), Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with oversight of military ports in Europe and North Africa; and Director, Central Command Deployment & Distribution Operations Center (Camp Arifjan, Kuwait)(2011), which directed all intra-theater airlift for Iraq and Afghanistan.
MG (Ret.) Cobb was assigned to the Department of the Army Staff as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4, (Mobilization and Training) from 2011-2014. She was mobilized and served in the Pentagon on the Army Staff as Deputy G-4 in 2012. In October 2013, then-Secretary of the Army John Marsh appointed MG (Ret.) Cobb to the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee for a two-year term.
Her last assignment was Commanding General, 81st Regional Support Command, Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Senior Commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. On August 8, 2016 she was retired from the Army of the United States after 42 years in uniform.
Her decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (3), and various campaign and service awards.
She holds a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law, Samford University; an M.S.S. from the United States Army War College and a B.A. from the University of Alabama.
MG (Ret.) Cobb is a past USS ALABAMA Battleship Commissioner. She serves on the boards of the Historic Naval Ships Association, The Lee Foundation and the Equine Therapy Group for Veterans. She is member of the Mobile Bay Area Veterans Day Commission Board of Trustees and serves on the Veterans Initiative Advisory Council of the Community Foundation of South Alabama. MG (Ret.) Cobb holds a real estate license with the State of Alabama. She is a member of VFW Post 5658, American Legion Post 99 and other professional and civic organizations.
She is a resident of the Barnwell community in Baldwin County.