Col James ”Gumbo” Coughlin, Ed. D, is the Commander of the 5th Combat Communications Group, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The group is comprised of one support squadron and two deployment-ready squadrons. He directs the training, mobilization, and deployment of Airmen, communications and computer systems, and supporting equipment to enable combatant commanders, joint task forces, and Air Force component headquarters contingency operations.

Colonel James Coughlin was born in Warner Robins, Georgia on 10 August 1977. He graduated with honors from Parkway High School in Bossier City, Louisiana, in May 1995. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Louisiana State University (LSU) in December 1999. While at LSU, Colonel Coughlin worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Law Enforcement Online program. He earned a Master of Arts degree with Honors from American Military University in 2007, a Masters of Military Arts and Sciences degree from Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in 2012, and a Doctorate in Education in Leadership and Management from Saint Thomas University in 2020. Colonel Coughlin is a Master Cyberspace Warfare Officer, has a Space Level One Certification, is a fully Joint Qualified Officer and holds a US Army 6Z (Strategist) Additional Skill Identifier. He conducted base level, tactical and joint communications, joint planning and operations, counter insurgency and information operations planning, force protection, and knowledge management. Colonel Coughlin was a member of numerous Combined Joint Task Forces, conducting operations and exercises in the Pacific with the militaries of the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia, which includes three weeks at sea aboard the USS Blue Ridge. He served at the Squadron, Group, Wing, Numbered Air Force, Major Command, Joint Task Force, Headquarters Air Force, and Combatant Command levels and commanded the Air Force’s only active duty engineering installation squadron. He deployed as the Antiterrorism Officer for Pacific Command’s Special Operations Task Force and as a Communications Director for Central Command’s Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component. He is married to the former Erin Lynn Mathison of Shreveport, LA and they are blessed to have nine children: Zachary, Caleb, Joshua, Eli, Thomas, Andrew, Lily, Rachel, and Sarah.