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/
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
Director of Community Relations
Debra Cox has a heart for the 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. Debra is heavily involved in the Middle Georgia STEM Alliance, which is growing the workforce of the future with K-12 competitive robotics teams. Debra is a board of Directors for the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of their Military Affairs Committee, Education Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, and has held a leadership role for the past seven years in the Perry Youth Leadership Program.
Debra is also a graduate of the Middle Georgia Regional Leadership Champion and sits on the Museum of Aviation Board of Governors.
Investing in our students, through the Perry Youth Leadership (PYL) program and competitive robotics teams, is one of Debra’s passions. As co-leader of the PYL program, Debra’s goal is for the students not only to learn leadership skills but also to 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, the students will want to live, work, play, and be innovators in the future for Middle Georgia and Robins Air Force Base.
Debra loves connecting people, process innovation, and being creative. Debra leads “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” Care Package and Letters Campaign each year from August to November to provide for Robins Air Force Base Deployed and Young Airmen. She joined the 21st Century Partnership team in March of 2021.
Ms. Cox can be contacted at (478) 225-9905 or dcox@robins21.org.
Lori Freeman, Director of Business Operations
Lori Freeman joined the 21st Century Partnership in January 2021. She retired from Robins AFB in January 2020 after 29 years of Federal Service, as the Chief of the Plans and Programs 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.
As the Director of Business Operations, Lori is responsible for the Partnership’s financial operations and oversees the distribution of Federal grant funds as well as Federal and State reporting requirements. Lori is involved in community program/plans instrumental in achieving the Partnership’s goals.
Lori graduated from Valdosta University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and from Georgia College with a Master's Degree in Public Administration.
Ms. Freeman can be contacted at (478) 225-9005 or admin@robins21.org.
Mr. Daniel Rhoades, Senior Advisor
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 of November 1, 2024, Dan became the Senior Advisor to the Partnership. He is responsible for development and execution of strategies and action plans to enable achievement of the Partnership’s goals; advises on legislative issues; identifies, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the workforce in support Robins AFB; and collaborates with the Middle Georgia Innovation Project and other innovation programs.