As the Director, OPPSD, Mr. Cooley ensures that the end-to-end, fully integrated capabilities needed to enable the NWS to achieve its strategic objectives for building a Weather-Ready Nation are resourced, developed and fielded. In this capacity, Mr. Cooley reports directly to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Weather Services and leads five key service delivery portfolios: Observations, Dissemination, Central Processing, Science & Technology Integration, and Facilities. Mr. Cooley began his service as the Director, OPPSD in June, 2015 and entered the Senior Executive Service in March, 2002.

From September, 2010 through May, 2015 Mr. Cooley served as the Executive Director & Command Information Officer (ED/CIO) for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. In this capacity, Mr. Cooley reported directly to the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/10th Fleet Commander and he served as the senior civilian and senior information management and information technology official for the Command comprised of nearly 15,000 military and civilian personnel.

From September, 2009 through August 2010, Mr. Cooley served the Secretary of the Navy as the Assistant Deputy Chief Management Officer (ADCMO) for the Department of the Navy. In this capacity as the ADCMO, Mr. Cooley supported the Department of the Navy Deputy Chief Management Officer in his execution of business operations and transformation oversight. From December 2006 through August 2009, Mr. Cooley served on the Navy staff in the Pentagon as the Director, Information Technology Governance & Information Management (OPNAV Code N61). In this capacity, Mr. Cooley had overall information technology architecture governance responsibility for the Navy’s information technology infrastructure, including resource programming for certain Navy information technology investments.

From March, 2002 through November, 2006 Mr. Cooley worked at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in senior executive leadership positions; including that of Chief Information Officer. In this capacity, Mr. Cooley exercised oversight over all information technology employed at NOAA. During his first four years with NOAA, Mr. Cooley served as the Chief Information Officer and Director of Central Operations for the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). In this capacity, Mr Cooley exercised overall management and oversight for NCEP information technology; including mission critical weather model guidance delivery enabled by high performance computing environments, wide area networks, and forecaster application development.

From March 2000 until March 2002, Mr. Cooley was a Director with META Group Consulting specializing in enterprise architecture development, governance and program management. From 1991 to 1997, Mr. Cooley was employed by the Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS). While employed by EDS, Mr. Cooley managed systems engineers and other information systems professionals supporting business oriented and plant process control systems for Bethlehem Steel. Additionally, Mr. Cooley managed an engineering group supporting the ambulatory health care and casualty evacuation missions for the United States Air Force. Prior to assuming formal management positions with EDS, Mr. Cooley was an EDS systems engineer engaged in software development.

Mr. Cooley served for five years in the United States Marine Corps and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from The Citadel in 1990. Additionally, he holds the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, from the Project Management Institute. He has also completed the EDS Systems Engineering Development Program and attained certification from IBM as a Senior Project Management Professional.

Mr. Cooley is a recipient of the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished and Superior Civilian Service Awards.

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