Christopher Coolbaugh

About Christopher Coolbaugh

I spent more than 29 years serving the citizens of the United States at the federal level as a Soldier in the US Army. I am honored to have the opportunity to continue serving the citizens of Washington bringing my perspective, knowledge, skills, innovative spirit, and drive to achieve and get results to state service.I am a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience in organizational leadership, leader development, program management, talent management, and training development as a self-motivated contributor with expertise in managing large organizations in fast paced, high stress environments. I am an agile leader adept at planning, coordinating, and implementing operational best practices routinely analyzing and solving complex problems. I am a strong interpersonal communicator with a reputation for building relationships and high performing teams. I thrive on coaching cross-functional teams towards achieving the enterprise’s strategic goals with innovation and a culture of excellence. I am a servant leader focused on providing excellent service to customers at the point of need while simultaneously developing and meeting the needs of team members and the organization.I am an enthusiastic optimist seeing the positive in every situation and love to learn regardless of the subject. I see barriers and challenges as opportunities, and get excited to begin the process of analyzing, developing, and implementing solutions. The only thing constant is change. I welcome new perspectives, new ideas, innovation, collaboration, and love guiding organizations through transformational change. My bedrock and foundation is my family. They survived and thrived while I was away many times during my Army service. I am thankful to have the opportunity to continue serving the public and being present with my family building a future together.

Experience

1. Director of Veterans Services, Counseling & Wellness

   Washington State Department Of Veterans Affairs

   Dec 2025 — Present · Olympia, WA, US

   Oversees and develops programs to improve quality of life for Washington\'s veterans. Leads and ensures statewide coordination and delivery of services to veterans and their family members. Develops and implements the strategic direction for the Veterans Services Division. Provides direction and management for all program and business activities and secures the public and corporate partnerships to provide services and support to the maximum number of veterans and their family members. Serves as the principal contracting officer managing more than 200 service providers affiliated with the Veterans Services Division. Continually monitors and assesses the changing factors and issues affecting veterans and their families. Develops the programmatic adjustments and funding sources to ensure the division and agency meet the emerging needs of veterans and their families.

Education

• The University of Texas at El Paso

  Master of Arts (M.A.)

• Oakland Community College

  Associate of Business Administration

• Washington State University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

• The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence and Sergeants Major Academy

  Military and Strategic Leadership

Skills

• Leadership
• Security Clearance
• Helicopters
• Dod
• National Security
• Top Secret
• Program Management
• Military Logistics
• Counterterrorism
• Weapons
• Defense
• Operations Management
• Team Building
• Organizational Leadership
• Military Training
• Military Experience
• Information Assurance
• Command
• Aviation
• Customer Service
• Microsoft Office
• Tactics
• Operational Planning
• Leadership Development
• Project Management
• Strategic Planning
• Military
• Military Operations
• Team Leadership
• Force Protection
• Combat
• Intelligence Analysis
• Army
• Government
• Counterinsurgency
• Training