White Sands Missile Range commander gets new assignment

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — It happened a little sooner than anticipated, but White Sands Missile Range commander Maj. Gen. Gwen Bingham has received a new assignment and will be leaving later this year.

Tuesday, the U.S. Army announced Bingham will become the commander of the U.S. Army-Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, in Warren, Mich.

Brig. Gen. Timothy R. Coffin, deputy commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, at the U.S. Strategic Command, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., will succeed Bingham as WSMR's commander.

No dates for the new assignments for Bingham or Coffin were immediately announced.

Bingham and Coffin could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bingham has been WSMR's commander since Sept. 13, 2012. A little more than a year ago, in March 2013, she was promoted to her current rank of major general. Bingham has been the first woman, and the first African-American, to be in command at WSMR.

Coffin has served in his current position at Vandenberg AFB since Jan. 14, 2013. Before that, he served as the deputy commanding general for operations at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, in Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Coffin has served in the Army for slightly more than 32 years, after graduating in December 1981 from Wheaton (Ill.) College, where he was commissioned as a Quartermaster officer. He was promoted to brigadier general on June 6, 2012.

Coffin's military education includes the Command and General Staff College, Armed Forces Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), the Army War College Advanced Strategic Arts Program, the MIT Seminar XXI program, and he is a graduate of the Harvard Senior Executive Fellowship.

Coffin's military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Joint Staff Identification Badge, Army Staff Badge, Master Space Badge, and U.S. and German Parachutist Badges.