The Dougherty County Board of Education voted on Wednesday to name Joe Harvey, a career Army veteran, as the system’s Chief Operations Officer.

Mr. Harvey has most recently served as the Driving Director at the Combat Readiness Center for the US Army at Fort Rucker Alabama. He retired after 33 years of service on March 31st of this year as a Lt. Colonel.

"I’m excited to be selected as the Chief Operations Officer," Harvey said. "Serving the DCSS community is my calling. I want to do my part to ensure that every child gets a quality education."

Mr. Harvey joins the Dougherty County School System with experience in oversight with facilities and maintenance operations, emergency management, public safety and capital projects.

The Chief Operations Officer serves on the Superintendent’s Cabinet and provides leadership and supervision of all activities within the Division of Operations. This includes Facilities Services, the DCSS Police Department and Transportation.  This individual also serves as the District’s primary point of contact for emergency management services.

Before Fort Rucker, he was stationed at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar where he was the base deputy commander, responsible for the health and welfare for over 1500 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines and 30 families. His previous assignment was as Professor of Military Science and department chair at the University of California Davis, Sacramento State, and Simpson University.

He began his military career as an enlisted Soldier working as a Topographic Surveyor at Fort Bragg, NC where he learned that everyone in the organization has value and deserves respect.

He has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, an Masters in Business Administration from Regis University in Denver, CO, he’s a graduate of the US Army Command General Staff College, and holds a Safety and Occupational Health Professional Certificate.