Teira Cole is a hometown girl supporting a hometown mission.
She is the Special Operations Manager at the Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator and serves as FISTA Recording Secretary and also as the Association of the United States Army FIRES Chapter Secretary.
Cole said Lawton has always been home and even when she and husband Jeremy, a graduate from Elgin High School, became a military family they always came home for Christmas – even if it was a 20-hour drive.
“I lived in Edmond until the fourth grade,” she said. “We came to Lawton to visit an uncle and ended up moving here. I went to Western Hills Elementary School, which is now closed.” Cole is the daughter of the late Ron and Leeann DeBaun.
At MacArthur High School, she played soccer and participated in the drama program.
“Mrs. Diane Dirickson was the drama teacher and I really enjoyed it. We were the One-Act Play State Champions for the play ‘The Boys Next Door.’ I played Sheila. I enjoyed portraying a character.”
After graduation, Cole enlisted in the Army and served as a 91 Alpha Medic.
“I was stationed stateside in hospitals. At Fort Riley, Kansas, I worked in labor and delivery with the newborns. I enjoyed it. I served in the Army for four years and twenty-two weeks,” she said. Her husband served in the Navy for just over 26 years.
“As a military wife, I served as ombudsman for our command for five years. There were about 120 to 140 wives. I was a liaison for those serving on the deployed submarine and their spouses. I was prior active duty and I understood. I knew he would deploy,” Cole said.
She enrolled at Valdosta State University in Georgia and earned a Bachelor of Science in Education with an emphasis in Workforce Education and Development. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and then pursued her Masters of Adult Education in Adult and Career Education, also with an emphasis in Workforce Education and Development. She graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Cole was hired as the Special Projects Manager for the Camden County Joint Development Authority in Kingsland, Georgia, and worked in the position for more than six years. With husband Jeremy retiring from the Navy, it was time to move back home.
“It was good timing,” she said. “I went to work at the Lawton Economic Development Corporation as Operations and Project Manager. FISTA was my project.”
In January of 2021, Cole left LEDC to join the FISTA team as Strategic Operations Manager. In August, the City of Lawton created the FISTA Trust Authority to help recruit defense contractors, high-tech industries and innovative business to Lawton. The authority’s mission is to attract companies capable of supporting the U.S. Army’s two Cross-Functional Teams at Fort Sill – the Long-Range Precision Fires and Air and Missile Defense. The board consists of James Taylor, Director; Clarence Fortney, Chair; Mark L. Brace, Vice Chair; and Bridget Randle, Treasurer. Several community members serve as trustees.
Cole’s energy and enthusiasm about FISTA’s economic impact on the Lawton-Fort Sill community is evident. She’s embraced and fully committed to the mission of helping transform her hometown.