Employee of the Quarter - Third Qtr 2021

MR. Mica Cochran

Facility Operations Specialist
W.T. Sampson Elementary High School, Cuba

Employee of the Quarter

July – September 2021

Mica Cochran is a facility operations specialist at W.T. Sampson Elementary High School in Cuba. He is an expert in facility management and an irreplaceable asset to the community.

Cochran was instrumental in the operations of the recently opened W.T. Sampson School during difficult circumstances on the island. Cochran worked long hours, to include weekends, coordinating with the local base operation support contractors, warranty partners, general contractors, and DoDEA facilities personnel to aid in the proper troubleshooting of the new chiller system. He worked with stateside contractors to diagnose chiller issues, reset chillers himself instead of waiting for contractors to do so, and programmed the building automated systems.

His dedication ensured a comfortable learning and working environment which directly and positively impacted students and staff members.

Cochran arrived early each day to ensure the chiller system was efficiently cooling the school and conducted operational inspections on all other infrastructure systems in order to give school administrators the green light that the school was ready to receive students and staff.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Cochran conducted extensive facility inspections that were unable to be done in person by other Facility Division personnel. His keen eye found numerous deficiencies which he was able to document and track to resolution as warranty issues, saving scarce sustainment funds. His continued daily vigilance has created numerous warranty calls and documentation to follow up on contractors.

Cochran’s teamwork, selfless attitude, and ability to go above and beyond the call of duty has been a critical component to the success of the DoDEA mission at W.T. Sampson.