Prior to this assignment, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, United States Army, Pentagon.

Coburn is a distinguished military graduate of Eastern Michigan University, where he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in education, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the infantry.

Coburn's staff assignments include: Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4 (Logistics), 2nd Armored Division, from 1982 to 1983; Executive Officer, Battlefield Systems Directorate, Headquarters, United States Army Materiel Command from 1977 to 1978; Procurement Officer, Procurement and Production Directorate, Headquarters, United States Army Materiel Command; Senior Advisor, Training and Personnel, United States Army Engineer District-Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 1975 to 1977; Executive Officer, Defense Contract Administration Services Region, Defense Supply Agency, New York, New York from 1968 to 1971; Assistant G-3 (Operations), II Field Force, Vietnam, United States Army, Vietnam, from 1967 to 1968; and Special Weapons Platoon Leader, Savanna Army Depot, Illinois, from 1963 to 1964.

He is also a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. and has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri School of Law.

Coburn, a native of Kentucky, is married to the former Janice Pepper of Ypsilanti, Michigan; they have three sons, John, Robert and Matthew.