Robert S. Tyrer
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Prior to joining The Cohen Group, Mr. Robert Tyrer served as the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense from 1997–2001. In this capacity, he provided strategic advice and daily counsel to Defense Secretary William Cohen on all aspects of national security policy and helped oversee the daily worldwide operations of the Department of Defense. As a key advisor, he participated in the Secretary's discussions with foreign political, military, and business leaders in over 40 capitals and maintained strong ties with them throughout his tenure.
In addition, he worked to achieve consensus within the defense industry, Congress, the White House, and other federal agencies on a host of sensitive and complicated security issues involving military operations, equipment modernization, personnel, budget, and military installations worldwide. He was the Secretary's primary liaison with the White House chief of staff and other senior White House officials, as well as with cabinet counterparts. In that capacity, he played a key Pentagon role in presidential initiatives such as NATO enlargement and the Middle East Peace Process and received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service for his accomplishments.
Before entering the Pentagon, Mr. Tyrer served 21 years on Capitol Hill in virtually every capacity a congressional staff member can play, becoming a highly sought after political, media, and campaign adviser throughout Washington. As Chief of Staff to Senator Cohen from 1989–1996, he was the Senator's senior political and policy adviser and was a key player in all political activity in the State of Maine from the municipal level to the State House. He also managed the legislative work of numerous committees and subcommittees the Senator chaired in addition to a staff of nearly 100 dispersed in nine offices.
During the 1996 elections, Mr. Tyrer was campaign manager for US Senator Susan Collins in her successful effort to win the Senate seat vacated by Senator Cohen. He has also advised other US Senate candidates, designing and implementing media strategies for several successful campaigns; has advised candidates for federal, state, and local office from across the country; and was highly successful in designing and implementing national resource strategies for candidates for federal office. He has also advised parliamentary candidates overseas and counseled members of parliament on establishing effective legislative operations.
Mr. Tyrer is a graduate of the University of Maine and a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Maine's William S. Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service. He is also a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He served as a member of the board of directors of EDO Corporation, a military and commercial products and professional services company from 2003 until the company was purchased by ITT Corporation in late 2007.
In June 2014, Mr. Tyrer was elected to the Board of Directors of Clean Air Power, a publicly traded company based in the United Kingdom. Clean Air Power which develops and sells Dual-Fuel combustion technology to allow greater use of natural gas by heavy duty diesel engines, which cuts fuel costs and carbon emissions without sacrificing the original engine's characteristic efficiency or reliability. In 2016, Clean Air Power was sold.
In 2017, Mr. Tyrer was elected to the board of directors of FLIR Systems, Inc. FLIR designs, develops, markets, and distributes thermal imaging systems, visible-light imaging systems, locater systems, measurement and diagnostic systems, and threat-detection solutions. FLIR devices such as infrared cameras allow the operator to see in total darkness, adverse weather, and through such air pollutants as smoke and haze. FLIR products have a number of commercial applications and are also widely used by the US military, law enforcement, firefighters, and first responders. In 2021, FLIR was purchased by Teledyne.
In June 2022, Mr. Tyrer was elected to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Association of the United States Army.