Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Coakley was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class 7-63, 14 December 1963. His first duty assignment was Company Tactics Department, United States Army Infantry Center, Fort Benning, Georgia. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Battalion Advisor, Military Assistance Command Vietnam; United States Army Tactics Center Fort Jackson, South Carolina; MACCORDS Headquarters Military Assistance Command Vietnam Saigon, Vietnam; Headquarters Forward Support Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia; 197th Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, Georgia; Headquarters Department of the Army, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. | At the time of his induction, Lieutenant Colonel Coakley was working for the United States Army Corps of Engineers.