MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. — Mike Evans spends his weekdays preparing Mobile County for hurricanes, floods and other disasters. Now he also wears two stars. The Mobile County Emergency Management Agency director has been promoted to major general in the Alabama Army National Guard and has taken command of the 167th Theater Sustainment Command, a command of more than 2,600 soldiers.
Michael D. “Mike” Evans’ promotion to the two-star rank took effect Sept. 11 by order of the Secretary of the Army. Two days later, on Sept. 13, he assumed command of the 167th TSC during a ceremony on Marshall Parade Field at Fort McClellan in Anniston, where he reaffirmed the oath of office administered by Maj. Gen. Jeffery M. Smith, the Alabama National Guard’s Army component commander, and was formally pinned with his new rank.
Evans will continue to serve full time as director of the Mobile County EMA while fulfilling his Guard duties.
At a glance
- Who: Michael D. “Mike” Evans, director of the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency
- New rank: Major general, Alabama Army National Guard, effective Sept. 11, 2026
- New command: 167th Theater Sustainment Command, assumed Sept. 13, 2026, at Fort McClellan in Anniston
- Command size: More than 2,600 active-duty, Active Guard Reserve and traditional National Guard personnel
- Previous command: 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command
- Civilian role: Continues as full-time Mobile County EMA director
Two jobs, one mission
Like other traditional National Guard members, Evans holds a civilian career while meeting the training, command and other service requirements of the Guard. He has more than 24 years of emergency management experience and more than four decades of military service.
“Service is the common thread throughout my career. The leadership, planning and preparedness required in the National Guard directly complement the work we do every day at Mobile County EMA, and I’m proud to continue serving my community while taking on this new responsibility,” Evans said.
Shayne Lovitte, chair of the Mobile County EMA Authority Board, said Evans’ two roles reinforce each other.
“Mike’s commitment to service and preparedness is evident in everything he does, whether he is serving Mobile County through EMA or our state and nation through the Alabama National Guard,” Lovitte said. “The experience and leadership he brings to both roles strengthen our ability to prepare for and respond when Mobile County residents need us most. We’re proud to see him receive this well-earned recognition.”
What the 167th Theater Sustainment Command does
Sustainment is the Army’s term for the logistics, supply, maintenance, transportation and personnel support that keeps forces operating. A theater sustainment command oversees that work across an entire region of operations, making it the highest level of sustainment headquarters in the Army structure.
The 167th TSC, part of the Alabama National Guard, is the only theater-level sustainment command in the National Guard. Its headquarters and a special troops battalion are based at Fort McClellan in Anniston, and its subordinate units are spread across the state.
The unit’s lineage traces to an infantry company organized in the 1920s that served in World War II with the 31st Infantry Division, earning campaign credit in New Guinea and the Southern Philippines. It first became a support unit in 1968 as the 167th Support Brigade and was redesignated several times before becoming a theater sustainment command in 2009. In addition to its overseas role, the command’s missions include supporting homeland defense and disaster relief operations, work that closely parallels Evans’ civilian job.
From private to two-star general
Evans began his National Guard career as an enlisted private while still a teenager and rose through a series of increasingly responsible positions to become a sustainment and logistics officer. Before his promotion to brigadier general, he held the rank of colonel and served as a brigade commander.
In June 2023, he was promoted to brigadier general and took command of the 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, based in Birmingham. At the time, Mobile County commissioners noted that it was one of only two expeditionary sustainment commands in the Army National Guard. When he received that promotion, Evans encouraged young people making important life decisions to consider National Guard service.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where he earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree.
Leading Mobile County EMA
Evans was named director of the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency in August 2023, succeeding longtime director Ronnie Adair, who had led the agency since 2009 and retired. Evans had previously served as the agency’s deputy director. The EMA Authority Board’s executive committee chose him unanimously, making him the county’s seventh full-time EMA director.
As director, Evans oversees countywide preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation efforts. During emergencies, he directs activation of the Mobile County Emergency Operations Center and coordinates resources to support the county and its municipalities.
Under his leadership, Mobile County EMA earned national accreditation through the Emergency Management Accreditation Program in 2025, becoming the only county emergency management agency in Alabama to hold that designation. EMAP accreditation is an independent review of an emergency management program against national standards covering planning, resource management, training, communications and other areas.
Two decades of disasters
Evans’ emergency management experience includes response and recovery work associated with 17 presidentially declared disasters. Among them:
- Hurricane Ivan (2004)
- Hurricane Dennis (2005)
- Hurricane Katrina (2005)
- The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010)
- The 2012 Christmas Day tornadoes
- Hurricane Sally (2020)
- Hurricane Zeta (2020)
- The COVID-19 pandemic
Those events span nearly the full range of hazards that coastal Alabama faces, from major hurricanes and tornadoes to an environmental disaster and a public health emergency.
Credentials and education
Evans is a Certified Emergency Manager through the International Association of Emergency Managers and a Master Level Emergency Manager through the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Mobile, a master’s degree in management from Troy University, and his master’s degree in strategic studies from the Army War College.
About Mobile County EMA
The Mobile County Emergency Management Agency traces its roots to 1952. Resolutions passed by the Mobile County Commission in 1984 made the agency the office of government responsible for emergency planning in Mobile County. It is charged with planning and preparing for emergencies that may affect the county, coordinating and communicating among agencies, and mobilizing resources to respond quickly when disaster strikes.
The agency is governed by the Mobile County EMA Authority Board, made up of county commissioners and the mayors, or their designees, of the county’s municipalities.
Staying informed
Residents can find preparedness information, alerts and emergency updates through Mobile County EMA’s website at mcema.net and through the agency’s mobile app, available for Apple and Android devices. The app also streams locally broadcast emergency and weather radio content.