In the last few years, USACE has had a significant civil works workload, including construction of the $14.6 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System in New Orleans. Where do you see the future of the civil works program heading?

We recognize that the nation is currently in an era of constrained fiscal resources and that we are one of many federal agencies supported by those limited resources. My job as the commander is to make sure that USACE is doing everything it can to present a business case that fully informs the administration, Congress, and Army of our value to the nation when funding decisions are made.

With respect to our civil works program, budget transformation is a key piece of what we are trying to accomplish as part of an overall transformation of the program. This effort will help ensure the nation’s most critical current and future needs are met and it gets the maximum return on investment in the program. We will do this by focusing on national goals and objectives, and developing a comprehensive infrastructure strategy that prioritizes investments based on an evaluation of project value and level of service provided.

The transformation of civil works is among the most important endeavors in USACE history.

The transformation of civil works is among the most important endeavors in USACE history. It will set a clear direction for the USACE civil works program to meet the nation’s current and emerging water resources needs. The objective of civil works transformation is to shape a sustainable portfolio of water resources infrastructure for the nation’s future.

Civil works transformation includes enhancing the budget process, modernizing the planning process, improving methods of delivery, and smart infrastructure asset management. Through this process, we will enhance our capabilities and promote greater involvement, ownership, concurrence and commitment among the USACE team, water resources stakeholders and the American public.

What was USACE’s role during the response and recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy?

We are always prepared to respond to natural and manmade disasters. When disasters occur, our teams and other resources are mobilized from across the country to assist our local districts and offices to deliver our response missions. In any disaster, the Corps’ top priorities are life and safety.

From the beginning, the Hurricane Sandy response was a team effort. Through the FEMA National Response Framework, we were part of a larger team that extends through all levels of government – local, state, and federal, as well as non-governmental partners and volunteers.

Our primary missions during the Hurricane Sandy response were unwatering flooded sites, generating emergency power and debris removal. USACE has more than 3,000 employees in North Atlantic Division [NAD] and at the peak of the response, about 990 additional team members from USACE divisions across the country deployed to support NAD.

At the height of the power mission, we had generators capable of providing 55 megawatts of power to critical facilities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. In addition, we sent power experts and generators to support New York Public Housing, the Hoboken High Rise Complex, the Kinder Morgan Petroleum Terminal, and Hoboken Terminal.

The storm surge flooded five subway tubes in New York City, two Amtrak tunnels and three of the city’s primary roadways. FEMA assigned the unwatering missions to USACE, and we turned to Mississippi Valley Division and Rock Island District because of their recent unwatering expertise in New Orleans. Joint Task Force Unwatering teamed with New York District, other federal agencies, and city, state, and local authorities, with assistance from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. We concentrated our pumping efforts at 14 critical locations determined by local officials, and we unwatered the tunnels in less than two weeks. During the unwatering operations USACE controlled 162 pumps and removed more than 475 million gallons of seawater, equal to 720 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

A total of 35 USACE debris teams helped clear debris in ports, waterways, and coastal areas of New York and New Jersey. FEMA assigned us a direct federal assistance debris mission in New York. We awarded a contract and helped plan and manage the operation. More than 300 loaders, bobcats, backhoes, short- and long-haul trucks, barges and tugs were assigned to remove debris, and more than 1,300 pieces of USACE-contracted equipment was put to work, in partnership with state and local entities, to support clearing some 3.6 million cubic yards of remaining material.

We had a number of other missions as well. USACE provided 512 truckloads of water to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia at 18,000 liters per load.

We also had a critical public facilities mission to assess damage at fire, police, and paramedic stations, schools, city halls, hospitals, and public works facilities. Of the 158 facilities that we inspected in New Jersey, 29 needed temporary structures, including eight fire and police stations, three schools, and one city hall.

We will continue “Building Strong” through leader development, mentoring and talent management programs.

Our infrastructure assessment teams augment local efforts to inspect buildings that are primarily residential, and to manage inspections of public works facilities as assigned by FEMA. Buildings are assessed for damage and assigned a safety rating under the direction and authority of local code enforcement officials. USACE completed 16 infrastructure assessments requested by Nassau County, including evaluations of medical facilities, fire stations, piers, and water and waste treatment plants.

Those are just a few of the missions that USACE had during the response to Hurricane Sandy, some of which will continue into the new year.

 

What does USACE need to do to position itself for the future, in terms of workforce development and talent management?

Because of what the nation and Army expect from USACE, we must be an organization made up of military professionals, and of engineers, scientists and technicians who are respected leaders in their fields. We will increasingly see a teaming at nearly every echelon on the battlefield between uniformed military engineers and our civilian workforce who are our technical and professional backbone. We will continue to value degreed engineers, licensed engineers, advanced degrees, and the other credentials that make military engineering a true profession, while also benefiting from the many other educational backgrounds that contribute to USACE.

I have often said that the Army trains soldiers and grows leaders. We grow our leaders through a variety of challenging assignments, demanding experiences and broad educational opportunities. It takes a significant investment of time and personal commitment of our senior leaders and mentors to properly grow a bench of future leaders. Leadership is often more about how to be, not how to do. We spend our entire lives learning how to do things, but at the end of the day, it is the quality of one’s character that distinguishes the great leaders.

In the military engineering profession, we also have an added responsibility to develop engineering and technical professionals. We not only must build great people, but also strong multidisciplinary teams to be successful in most of our endeavors. We will continue “Building Strong” through leader development, mentoring and talent management programs.

I believe that we all have an obligation to mentor the future leaders of our Army, both military and civilian. This takes an investment of time, but it is well worth it. Those who we mentor appreciate it, and will pass it on. I was mentored by some outstanding leaders. I also feel that I’ve been mentored by those junior to me. I continue to lead and grow from my association with those junior to me.

USACE also recognizes the critical role that science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM] education plays in enabling the U.S. to remain the economic and technological leader of the global marketplace. STEM is also vital to the security of our nation. We are committed to teaming with others to strengthen STEM-related programs within our schools across the nation that inspire current and future generations of young people to pursue careers in STEM fields.

This interview first appeared in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Building Strong^®, Serving the Nation and the Armed Forces 2012-2013 Edition.