What is United States Army Corps Of Engineers?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Active	June 15, 1775-Present.
Country	United States
Branch	Regular Army; Army Reserve; and National Guard
Size	34,600 civilian and 650 military members
Garrison/HQ	Washington, D.C.
Motto	Essayons (Let us try)
Colors	Red and White
Commanders
Current commander	LTG Robert Van Antwerp

The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is a federal agency made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military men and women. The Corps's mission is to provide military and civil works engineering services to the United States, including:

• Planning, designing, building, and operating locks and dams. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, beach renourishment, and dredging for waterway navigation.
• In metro New Orleans, designing and constructing the flood protection system as federally mandated since 1965.
• Designing and managing the construction of military facilities for the Army and Air Force
• Providing design and construction management support for other Defense and federal agencies
• Ecosystem restoration

History

The Corps's history began in 1775 when the Continental Congress authorized the first Chief Engineer whose first task was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill. The first Corps was mostly composed of French subjects, who had been hired by George Washington from the service of Louis XVI. In 1802 a corps of engineers was stationed at West Point and constituted the nation's first military academy.

• WT Preston, a museum ship that was once a "snagboat," or specialized river dredge

Highlights

The Continental Congress authorized the creation of a "Chief Engineer for the Army" beginning on June 16, 1775. A Corps of Engineers for the United States was authorized by the Congress on March 11, 1779. The Corps of Engineers as it is known today came into being on March 16, 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy." The United States Military Academy was under the direction of the Corps of Engineers until 1866. The Corps's authority over river works in the United States began with its fortification of New Orleans after the War of 1812. A Corps of Topographical Engineers, authorized on July 4, 1838, consisted only of officers and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses. It included such officers as George Meade. It was merged with the Corps of Engineers in March, 1863.

Notable projects by the Corps include the survey and construction of the National Road until Federal funds were withdrawn (1838), the 555 ft 5 1/8 in (169 m) tall Washington Monument, completed under the direction and command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey in 1888, major hydroelectric projects, the planning and building of The Pentagon, and the Manhattan Project.

Occasional civil disasters including the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 resulted in greater responsibilities for the Corps. New Orleans is another example of this.

Leadership

The Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is LTG Robert L. Van Antwerp. [1]

The Headquarters

The Headquarters defines policy and guidance and plans direction for the organizations within the Corps. It is made up of an Executive Office and 17 Staff Principals. Located in Washington, DC, the Headquarters creates policy and plans the future direction of all other Corps organizations. The Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is CSM Robert A. Winzenried.

The Deputy Commanding Generals, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Two Deputy Commanding Generals assist in supervising General Staff activities and in discharging the heavy responsibilities which devolve upon the Commanding General. The Deputy Commanding Generals are:

• MG Ronald L. Johnson, Deputy Commanding General.
• MG Steven R. Abt, Deputy Commanding General for Mobilization and Reserve Affairs (Individual Mobilization Augmentee).

The Directors of Military Programs and Civil Works. Two Directors head Military Programs and Civil Works. The Directors are:

• BG Merdith W.B. (Bo) Temple, Director of Military Programs/Director of Operations, known as G-3.
• MG Don T. Riley, Director of Civil Works.

Organization

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is organized geographically into eight permanent divisions, one provisional division, and one provisional district. They are defined by watershed boundaries for civil works projects, and by political boundaries for military projects. The divisions and district are:

• Great Lakes and Ohio River Division (LRD)
• Mississippi Valley Division (MVD)
• North Atlantic Division (NAD)
• Northwestern Division (NWD)
• Pacific Ocean Division (POD)
• South Atlantic Division (SAD)
• South Pacific Division (SPD)
• Southwestern Division (SWD)
• Gulf Region Division (Provisional) (GRD), Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
• Afghanistan Engineer District (Provisional) (AED), Operation ENDURING FREEDOM

Civil works controversy

Main article: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works controversies

Some of the Corps of Engineers' civil works projects have been characterized in the press as being pork barrel or boondoggles such as the New Madrid Floodway ^[1] and the New Orleans flood protection^[2]. Projects have allegedly been justified based on flawed or manipulated analyses during the planning phase. Some projects are said to have created profound detrimental environmental effects and/or provided questionable economic benefit such as the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in southeast Louisiana. ^[3] Faulty design and substandard construction have been cited in the failure of levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Attempts to modify the Corps' way of doing business or its organizational structure has been championed by Senator Russ Feingold and Senator John McCain who succeeded in adding an amendment requiring peer review of corps projects to the Water Resources Development Act in 2006.^[4]

Enforcement

One of the major responsibilities of the Corps of Engineers is administering the wetlands permitting program under Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. (AKA "The Clean Water Act"). This Act authorized the Secretary of the Army to issue permits for the discharge of dredged and fill material.

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (codified in Chapter 33, Section 403 of the United States Code) gave the Corps authority over navigable waters of the United States. As navigable waters are defined as "navigable waters of the United States are those waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or are presently being used, or have been used in the past, or may be susceptible for use to transport interstate or foreign commerce", the Corps has broad authority to enforce this, including licensing of bridges over navigable waters, and the maintenance of pierhead and bulkhead lines.

There are three types of permits issued by the Corps of Engineers: Nationwide, Regional General, and Individual. 80% of the permits issued are nationwide permits, which include several general types of activities, as published in the Federal Register. To gain authorization under a nationwide permit, an applicant usually needs only send a letter to the regional Corps office notifying them of his or her intent, type and amount of impact, and a site map. Although the nationwide process is fairly simple, Corps approval must be obtained before commencing with any work. Regional general permits are specific to each Corps division office. Individual permits are generally required for projects greater than 0.5 acres (2,000 m²) in size.

Research

The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is the Corps of Engineers research and development command. ERDC consists of seven laboratories.

Research support includes:

• Dam safety systems
• Mapping and topography terrain analysis
• Infrastructure design, construction, operations and maintenance
• Structural engineering
• Cold regions and ice engineering
• Coastal and hydraulic engineering, producing products such as HEC-RAS
• Environmental quality, including toxic chemistry of bay mud and other dredge spoils
• Geotechnical engineering
• High performance computing and information technology

Support services

There are several other major organizations within the Corps of Engineers:

• U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center (CEHNC) – provides engineering and technical services, program and project management, construction management, and innovative contracting initiatives, for programs that are national or broad in scope or not normally provided by other Corps of Engineers elements
• Transatlantic Programs Center (CETAC) – supports Federal programs and policies overseas
• Finance Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CEFC) – supports the operating finance and accounting functions throughout the Corps of Engineers
• Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity (CEHEC) – provides administrative and operational support for Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and various field offices
• Marine Design Center (CEMDC) – provides total project management including planning, engineering, and shipbuilding contract management in support of Corps, Army, and national water resource projects in peacetime, and augments the military construction capacity in time of national emergency or mobilization
• Institute for Water Resources (IWR) – supports the Civil Works Directorate and other Corps of Engineers commands by developing and applying new planning evaluation methods, polices and data in anticipation of changing water resources management conditions.
• 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power) – generates and distributes prime electrical power in support of fighting wars, disaster relief, stability and support operations as well as provides advice and technical assistance in all aspects of electrical power and distribution systems. It also maintains Army power generation and distribution war reserves.
• 911th Engineer Company – (formerly the MDW Engineer Company) provides specialized technical search and rescue support for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area; it is also a vital support member of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, which is charged with the homeland security of the United States capital region.

Notable projects

• Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
• Cross Florida Barge Canal

Trivia

• The Corps of Engineers branch insignia, the Corps Castle, is believed to have originated on an informal basis. In 1841, cadets at West Point wore insignia of this type. In 1902, the Castle was formally adopted by the Corps of Engineers as branch insignia. http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/vignettes/Vignette_90.htm
• A current tradition was established with the "Gold Castles" branch insignia of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, West Point Class of 1903, who served in the Corps of Engineers early in his career and had received the two pins as a graduation gift of his family. In 1945, near the conclusion of World War II, General MacArthur gave his personal pins to his Chief Engineer, General Leif J. Sverdrup. On May 2, 1975, upon the 200th anniversary of the Corps, retired General Sverdrup, who had civil engineering projects including the landmark 17 mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to his credit, presented the Gold Castles to then-Chief of Engineers Lieutenant General William C. Gribble, Jr., who had also served under General MacArthur in the Pacific. General Gribble then announced a tradition of passing the insignia along to future Chiefs of Engineers, and it has been done so since. http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/vignettes/Vignette_89.htm
• The Corps of Engineers appears in Tennessee Williams's play, A Streetcar Named Desire, in the form of the "engineers' corps." One of the main characters, Stanley Kowalski, once worked for the corps as a sergeant major.
• Jacqueline Kennedy tasked the Corps of Engineers with the construction of the Eternal Flame at Arlington Cemetery for JFK.
• The Corps of Engineers, when building dams, name each dam after the nearest post office. They broke with tradition when building the Summersville Dam. Rather than naming it Gad Dam after the closest town of Gad, West Virginia, they chose instead to name it after the second closest town of Summersville, West Virginia.

See also

• Public works

References

External links

• United States Army Corps of Engineers
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers News
• Levees.org - Non profit in New Orleans holding the Army Corps accountable for their flood protection nationwide
• Corps Reform Network - A network of grassroots groups working to ensure that Army Corps of Engineers projects are economically and environmentally sound
• History Miscellaneous USACE Publications.
• Historic photos of Corps of Engineers lock and dam projects throughout Texas in 1910-20s from the Portal to Texas History