United States Army Corps of Engineers

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Image:United States Army Corps of Engineers logo.svg

Active June 15, 1775-Present.
Country United States
Branch United States Army
Size 33,000 civilian and 580 military members
Garrison/HQ Washington, D.C.
Motto Essayons (Let us try)
Colors Red and White
Commanders
Current
commander 		LTG Robert Van Antwerp
Notable
commanders 		COL Robert Gridley, LTG Leif J. Sverdrup

The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is a federal agency made up of some 33,000 civilian and 580 military men and women. The Corps's mission[1] is to provide military and public works 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.
  • Designing and constructing flood protection systems. In New Orleans, the federal mandate was the Flood Control Act of 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

Contents

[edit] Facts and Figures[2]

  • One HQ, 8 Divisions, 1 Provisional Division, 45 Districts, 6 Centers, one active-duty unit, 2 Engineer Reserve Command
  • At work in more than 90 countries
  • Supports 159 Army installations and 91 Air Force installations
  • Owns and operates 608 dams
  • Operates and maintains 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of commercial inland navigation channels
  • Owns and/or operates 257 navigation lock chambers at 212 sites
  • Owns and operates 24% of US hydropower capacity (3% of the total US electric capacity)
  • Maintains 926 coast, Great Lakes, and inland harbors with 255 million cubic yards of construction and maintenance dredging annually
  • Approximately $4 billion in technical services to 70 non-DoD Federal agencies annually
  • Nation's number one provider of outdoor recreation with more than 368 million visits annually to 4,485 sites at 423 Corps projects (383 major lakes and reservoirs)
  • Total water supply storage capacity of 329,900,000 acre feet (406,900,000,000 m³)
  • Average annual damages prevented by Corps flood risk management projects (1995-2004) of $21 billion (see "Civil works controversies" below
  • Approximately 137 environmental protection projects under construction (Sep 2006 figure)
  • Approximately 38,700 acres (157 km²) of wetlands restored, created, enhanced, or preserved annually under the Corps' Regulatory Program
  • Completed over 4,400 infrastructure projects in Iraq at an estimated cost of $6.1 billion

[edit] History

The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to June 16, 1775, when the Continental Congress organized an army with a chief engineer and two assistants. Colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washington's first chief engineer; however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks 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.

From the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps to contribute to both military construction and works of a civil nature. Assigned the military construction mission in 1941, the Corps built facilities at home and abroad to support the U.S. Army and Air Force. In the 20th century, the Corps became the lead federal flood control agency and significantly expanded its civil works activities, becoming among other things a major provider of hydroelectric energy and the country’s leading provider of recreation; its role in responding to natural disasters also grew dramatically. In the late 1960s, the Corps became a leading environmental preservation and restoration agency.

[edit] Historical 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.

[edit] Notable Dates and Projects

  • An act to improve naigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers initiated the Corps' permanent civil works construction mission. The General Survey ACt authorized use of Army engineers to survey roads and canals
  • 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, 1884
  • Panama Canal, completed under supervision of Army Engineer officers, 1914
  • Flood Control Act of 1936 made flood control a Federal policy and officially recognized the Corps as the major Federal flood control agency
  • USACE took over all real estate acquisiton, construction, and maintenance for Army facilities, 1941
  • planning and construction of The Pentagon, completed in 1943 just 15 months after groundbreaking
  • the Manhattan Project
  • Corps began construction support for NASA leading to major activities at the Manned Spacecraft Center and John F. Kennedy Space Center, 1961
  • The Water Resources Development Act WRDA brought major change in financing by requiring nonfederal contributions toward most Federal water resource projects, 1986

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

[edit] Civil works controversies

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 and the New Orleans flood protection.[3][4] 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.[5] Faulty design and substandard construction have been cited in the failure of levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Corps of Engineers projects can be found in all fifty states,[6] making its budget and project authorizations ripe for earmarks and other pork. Under the provisions of the US Constitution, Article I, Sec 9, "[N]o Money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of an Appropriation made by Law."[7] Therefore, Corps projects are either authorized specifically or as part of a Congressionally authorized category of projects. Many times, local citizen, special interest, and political groups lobby Congress [8] for authorization and appropriations for specific projects in their area.[9] Depending on the point of view of any debate on these projects is that they may or may not be considered sound from an engineering standpoint. Whether or not USACE planners and engineers actually do the best they can with what they are directed to do is part of the controversy.

Attempts to modify the Corps' way of doing business or its organizational structure have 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.[10] That bill did not pass, but a similar bill, the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, with the Corps Reform measures intact was passed by Congress in 2007 becoming law despite a presidential veto.[11]

In November 2007, Dr. Ray Seed, a well-known engineer and ASCE member submitted an ethics complaint to the ASCE alleging that the Corps of Engineers colluded with the ASCE to minimize the Corps' mistakes in the flooding and to intimidate anyone who tried to intervene. The Corps has acknowledged receiving a copy of the letter but has refused to comment until after the ASCE comments.[12]. In December 2007, Maj Gen Don Riley disclosed at a conference in New Orleans that Lt Gen Robert Van Antwerp planned to meet with Dr. Seed personally.[13]

[edit] Leadership

The current Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is LTG Robert L. Van Antwerp. [6]

Two Deputy Commanding Generals assist in supervising General Staff activities and in discharging the heavy responsibilities which devolve upon the Commanding General. The current Deputies are:

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

[edit] The Headquarters

Image:USACE gold insignia.jpg
The USACE gold castle insignia, worn by officers of the Corps

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.

USACE has two Directors who head up Military Programs and Civil Works. Currently, they are:

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

The Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is CSM Robert A. Winzenried.

[edit] Organization

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is organized geographically into eight permanent divisions, one provisional division, and one provisional district reporting directly to the HQ. Within each division, there are several districts. 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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:

[edit] 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.

[edit] Notable projects

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • 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. [7]
  • 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 (27 km)-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. [8]
  • 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.usace.army.mil/missions/index.html
  2. ^ From "Serving The Armed Forces and The Nation" 2007 edition (Oct 2007), and data from the US Army Corps of Engineers
  3. ^ [ http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1646611_1646683_1648904,00.html ]
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ [4]
  8. ^ See History section in Political campaign
  9. ^ [5](See "Skewed Priorities")
  10. ^ http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/07/05/20070514.html
  11. ^ http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/11/water_bill_passes_despite_bush.html
  12. ^ http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/11/critic_corps_tried_to_thwart_i.html
  13. ^ http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-9/119683600178940.xml&coll=1

[edit] External links

fr:Corps des ingénieurs de l'armée des États-Unis ja:アメリカ陸軍工兵司令部 no:U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pl:Korpus Inżynieryjny Armii Stanów Zjednoczonych

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