|
New business model approved during MVD’s first simultaneous R4 meeting (Regional Command Council, Regional Business Council, Regional Program Review Board, and the Regional Program Budget Advisory Committee)
 |
|
Brig.
Gen. Michael Walsh |
“You’ve all got to believe we can deliver the largest domestic Civil Works project in USACE history on time and within budget, or it will not get done.” Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh said during his opening remarks to the Mississippi Valley Division’s senior leadership team at the first R4 meeting held October 14th in Vicksburg.
General Walsh then told the group about how a 20,000 pound African bull-elephant can be controlled with a single chain connected to a small stake in the ground because it is taught at a young age that his struggles to get free are futile and the conditioning lasts the rest of the elephant’s life.
General Walsh continued that an organization’s culture can also have chains that prevent progress because we’re conditioned by past practices. New Orleans is our metaphorical elephant, and “We are tied to a burning platform, and failure is not an option,” he said. “We must break the chains that tie us to a single-District focus and tackle this immense mission as a true regional entity.”
As a result of that challenge and following a day of
intense, open discussions, the seven Commanders
proposed a regional business model to speed progress
in Louisiana. The new model is centered on the
concept that each District Commander and Chief of
Engineering Division will have direct command and
control over hurricane projects their districts will
execute. St. Paul District Commander, Col. Jon Christensen, led the RCC as they presented three courses of action to General Walsh with a recommendation for the third option. After a healthy debate with the RCC, General Walsh selected Course of Action Three
(Please see attached PDF).
A few of the key benefits of the selected course of action allows each of the upper five District’s Chains of Command to prioritize resources, establish Command geographic responsibility, and force regional prioritization.
MVD Regional Business Director, Mike Rogers, suggested that everyone think about the Corps work in New Orleans from a new regional perspective. “We are talking about a total program that is 15 thousand million dollars or 15 billion dollars if you prefer,” Rogers said. “Every district will be sharing the work, and everyone will be working collaboratively to get our mission done,” he added. “We have 30 months, or 957 days, to complete the work, and we can make it happen if we work as a regional team.”
 |
|
District
Commander Col. Tom Smith stresses a
point about his execution of the FY 08
budget as Jim Lloyd listens. |
Additionally, District Commanders briefed the execution of their FY 08 budgets. MVD
Resource Management Chief, Joe Lemons, said the Commander’s presentations all had a unified focus: “Did we do what we said we were going to do?” Lemons added that as a region “we were able to reduce our cost of doing business by increasing our direct charging and by decreasing our indirect expenses, therefore, reducing the regional overhead rates. Overall, it was a good year for MVD.”
The District Commanders also briefed their fiscal
year 2009 budgets which provided a comparison of their cost of doing business in relationship to the other districts in setting the regional rates. A recommendation was made by Resource Management to the Regional Command Counsel for approval of the FY 09 regional rates. The following rates were approved:
Consolidated Dept. Overhead 52 percent
Operations Dept. Overhead 31 percent
Emergency Mgt. Dept. Overhead 31 percent
Regulatory Dept. Overhead 28 percent
G&A Overhead 20 percent
To track our up-to-date performance on regional rates:
(Please see the attached PDF).
Every person must understand our success in delivering the HSDRRS depends on them! Our reputation and future – the district, division, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- depends on
you! Believe!
| 
