I’ve been on the road traveling the country quite a bit lately, and I’ve been giving a lot of speeches, talking to a lot of people about all that we have going on right now. I find that I keep using the same word – “unprecedented.”

I was already using that word a lot, in relation to our massive military construction workload – the largest since WWII. I was already using it in relation to our civil works construction efforts, specifically in Louisiana. And all that was before the “stimulus” bill – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed by President Obama in February. Those four little letters, ARRA, are creating a mountain of work for us here at the Corps – a mountain we are ready to climb!

So, like I said, we were already using the word “unprecedented” to describe our workload, but now add to that $4.6 billion in civil works, $3.5 billion in military construction and $1 billion in Interagency and International Services work. I think the word “unprecedented” has unprecedented meaning for us now. But we are poised and ready to “get ‘er done!”

ltg.van American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Civil Works, Military Programs

I would not be where I am today without my best friend, my bride of 35 years, the mother of my children – my lovely wife, Paula.
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Today marks Military Spouse Appreciation Day. It is so great to see the renewed appreciation that military spouses are getting, with the First Lady’s focus on military families, and with the Army’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant and Community Covenant, which recognize the remarkable commitment and increasing sacrifices our families make every day. I can tell you personally, that Paula has been unbelievably supportive during dozens of moves, deployments, long work hours and many trips that take me away for days on end.�
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Paula is one of thousands of men and women who deserve our appreciation today, and every day.  The fact that they are Family Strong, makes it possible for those of us in uniform to be Army Strong.
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And here at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specifically, we have many employees who are military spouses, as well as many husbands and wives of civilians who experience first hand the challenges of military life, as so many of our civilians have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in support of the rebuilding efforts.�
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So I would just like to say thank you to the unsung heroes of our military – the spouses – who truly are deserving of our admiration today and every day.�
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I know this is a subject near and dear to many of your hearts, and many of you will likely want to post a comment. Unfortunately, our ‘comments’ link is currently broken – but my IT gurus assure me that a fix is in the works, so please check back, because I would love to hear what you have to say.

ltg.van Family Readiness, Miscellaneous "neat stuff" Army Community Covenant, Army Family Covenant, Military Spouse Appreciation Day