We have closed the books on Fiscal Year 2012 and it was another banner year for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.   

In FY12, USACE obligated $22 billion through 85,000 contract actions, representing 20 percent of the Department of the Army’s obligated dollars and 24 percent of the Army’s contracting actions this year.

We awarded $7.26 billion to small businesses in FY12, accounting for 33 percent of the Army’s $21 billion total small business obligations.  In comparison with other contracting activities that obligated more than $5 billion in FY12, USACE had the highest percentage of dollars awarded to Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Women-Owned Small Businesses, Service-Disabled Veteran Small Businesses and HubZone Businesses.  Thanks to your efforts, USACE broke small business records for the third straight year in a row!  

Even more important than the numbers are the people – our hard-working professionals who ensure delivery and management of USACE programs and the people around the world who depend upon our projects for safety, security, economic prosperity and quality of life.

I want to thank our entire team for the herculean efforts associated with year-end execution and close-out.  You worked diligently throughout the year and into the late hours of the night over the last few weeks, wrapping up FY12 and getting FY13 off to a good start.  I’m very proud of you – well done!

 

Essayons!  Building Strong!  Army Strong!

Thomas P. Bostick

Lieutenant General, US Army

Commanding

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America’s Army is the Strength of the Nation, and the greatest resource we have is our people — our Soldiers, Civilians, Veterans and Family Members.  After more than a decade of war and great personal sacrifices by our fighting force, the Army suicide rate is at an all-time high.  The incidence of other high-risk behaviors, including alcohol and substance abuse and post-traumatic stress, are also on the rise.

Every suicide is a tragic loss.  The Army has instituted a multi-level, holistic approach to health promotion, risk reduction and suicide prevention that accounts for the many challenges our Soldiers, Families and Civilians face today.  September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and on Sept. 27, each USACE Division, District, Center and Lab  participated in the Army’s Suicide Prevention Stand Down.

We are committed to providing resources for our Soldiers, Civilians and Family Members to help them develop resilience and deal with challenges, including the Command Chaplain, the Employee Assistance Program, Military & Family Life Consultants, Military One Source and Veterans Affairs.  You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org or www.preventsuicide.army.mil. 

For more information on how the Army is working to prevent suicide and other high-risk behaviors, visit http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/

There is nothing more important than improving the health, discipline and resilience of our Force.  A Healthy Force is a Ready Force!

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Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick became the 53rd U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding general and U.S. Army chief of engineers during an assumption of command ceremony, May 22, 2012, at Baruch Auditorium, Fort Lesley J. McNair.  Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III hosted the event.

“I absolutely believe Lt. Gen. Bostick is the right person to lead the Army Corps of Engineers,” Austin said during his remarks.  “He is one of the smartest, most gifted general officers of our time, with the ability to do well and thrive in any environment.”

At USACE, Bostick serves as the senior military officer overseeing most of the nation’s civil works infrastructure and military construction. He is responsible for more than 37,000 civilian employees and 600 military personnel who provide project management and construction support to 250 Army and Air Force installations in more than 100 countries around the world.

Bostick also oversees USACE’s diverse missions such as hundreds of environmental protection projects; the regulatory permit program to protect, restore and enhance thousands of acres of wetlands; and the emergency response mission to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In addition, as the chief of engineers, Bostick advises the Army on engineering matters and serves as the Army’s topographer and the proponent for real estate and other related engineering programs.

“Now, more than ever, the nation needs a lean, agile, strong, capable, competent and trusted Corps of Engineers.  One that serves the Army and nation; and one that truly teams with our many military, federal, state, local government, host nation governments, tribal, academia, industry and non-government partners to solve the engineering and scientific challenges facing the joint force, the nation and the global community,” Bostick said. 

“I’m committed to working with all our partners to continue the rich traditions of the Corps, meet the needs of this country and always deliver,” he added.

Lt. Gen. Bostick graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree.  He holds a master’s in civil engineering and mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College.  He is a registered professional engineer in Virginia

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According to recent information from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2011 was a record year for weather/climate disasters, with the highest number of events exceeding $1 billion in damages since 1980. Last year there were three times more disaster declarations than in a normal year, including tornadoes and severe spring storms, significant flooding throughout much of the country, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

This meant that it was also a year which tested the Corps’ disaster response capabilities, with personnel and teams responding to 22 events worldwide in 2011, the busiest year for the program since 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast. USACE spent approximately $1 billion on emergency operations this year.

In 2011, some 2,400 USACE personnel and 22 Planning and Response Teams (PRT) deployed in support of FEMA and the National Response Framework. Their missions included temporary power, debris removal, installation of concrete pads for temporary housing units, and temporary replacement of critical public facilities such as schools, health clinics and fire stations.

The districts in our Mississippi Valley Division and Northwest Division were also heavily engaged throughout most of the past year managing record high water levels along the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Red and Souris rivers, for a much longer duration than normal. Our flood risk reduction systems were operated at their maximum capacity, some for the first time ever. The systems performed as designed, and thousands of communities were spared. We are working now to make necessary repairs and restore these systems to their original operating capacities.

Whether operating in the aftermath of floodwaters, tornados, hurricanes or any other disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a vital part of the federal team helping communities recover and rebuild.

Posted bymgtemple underCivil Works, Emergency Response | Comments (0)

Did you know that small businesses in the U.S. represent 99 percent of all employer firms, and employ about half of all private sector employees? Small businesses have generated 65 percent of the net new jobs over the past 17 years, and hire 43 percent of high tech workers, including scientists, engineers, computer programmers and others.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) understands the importance of small businesses. In Fiscal Year 2011, 42.5 percent of all USACE contract obligations were awarded to small businesses at a total value of $8.1 billion. I am very proud that our teams not only met but exceeded our assigned goals this year in every category, including awards to Small Disadvantaged, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Women-Owned and HUBZone businesses.

Recently, Corps leaders and our hard-working acquisition professionals, as well as their counterparts from other Department of Defense (DOD) agencies, participated in the Society of Military Engineers’ annual Small Business Conference for DOD Engineering, Construction and Environmental Programs. This event and others like it offer small businesses vital information and training to prepare them to work with the government, while allowing us to learn how their companies can help the Corps serve the military and the Nation.

If you take a look back at what the Corps has accomplished over the past year, you will see clearly the importance of our small business and industry partners. After five years of intense effort, we met our commitments to deliver $11 billion of Base Realignment and Closure projects to our military customers and provide 100-year risk reduction to the citizens of New Orleans with the massive $14 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. Our teams were on the ground this year helping communities recover from tornadoes and hurricanes and managing historic flooding throughout much of the country. Where the Corps has served our Nation, small businesses have played a vital role. The same is true overseas, where we are reaching out and working with local contractors in Europe, Asia and Afghanistan to build Host Nation Capacity.

It takes the whole team – USACE and our federal partners, state and local agencies, tribal nations, special interest groups, academia and industry – to deliver sustainable engineering solutions and the Small Business community is a very important part of our success.

Posted bymgtemple underAfghanistan, Civil Works, Contingency Operations, Contracting, Emergency Response, Gulf Coast Recovery, Iraq, Military Programs, Partnership, Small Business | Comments (0)

2011 was a busy year for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as we executed more than $40 billion and served the Army and the Nation, both at home and abroad.   To find out more about our work this year, check out this video featuring Acting Commanding General and Acting Chief of Engineers Major General Merdith W. B. (Bo) Temple.

YouTube DoDLive

 

Posted bynallen underAfghanistan, Civil Works, Contingency Operations, Gulf Coast Recovery, Iraq, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

September marked the deadline for delivering projects in the Army Base Realignment and Closure 2005 (BRAC ‘05) plan. BRAC ’05, an $18 billion investment and the largest military construction program since World War II, provided an unprecedented one-time opportunity for reshaping how the Army trains, deploys, supplies and equips garrisons.

The Corps executed the facilities portion of Army BRAC ‘05, which includes 274 of 329 MILCON projects valued at $11 billion (The National Guard executed the remaining 55). These projects included everything from hospitals and four-star headquarters to training facilities and massive office complexes. Fulfilling our BRAC mission was a Corps-wide effort and thousands of our employees, in coordination with our contractors and military customers, were involved in designing and constructing sustainable, cost-effective facilities for our Armed Forces and they did so safely, on time and within budget.

Over the past six years, fiscal years 2006 – 2011, the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Military Construction programs have managed projects valued at $93 billion in support of the Army, Air Force, Defense Department, Overseas Contingency Operations, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, BRAC and Energy Conservation Investment Program. The Corps was able to do this because we had the right people with the right capabilities, and we had the flexibility to adapt our acquisition and delivery methods.

The BRAC program has been a great learning experience for USACE, and we are now better postured to meet the challenges of future missions in this complex, resource-constrained environment. I am very proud that the Corps is Building Strong for the Army and the Nation.

Essayons!
Temple

Posted bymgtemple underMilitary Programs, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Booker T. Washington, the foremost black educator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” As we celebrate Black History Month, let us take this opportunity to highlight the struggles, accomplishments, and successes that African-American’s have made to our society and Army.

African-Americans have served with distinction in the American military since the opening salvos of the Revolutionary War. Hundreds of thousands of black troops fought for their freedom during the Civil War, and during World War I approximately 40,000 African-American Engineers helped secure the Allied victory.  In fact, during World War II, 42% of all engineer units were African-American, performing incredible support missions such as building airfields, maintaining roads, repairing bridges, and building hospitals across Europe and the Pacific.

Closer to home, the Army sent African-American engineers to Alaska and Canada to help build the crucial Alaskan Highway, a 1,500-mile-road that would connect Alaska to the United States, enabling our military to channel troops, tanks, and aircraft to Alaska to bolster American defenses against Japanese operations in the Aleutian Islands. 

We’ve come a long way since World War II. As of 2008, African-American Soldiers made up 19.8 percent of the Active Duty Army, 13.3 percent of the National Guard and 22.1 percent of the Army Reserve.

As our Army has matured in how we regard diversity, our Country is still experiencing a shortage of engineers of all backgrounds, particularly among our youth.  Last year, we partnered with a school system in Los Angeles to provide valuable mentoring and leadership to more than 20,000 students.  And just this past September, we contracted with MYI Consulting to help us broaden and diversify our science, technology, engineering and math education and outreach nationwide. 

Our young Americans hold the future of our Nation in their hands, and we owe each of them the opportunity to realize their dreams. That’s just one way we’re BUILDING STRONG.

Van

Posted byltg.van underHistory, Miscellaneous "neat stuff" | Comments (0)

President Obama released the 2012 Civil Works budget today, which outlines the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ non-military funded programs and projects for next year.

Click here for a state-by-state breakdown of the FY 12 Army Civil Works Budget: http://www.usace.army.mil/cecw/pid/pages/cecwm_progdev.aspx

This budget provides an effective pathway for us to help create jobs, support economic development and global competitiveness, and restore and protect critical and vital aquatic ecosystems. It also reflects the realities of our Nation’s fiscal status. As with other federal agencies across government, this year’s budget is less than in prior years, and it is up to us to ensure that we use the funds with which we are entrusted in the most efficient and effective ways possible…and we will!

The greatest percentage of our resources will be used on projects that provide the highest returns on the Nation’s investment. This includes Dam Safety projects that are in the greatest need of repair — we have 692 dams that we either operate or own — projects that will reduce the risk of loss of life, projects that will mitigate environmental losses and advance a number of our environmental missions, and on-going projects that we can complete or make significant progress on with these funds.

We have 92 construction projects in the FY12 budget. This includes 55 flood and storm damage reduction projects, 19 aquatic ecosystem restoration projects, 16 navigation-related projects, and two hydropower mitigation projects.

About 34 percent of the budget supports the nation’s inland waterways and coastal navigation network, which is particularly important when you consider that nearly $2 trillion worth of trade travels up, down, in, and out of U.S. harbors and waterways. The efficient and effective movement of waterborne cargo is a critical component of the national economy, because it reduces the costs of goods and services for American consumers and supports the global competitiveness. The budget also supports projects and studies for a number of significant aquatic ecosystems, including South Florida and the Everglades.

FY 2012 will be an exciting year in our efforts to provide valuable engineering services to our Nation. We are fully committed to supporting the President’s priorities to secure the homeland, revitalize the economy, and restore and protect the environment. We are proud to serve this great Nation, and we look forward to our continued mission of BUILDING STRONG.

Best,

Van

BUILDING STRONG®

Posted byltg.van underCivil Works, Contingency Operations, Levees, Locks and Dams | Comments (2)

Many people have heard me use the term “building to last” when talking about the need for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use the talents and innovation within our organization to help preserve our planet and build our Army and our Nation strong.

Because of our diverse and global mission, we have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on the sustainability of our global resources and the security of our Nation. We’re working hard to improve efficiencies in our facilities and vehicles, increasing our use of renewable energy, and improving water use and management. We’re looking across the entire organization, at all our missions and activities, both day-to-day and those planned for the future, to see where we can build upon existing sustainability initiatives and take advantage of new opportunities and technologies.

This week we’re delivering!!

At our San Francisco District we’re working with our partners at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to begin testing an almost 100 percent, non-petroleum fuel called B100. It can be used to power the vessels that range from debris vessels to towboats and all types in between. This week’s test is the first of several we’re running on vessels within our floating plant to see if this more sustainable option will set a new standard for how we’re working to build a more sustainable Corps.

We still have a little ways to go make sure we’re getting this right, but each journey starts with the first step!

Van

BUILDING STRONG®

Posted byltg.van underEnvironment/Sustainability Navigation, Sustainability | Comments (2)