Introduction
For nearly half a century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District has provided installation and contingency support to U.S. forces throughout the United States European Command and more recently United States Africa Command's areas of responsibility. Headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, with roughly 400 employees, the district, which is part of the North Atlantic Division, covers a widely dispersed geographic area from Western Europe across Eastern Europe, down to Israel and throughout most of the African continent. Work is executed from offices in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Romania, Italy, Israel, Bulgaria, and Georgia. In recent years, the district completed more than a billion dollars in projects for numerous partners throughout the AOR. The bulk of this work included U.S. Army and Air Force Family Housing units, forward operating sites in Eastern Europe, humanitarian assistance in Africa and training and operations facilities. Each project supported the stationing requirements for U.S. military partners in Europe and improved the quality of life for warfighters and their families.
Programs
U.S. Military Construction (MILCON)
The MILCON programs funds much of Europe District's engineering and construction program. The programs provide much-needed improvements to both operational and quality-of-life infrastructure. The district executes about $700 million annually in support of U.S. forces and other customers throughout Europe. Current major MILCON programs include:
- Missile Defense Agency (MDA) - Europe District will assist in the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) for MDA in various locations throughout Turkey, Romania and Poland.
- Army and Air Force Family Housing (AFH/AAFH) - The district has been executing a large construction program to improve the infrastructure, safety and appearance of Army Force Family Housing dwellings. Current projects include design and construction of family housing communities at Wiesbaden, Ansbach, Vilsek and Grafenwoehr, Germany. The family housing construction program includes seven active construction projects with a combined value of $234M. Currently, there are eight projects in design with a combined value of $160M.
- Department of Defense Dependent Schools, Europe (DoDDS-E) - The DoDDS-E Program supports the client’s educational mission by providing facility planning, design, construction, and facilities maintenance services within the Europe District area of responsibility. Currently, Europe District is supporting a massive school recapitalization program consisting of 39 schools with a total value of approximately $1.8 billion. Projects include Spangdahlem Elementary, Spangdahlem Middle/High, Vogelweh Elementary, Kaiserslautern High, and Wiesbaden High schools. Construction is also currently being executed on the U.S. portion of the SHAPE International School campus.
Installation Support (ISB) Program
ISB offers the full range of technical expertise and project management services on a reimbursable basis to supplement installation-engineering capabilities. Among the services available are:
- Project scope development
- Installation and Base Camp Master Planning, including comprehensive master plans, stationing and area development plans, and facility utilization surveys
- Project programming (DD 1391s) and Planning Charrettes
- Geographic Information Systems, including data collection, GIS map maintenance and conversion, and training
- Project Design, including full design for small projects with Life Cycle Project Management
- Job Order Contracts, which provide pre-priced maintenance and repair (M&R) work items and delivery orders
- Indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Task Order (MATOC) contracts, which allows flexibility for scope of work, design and funding/task orders.
- Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPC)
- USACE Access Control Point Equipment Program (ACPEP)
Environmental Support
The Environmental Team includes a broad range of disciplines to bring expert solutions to challenges like conducting environmental baseline surveys, environmental reviews, identifying and disposing of contaminated materials and soils, providing expert remediation design, execution and management services, and natural and cultural resource management. The environmental program also supports the U.S. Army garrisons with their environmental operational, remediation, and base closure activities and provides support to 7th Army Joint Military Training Command's Integrated Training Area Management program and the Defense Logistics Agency Energy's program throughout Europe.
U.S. Operations and Maintenance (OMA)
The OMA programs fund about a quarter of Europe District's engineering and construction team. These programs supplement the U.S. Army garrison installation engineers with the total resources, experience and expertise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in their efforts to resolve OMA, and host nation engineering and construction issues. The district has made its services more accessible to the garrison Directorate of Public Works (DPW) customers by collocating Regional Program Managers (RPM) with nine U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Air Forces in Europe Installation Engineers. RPMs provide responsive support - from serving as an adjunct member of the DPW staff to helping coordinate with the district and helping prepare forms to justify major construction projects.
Foreign Military Sales (FMS)
The Israel Area Office is currently the district's southern-most location. The district supports the Israeli Air Force, Navy and Army through such projects as the design and construction of hangars, ports, maintenance facilities and military infrastructure.
International Engineering Center (IEC)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District's International Engineering Center (IEC) is a dynamic organization that supports the Theatre Security Cooperation objectives of two combatant commands, Europe Command (EUCOM) and Africa Command (AFRICOM). The IEC provides facility planning, design and construction for programs typically located in remote locations of Eurasia, especially within the Caucasus, Baltic and Balkans regions, and in any of 52 countries in Africa.
In addition to supporting the US Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District's International Engineering Center (IEC) provides engineering, environmental and construction management, and other related skills to other U.S. agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, and to International Organizations such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
The International Engineering Center (IEC) strives to utilize local materials and construction methods in its designs so that completed facilities not only complement their environment but are less expensive to construct and easier to maintain. At the same time the IEC introduces modern design and management processes to remote regions to develop local capacity and improve safety. The IEC is assisting Eurasian and African countries with their transition to democracy by providing their governments with the technical and professional assistance necessary to modernize and improve their civil and military infrastructures.
Contingency Support
As North Atlantic Division's forward deployed district, the Europe District is heavily involved with Field Force Engineering (FFE) doctrine development and on the leading edge for FFE training and implementation. FFE is the means by which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leverages its technical engineering capabilities to support maneuver commanders in combat or contingencies. The district established Forward Engineer Support Teams, which have further improved the district's responsiveness and integration into operations plan development and has led to increased participation in warfighter exercises.
The district continues to improve its capacity to provide rapid response to operations by conducting regular training for volunteer FEST staff from both Europe District and other North Atlantic Division districts.