Frances Skelton, Supply Technician for the Tuscaloosa Office, poses at her desk March 15, 2023, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Skelton started her career in the Corps in 1973 and has worked for the Mobile District for almost 50 years. (U.S. Army photo by Chuck Walker)

Joe Womack, retired U.S. Marine Corps Major, president of the Clean, Healthy Educated, Safe & Sustainable Community, Inc., and co-founder of the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation, speaks at the Mobile Distirct’s Black History Month Luncheon, February 1, 2023, in Mobile, Alabama. Womack spoke about the history of Africatown and the preservation of the slave ship Clotilda, the last known slave ship in the United States that was scuttled off the Mobile Harbor near present day Africatown in Mobile. (U.S. Army photo by Chuck Walker)

George Condoyannis, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Construction Division chief (center second row) poses with members of his team in front of the new James A. Haley Veteran’s Administration Bed Tower in Tampa, Florida, Jan. 21, 2023. The $148.6 million bed tower took five years to build and adds 245,000 square feet of new space and another 5,000 square feet of renovated space to the hospital.

Brig. Gen. Daniel Hibner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division Commander speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new James A. Haley VA Bed Tower in Tampa, Fla., Jan. 21, 2023. The $148 million project began in 2018 and will provide 96 private patient rooms and 40 intensive care unit beds. (U.S. Army photo by Chuck Walker)

Col. Jeremy Chapman, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District Commander, speaks with Regulatory Division members, and members of the Alabama Historical Commission and other stakeholders on a survey vessel near the site of the sunken Clotilda, in Mobile, Alabama, May 4, 2022. The Mobile District is working with the AHC and other stakeholders to locate and preserve the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to enter United States waters that was deliberately sank near Africatown after it dropped off 110 captives in attempts to hide this illegal practice.