Russell Wicke serves as the Chief of Staff for the Mobile District, a position he has held since July 2026. He works under the direction and authority of the District Commander, coordinating operations, aligning staff functions, and addressing policy and personnel matters. He oversees a team of more than 100 general and administrative staff personnel supervising several small organizations, including the Executive Office, Safety and Occupational Health, Security and Law Enforcement, Internal Review, Logistics, the District Support Office, and Public Affairs. In this role, he also facilitates collaboration across USACE Divisions and Headquarters. Prior to assuming his current position, Wicke served as the Chief of Staff for the Savannah District.
Wicke has a broad range of military and civil service experience that began with his active-duty service in the U.S. Air Force, where he deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan as a public affairs specialist. He served in one of the Air Force’s largest major commands, Air Combat Command, as the journalist of choice for the F-22 fighter aircraft procurement and oversaw the transition to a new command-wide public website operating system. He also worked with the Defense Media Activity, where he was responsible for quality assurance of Air Force public-facing digital mediums, and he served as managing editor for numerous Army and Air Force award-winning publications and digital platforms. He served as Chief of Corporate Communications in Savannah District, where he was the key communications advisor and spokesman for the district throughout several major programs and projects such as the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, the South Atlantic Coastal Study, disaster response, and more. He helped navigate the Savannah District’s public image during two droughts of record as well as several high-water events.
Wicke holds a bachelor’s degree in English and professional communications from Regent University, Virginia Beach, Va., and attended the Department of Defense Information School in Fort Meade, Md., where he graduated with honors.