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  • February

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Natural Resources Program Manager Amy Cobb-Williams works with a child at the University of South Alabama Children’s & Women’s Hospital, Feb. 20, to construct a bridge out of Popsicle sticks. The event was part of the district’s National Engineers Week outreach program to teach school-age children the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

    District employees visit local children’s hospital during National Engineers Week

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, stopped by the University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile, Ala., Feb. 20, as part of the district’s National Engineers Week outreach activities. During the visit, district personnel helped the children construct Popsicle-stick bridges, taught them about the importance of learning science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and handed out Mardi Gras beads and coloring books.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Senior Driller Eddie in January Woods drills holes in the Carters Reregulation Dam, Jan. 24, as part of a multi-district effort to cut a slot in the dam and relieve stress caused by concreate expansion. The holes will allow the Nashville District to feed diamond rope through the hole to cut a slot dam to relieve the stress.

    Corps of Engineers begins maintenance operations to relieve stress on Carters Lake Reregulation Dam

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, recently began maintenance operations at the Carters Lake Reregulation Dam in Murray County, Ga. to relieve stress on the structure caused by concrete expansion. The district first noticed the expansion almost 20 years ago.

  • January

    Richard Cusimano, left, and Ben Delatte pose at the Camarones collection site in Puerto Rico on Dec. 27, 2017. Cusimano and Delatte were two of three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel supporting the debris mission here that ran toward the sound of calls for help to find a man that had fallen on his bike and was unable to stop the bleeding from a puncture wound sustained while bracing for the fall. Cusimano, with the New Orleans District, is a quality assurance inspector in at the Canovanas, Fajardo, Loiza, Rio Grande and Luquillo debris collection sites – a role he assumed from the third person, Anthony Frost, to come to the aid of the injured man. Delatte is also from the New Orleans District and is the zone manager for more than 30 debris sites in 10 municipalities. Both serve with the Louisiana National Guard’s 205th Engineer Battalion.

    USACE emergency response missions include debris removal and temporary power generation in Puerto Rico

    In the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency – began undertaking several large-scale missions to help residents in Puerto Rico recover from the devastating storms. Two of the missions assigned to the USACE Recovery Field Office, Puerto Rico, include debris removal and emergency temporary power.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District Commander Col. James DeLapp briefs employees during the 2018 Leadership Development Program, Jan. 8. The annual in-house leadership development program provides the district with a great way to develop tomorrow’s leaders, while preparing employees to succeed at the next level.

    District kicks off annual Leadership Development Program

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, kicked off their annual Leadership Development Program at the district headquarters in Mobile, Ala., Jan. 8. The year-long course offers professional development opportunities to employees who demonstrate the potential to be tomorrow’s leaders.

  • December

    Cody Mercer, a government contractor mechanic, works on repairing a generator that powers a flood control pump near San Juan, Puerto Rico Dec. 27. The repairs are part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Non-Federal Generator Operation and Maintenance mission in support of FEMA's Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.

    Non-Federal Generator Operation and Maintenance Mission helps power critical water infrastructure in Puerto Rico

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Inside a small concrete pump station by the side of a freeway, a Quality Assurance team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a crew of government contractors labor over a large orange generator. The station is part of a complex flood control system that helps keep San Juan and neighboring towns dry. It is just one of hundreds of sites Corps teams are visiting as part of a unique mission to repair local generators and keep critical infrastructure functioning in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
  • Omar Esquilin-Mangual meets with a local resident while working the Blue Roof mission in Puerto Rico.

    USACE Blue Roof mission in Puerto Rico is a family affair

    Omar Esquilin-Mangual, from Caguas, Puerto Rico, was born, raised and educated on the island before working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2010 after receiving his master’s degree in civil engineering degree from the University of Puerto Rico. Yamiretsy Pagan-Albelo, from Ciales, Puerto Rico, was born, raised and educated on the island and working for the USACE in 2011 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Puerto Rico.
  • The Ellis Island, a hopper dredge.

    Mobile District starts first phase of $349 million coastal island restoration project

    The Mobile District has begun the first phase of an approximately $349 million project that will reduce erosion and build stronger hurricane barrier off the coast of Mississippi.
  • Lake Sidney Lanier park rangers pose for a photo earlier this year on National Life Jacket Day to raise awareness of the importance of wearing a life preserver. Promoting life jacket awareness was just one of many community outreach activities that helped Lake Lanier take home first place in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division’s annual Water Safety and Education Awards.

    Lake Lanier to receive award for promoting water safety

    The Lake Sidney Lanier Project Management Office will be recognized as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division’s annual Water Safety and Education Awards for having the most water safety contacts of the division’s 32 project lakes this past year. During the 2017 fiscal year, Lake Lanier had almost 340,000 direct contacts and more than 500 indirect contacts to educate the public on water safety.
  • Lake Sidney Lanier Park Ranger Rachel Rush teaches fourth graders the importance of water safety and the beauty of our national parks during a visit to a local school earlier this year. Rush was recently recognized for her efforts to promote the Every Kid in a Park initiative by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division.

    USACE recognizes Lake Lanier Park Ranger

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division has recognized Lake Sidney Lanier Park Ranger Rachel Rush for her outstanding efforts to promote the Every Kid in a Park (EKIP) initiative during the first quarter of 2018. To take home the top individual honors for the quarter, Rush visited several local schools and spent time with 675 fourth graders.

  • November

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, recently hosted the Murray County Chamber of Commerce Youth and Adult Leadership groups at Carters Lake in Murray County, Ga

    Carters Lake hosts local leadership groups

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, recently hosted the Murray County Chamber of Commerce Youth and Adult Leadership groups at Carters Lake in Murray County, Ga.
  • Mobile District Commander Col. James DeLapp presents archeologist Matt Grunewald with the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service Mar. 8 in Mobile, Ala. Grunewald received the award for his outstanding support to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during a POW/MIA recovery operation in Vietnam last year.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee recognized for work on POW/MIA recovery mission

    A Mobile District employee was recognized for his work as the Recovery Leader for a joint American and Vietnamese team that spent three months in Vietnam recovering the remains of prisoners of war or missing in action.
  • Kerry Murray arrived in Puerto Rico Oct. 5 and will depart Dec. 5. He will return to the island and continue supporting the mission after a brief stay at home.

    Personnel director ‘humble and thankful’ after Puerto Rico deployment

    “Humble and thankful” is how U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, human resources director Kerry Murray describes himself since his Puerto Rico deployment.
  • Cherryl Weeks poses with Division Commander Maj. Gen. Diana Holland while on deployment in Puerto Rico

    ‘All heart’ Mobile District employee headed back to Puerto Rico

    Cherryl Weeks is a 39-year veteran of the Corps of Engineers and a four-time veteran of being deployed to disaster areas. Weeks, a Mobile District program analyst, just returned home after a four-week deployment to Puerto Rico and will be headed back again soon.
  • Kenneth “Sam” Hill poses in front of a Deployable Tactical Operations System while on deployment in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. While driving one night on a remote country road, Hill and a St. Louis District employee rendered aid after happening upon a head-on collision accident.

    Mobile District employee aids at accident scene while deployed

    Kenneth “Sam” Hill is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, employee deployed to the U.S. Virgin Islands to aid after Hurricanes Irma and Maria but one local islander will remember him for doing something even more heroic.
  • A contractor trims pine trees before transport to the lumber mill. The timber and agriculture program generates money that is used to fund the natural resource needs of the installation, a good by-product of proper resource management.

    Protecting NASA from wildfires critical role for Mobile District’s forester at Stennis

    One man stands between a potential wildfire and NASA’s largest rocket engine test facility, the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. That man is Quinn Kelly, a forestry technician with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District Water Management Chief James Hathorn introduces students to the fun side of math and science using a problem-solving game during a visit to a local elementary school earlier this year. Hathorn volunteers in the community regularly as a way to give back for the positive mentorship he received as a child.

    Childhood mentors drive USACE Engineer to “pay it forward”

    As a result of the positive example his mentor’s set for him, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Water Management Chief James Hathorn Jr. has gone out of his way as an adult to return the favor. In his spare time he regularly volunteers with youth sports, the Cub Scouts, his church, various career fairs and local schools. One particular area that he stresses when he spends time with students is the importance of learning science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

  • October

    Michael Fedoroff poses with the Historic Preservation staff and children from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the TNTCX, and the U.S. Forest Service. The photo was taken at the Desoto National Forest after a field visit to Choctaw Ancestral lands.

    Fedoroff selected for national tribal role

    Michael Fedoroff has recently been selected for a developmental assignment as the new deputy to the director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise, or TNTCX, in Albuquerque, N.M. The virtual position will allow him to work from Mobile while assisting to manage the TNTCX’s tribal consultation support program for both military and civil works.
  • The Proctor Creek Ecosystem Restoration study, which began in 2015, is looking into potential plans to restore the Proctor Creek Ecosystem that has been ravaged by years of unsustainable land use practices and encroachment. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency Urban Waters Team was awarded the 2017 Samuel J. Heyman People’s Choice Service to America medal, which included the Proctor Creek study in its nomination packet.

    Proctor Creek Ecosystem Restoration study helps EPA Urban Waters Team take home coveted service medal

    The Proctor Creek Ecosystem Restoration study, which began in 2015, is looking into potential plans to restore the Proctor Creek Ecosystem that has been ravaged by years of unsustainable land use practices and encroachment. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency Urban Waters Team was awarded the 2017 Samuel J. Heyman People’s Choice Service to America medal, which included the Proctor Creek study in its nomination packet.
  • Bulldozers spread sand on Cat Island, Miss., Sept. 29. The island has nearly been restored to its 1990’s shoreline, reducing hurricane risks to Mississippi and boosting the natural habitat for birds and turtles. The shoreline restoration is expected to conclude in mid-October with sand fencing and dune vegetation to be installed by May of 2018.

    Cat Island shoreline restoration reduces hurricane risks, boosts natural habitat

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, announced Friday that Cat Island, Miss., has nearly been restored to its 1990’s shoreline, reducing hurricane risks to Mississippi and boosting the natural habitat for birds and turtles. The shoreline restoration is expected to conclude in mid-October with sand fencing and dune vegetation to be installed by May of 2018.

  • September

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Water Expert Mark Crawford meets with members from partner agencies to discuss Florida area support efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Crawford was prepositioned in the area Sept. 7, prior to the storm.

    Mobile District water expert helps Florida residents recover after Hurricane Irma

    In the wake of Hurricane Irma’s devastation, few things are more important to affected Florida residents than drinking water and wastewater. With this in mind, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, prepositioned water expert Mark Crawford, in Tallahassee, Fla., even before the storm hit.