Army Corps of Engineers: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Direct reporting unit and U.S. Army's branch for military engineering}}

The day-to-day activities of the three mission areas are administered by a [[Lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]] known as the [[List of United States Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers|chief of engineers]]/commanding general. The chief of engineers commands the Engineer Regiment, comprising [[combat engineer]], rescue, construction, dive, and other specialty units, and answers directly to the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the Army]]. Combat engineers, sometimes called [[sappers]], form an integral part of the Army's [[combined arms|combined arms team]] and are found in all Army service components: Regular Army, [[United States National Guard|National Guard]], and [[United States Army Reserve|Army Reserve]]. Their duties are to breach obstacles; construct fighting positions, fixed/floating bridges, and obstacles and defensive positions; place and detonate explosives; conduct route clearance operations; emplace and detect landmines; and fight as provisional infantry when required. For the military construction mission, the chief of engineers is directed and supervised by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for installations, environment, and energy, whom the President appoints and the Senate confirms. Military construction relates to construction on military bases and worldwide installations.

Civil works are managed and supervised by the [[Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)|Assistant Secretary of the Army]]. Army civil works include three [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]]-authorized business lines: navigation, flood and storm damage protection, and aquatic ecosystem restoration. Civil works is also tasked with administering the [[Clean Water Act]] Section 404 program, including recreation, hydropower, and water supply at USACE flood control reservoirs, and environmental infrastructure. The civil works staff oversee construction, operation, and maintenance of dams, [[canals]] and [[flood protection]] in the U.S., as well as a wide range of [[public works]] throughout the world.<ref name=org>{{cite web| url=http://www.usace.army.mil|title=Headquarters U.S. Army Corps of Engineers|work=army.mil}}</ref> Some of its dams, reservoirs, and flood control projects also serve as public outdoor recreation facilities. Its hydroelectric projects provide 24% of U.S.&nbsp;[[hydropower]] capacity.  

===18th century===

[[File:West Point, From Above Washington Valley Concept Plan.jpg|thumb|Plan of the [[United States Military Academy]] in [[West Point, New York]]]]

[[Louis Lebègue Duportail]], a lieutenant colonel in the French Royal Corps of Engineers, was secretly sent to [[North America]] in March 1777 to serve in [[George Washington]]'s [[Continental Army]]. In July 1777 he was appointed colonel and commander of all engineers in the Continental Army and, on 17 November 1777, he was promoted to brigadier general. When the Continental Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers in May 1779, Duportail was appointed as its commander. In late 1781 he directed the construction of the allied U.S.-French siege works at the [[Siege of Yorktown|Battle of Yorktown]].

====Civil War====

[[File:Ponton Bridge across the James River, Virginia 1864.jpg|[[Pontoon bridge]] across the [[James River]] in [[Virginia]] in 1864|alt=Pontoon bridge across the James River in Virginia in 1864|thumb]]

The South was initially at a disadvantage in engineering expertise; of the initial 65 cadets who resigned from West Point to accept positions with the Confederate Army, only seven were placed in the Corps of Engineers.<ref name=shaun/> The Confederate Congress passed legislation that authorized a company of engineers for every division in the field; by 1865, the CSA had more engineer officers serving in the field of action than the Union Army.<ref name=shaun/>

===20th century===

[[File:Ledo Road, Burma 1944, Sgt. CG McCutcheon of 1304th Engineer Construction Battalion.jpg|thumb|A bulldozer operated by Sergeant C. G. McCutcheon of the 1304th Engineer Construction Battalion on [[Ledo Road]] in [[Burma]] in 1944]]

From the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps of Engineers to contribute to both military construction and civil works. Assigned the military construction mission on 1 December 1941, after the Quartermaster Department struggled with the expanding mission,<ref>[http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/vignettes/vignette_1.htm USACE Office of History vignettes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415174741/http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/vignettes/vignette_1.htm |date=15 April 2008 }}</ref> the Corps built facilities at home and abroad to support the U.S. Army and Air Force. During World War II the USACE program expanded to more than 27,000 military and industrial projects in a $15.3&nbsp;billion mobilization effort. Included were aircraft, tank assembly, and ammunition plants; camps for 5.3&nbsp;million soldiers; depots, ports, and hospitals; and the rapid construction of such landmark projects such as the [[Manhattan Project]] at Los Alamos, Hanford and Oak Ridge among other places, and [[the Pentagon]], the Department of Defense headquarters across the Potomac from Washington, DC.

[[File:USACE-District-Map.jpg|center|upright=2.25|thumb|Map of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Engineer divisions and districts]]

* [[Mississippi Valley Division]] (MVD), located in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]].<ref name=serving/> Reaches from Canada to the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Covers {{convert|370000|sqmi|km2}}, and portions of 12 states bordering the [[Mississippi River]]. Serves 28 million people. Its six districts are located in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul, Minnesota]], [[Rock Island, Illinois]], [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]], and [[New Orleans]]. MVD serves as headquarters for the Mississippi River Commission.

* [[Pacific Ocean Division]] (POD), located at [[Fort Shafter]], Hawaii.<ref name=serving/> Reaches across 12 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean from the [[Arctic Circle]] to [[American Samoa]] below the equator and across the [[International Date Line]], and into Asia. Includes the territories of [[Guam]], [[American Samoa]] and the [[Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands]] as well as the Freely Associated States including the [[Palau|Republic of Palau]], [[Federated States of Micronesia]] and the [[Marshall Islands|Republic of the Marshall Islands]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poh.usace.army.mil |title=Honolulu District Corps of Engineers |publisher=Poh.usace.army.mil |access-date=2012-10-09}}</ref> Its four districts are located in [[Japan]]; [[Seoul]], [[South Korea]]; [[Anchorage, Alaska]]; and [[Honolulu]]. Unlike other military work, POD designs and builds for all of the military services&nbsp;— Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines&nbsp;— in Japan, Korea, and [[Kwajalein Atoll]].

* [[South Atlantic Division]] (SAD), located in [[Atlanta]].<ref name=serving/> Reaches from [[North Carolina]] to [[Alabama]] as well as the [[Caribbean]], and [[Central America|Central]] and South America. Covers all or parts of six states. Its five districts are located in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], [[Charleston, South Carolina]], [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]], [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], and [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]. One-third of the stateside Army and one-fifth of the stateside Air Force are located within the division boundaries. The largest single environmental restoration project in the world&nbsp;— the [[Restoration of the Everglades|Everglades Restoration]]&nbsp;— is managed by SAD.

* [[Southwestern Division]] (SWD), located in [[Dallas]].<ref name=serving/> Reaches from [[Mexico]] to [[Kansas]]. Covers all or part of seven states. Its four districts are located in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]], [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]], [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], and [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]]. SWD's recreation areas are the most visited in USACE with more than {{convert|11400|mi|km}} of shoreline and 1,172 recreation sites.

* Transatlantic Division (TAD), located in [[Winchester, Virginia]]. Supports Federal programs and policies overseas. Consists of the Gulf Region District, the Afghanistan Engineer District South, the Afghanistan Engineer District North, the Middle East District, the USACE Deployment Center and the TAD G2 Intelligence Fusion Center. TAD oversees thousands of projects overseas. TAD overseas locations are staffed primarily by civilian volunteers from throughout USACE.<ref name=serving/> The Corps of Engineers built much of Afghanistan's original [[Highway 1 (Afghanistan)|Ring Road]] in the early 1960s and returned in 2002. Supports the full spectrum of regional support, including the Afghan National Security Forces, U.S. and Coalition Forces, Counter Narcotics and Border Management, Strategic Reconstruction support to USAID, and the [[Commander's Emergency Response Program]].

==Notable personnel==

*[[Charles Keller (military)|Charles Keller]], former U.S. Army Brigadier General and the oldest Army officer to serve on active duty during [[World War II]].<ref name="Kellerbio2">[https://www.usace.army.mil/About/History/Historical-Vignettes/Military-Construction-Combat/079-Oldest-Officer/ Historical Vignette 079 – The Oldest U.S. Army Officer to Serve in World War II Was an Engineer]</ref><ref name="Kellerbio4">[https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/charles-keller.htm Charles Keller – Brigadier General, United States Army]</ref>

==See also==