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  • October

    Capt. Joshua Moore (right) and 2nd Lt. Thomas Zarack (left), both part of the Technical Engineer Competency Development Program, pose at the site of Fort Gordon’s $66 million Advanced Individual Training Phase II Barracks and Ground Source Heat Transfer Project Oct. 16. The pair work as part of the TEC-DP which places junior engineers at USACE districts to gain technical expertise while filling key billets within USACE.

    Junior engineers grow competent in district’s developmental program

    The pair have had an ascendant year in their professional lives. From leading tactical projects for the operational Army to managing multimillion dollar construction projects impacting a community of thousands, Capt. Joshua Moore and 1st Lt. Thomas Zarack entered the Technical Engineer Competency Development Program, or TEC-DP, to tackle some of the district’s leading military construction projects.
  • Gordon Simmons (right), chief of engineering, USACE Savannah District, currently deployed to Afghanistan, receives the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal from Col. Pete Helmlinger, commander, USACE Transatlantic- Afghanistan District, Monday at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

    Top brass engineer leads from the front

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – As if deploying to Afghanistan does not pose enough of a challenge, making a dramatic mission change in the middle only adds to personal and professional demands. However, Gordon Simmons, Savannah District’s Chief of Engineering, would not let that slow him from pushing forward to help the people of that war-torn nation.

  • September

    ROTC Cadet Justin Wynne on a survey boat before the CSS Georgia recovery station.

    California cadet finds element in the 'Hostess City'

    On the heels of his freshman year at UCLA, Army ROTC Cadet Justin Wynne arrived with a lean understanding of the Corps as a new intern with the Cadet District Engineer Program here. By week four, he departed fleshed with experience on some of the district’s principal works, including the all-encompassing Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

  • August

    From left to right: Retired Major William A. Allen, Martha Coley and retired Lt. Col. Stephen R. Allen are pictured at McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Hopkins, South Carolina January 2014.

    After decades of giving, she won’t slow down

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – From the moment her teenage son mounted a foldout of an aircraft cockpit on his bedroom wall, she knew that he was poised to fly planes. Martha Coley, now mother to two retired Air Force pilots, recalled this, and similar aspirations-turned-accomplishments, arresting the discussion to misty-eyed silence.

  • July

    Members of Fort Benning’s Project Delivery Team coalesce after the first piece of structural steel was placed at the site April 9, 2012.

    Fort Benning project team shines with delivery of industry-leading hospital

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Fort Benning’s newly unveiled Martin Army Community Hospital brims with exceptionalism, earning the hospital’s area team the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 2015 Project Delivery Team of the Year for Excellence Award.
  • From left to right: Jose Sigran, Jafet Aguiler and Alexandria Gunter pose in front a loaner lifejacket stand on Lake Hartwell June 3. Gunter volunteered to swim lifejackets to the boys who were stranded on a buoy after becoming winded attempting to swim back to the shoreline

    Boys’ lives saved by rescuers, loaner life jackets at Hartwell Lake

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – The collaborative efforts of a Hartwell Lake corps ranger and bystander saved two boys’ lives after the pair struggled to swim from a remote buoy to the beach shoreline June 3.

  • June

    From left: Paula Hanna, Savannah District’s family readiness coordinator and executive secretary for Savannah District’s deputy commander, and a USO staff member take a break after welcoming home the 542nd FEST-A team at the Savannah-Hilton Head International airport, June 23.

    District’s backbone crowned USACE’s top FRN coordinator

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – A magnet for recognition, Paula Hanna, the Savannah District’s Family Readiness Network coordinator, adds to her string of awards receiving the Family Readiness Individual Excellence Award for 2014-2015.
  • Col. Marvin L. Griffin assumes command of the Savannah District at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Savannah, Georgia June 19. Griffin arrives at the district following a Senior Service College Fellowship with the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellowship Program. Griffin’s previous assignments include deployments to Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom and to Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. Griffin is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1994.

    New commander arrives on rising tide at Savannah District

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Assuming command amid the burgeoning Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, Col. Marvin L. Griffin became the 40th commander of the Savannah District at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, June 19. It was a fitting tribute as the ceremony was held just blocks away from CSS Georgia recovery efforts currently underway near Old Fort Jackson.
  • Angel Rivera, a Corps realty assistant, was one of two specialists from the South Atlantic Division’s Contingency Real Estate Support Team, or CREST, sent to hammer out leases and land-use agreements for Operation United Assistance, a humanitarian assistance mission aimed to combat the Ebola epidemic killing thousands of Liberians and paralyzing response efforts of the nation.

    A new lease on life: Realty assistant aids Ebola response efforts in Liberia

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – No stranger to warfare in the jungles of Vietnam and the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, Angel Rivera set out on a familiar task in an unfamiliar territory that bred an enemy just as malignant as those he encountered as a career Soldier.

  • May

    Distinguished communicator tops Georgia’s largest Toastmasters community

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Much like a sport, mastering communication techniques takes skillful execution predicated on the investment of time, practice and experience.
  • Dependents of district employees receive certificates and gather for the Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day held May 1. Facilitators guided participants through age-appropriate breakout sessions as students discovered the district’s expansive footprint on public works projects throughout the Southeast. Participants also tapped into large-scale efforts such as the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, dam operations, wetlands restoration projects and other salient initiatives during the four-hour event.

    Corps opens doors, minds for career day event

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – District offices became a proxy classroom for more than 40 dependents of employees who explored Corps projects and careers during the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day held May 1.

  • April

    The 542nd Forward Engineering Support Team - Advanced gathers for a group photo at a camp in Iraq. The team is completing a six-month deployment supporting the Combined Joint Task Force with a wide array of engineering missions across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

    Savannah’s FEST-A delivers unmatched engineering support traversing Middle East

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Four months after launching into a six-month deployment to Kuwait, Savannah’s Forward Engineering Support Team – Advance (FEST-A) convened recently to discuss engineering solutions supplied to the region and assignments on the horizon.
  • Canton Gardenhire assists Starbase student Tyrese research robots online at DeRenne Middle School in Savannah April 1. Gardenhire devotes two Wednesdays each month collaborating with students on projects covering physics, chemistry sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics operations and applications and STEM careers. The Starbase program is a Department of Defense educational initiative designed to expose at-risk youth to the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, both on and off military installations.

    Corps IR member no stranger to district, community programs

    NNAH, Ga. – District employees may notice him parading the lobby in festive Halloween wear or encouraging participation in the latest American Society of Military Comptrollers offering. However, they may be unaware that off-duty, Canton Gardenhire possesses a similar finesse for volunteer service.

  • March

    Stroke victim’s recovery facilitated by Savannah’s FRN coordinator

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – A rising left arm gently roused Valencia Wynn out of her sleep at nearly 30,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Traveling on a transcontinental flight destined for Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Wynn peered through heavy eyelids to witness her arm elevate. Her fingers fluttered delicately as if playing on a floating piano, she said.
  • Sarah Wise, Corps regulatory specialist, accepts the district’s award of appreciation from Megagenesis director, Dr. Zke Zimmerman, presented to recognize the district’s consistent support at the annual event. Corps volunteers spent the day speaking with Savannah area students about internships and careers with the Corps at the event held Feb. 28 at Sol C. Johnson High School in Savannah. The event aims to promote a college-going culture by providing college and career information to students and parents, according to the website

    Outreach a ‘Wise’ pursuit to securing Corps’ future

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Millions of students are plagued by the age-old question, “What do I want to do for a living?” but the Corps helps to rectify this enigma by offering industry exposure to students at statewide outreach events.

  • February

    Regulatory Division members demonstrate their flood plains model at Jenkins High School for National Engineer Week Feb. 25. The district partners with the school’s engineering academy to foster interest in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, also called STEM. This year, students encountered Corps employees holding degrees in a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines. The sample of professions represented a microcosm of the entire workforce whose individual efforts contribute to the Corps’ overall mission (USACE photo by Chelsea Smith).

    Corps invests in next generation of STEM leaders

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Canvassing for the nation’s future engineering talent starts through community outreach programs, and the district seized the opportunity to showcase a variety of Corps missions to approximately 160 engineering students at Jenkins High School in Savannah.

  • December

    Members of the 542nd FEST-A use a laser finder to obtain measurements of a bridge located during a bridge reconnaissance exercise on Hunter Army Airfield Sept. 18. The team gathered Sept. 15-25 to conduct two weeks of FEST-A training exercises.

    Clock winds down as elite engineering team readies for deployment

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – As 2014 departs, so will 12 members of the 542nd Forward Engineering Support Team – Advanced (FEST-A), who deploy to Kuwait in January for more than six months to provide specialized technical engineering support for the Central Command area of responsibility.
  • Lt. Col. Tom Woodie, Savannah District deputy commander, presents Paula Hanna, Family Readiness Network coordinator, a certificate of achievement in May for her accomplishments as the district's principal support liaison for deployed members and their families.

    Award-winning Family Readiness coordinator promotes resiliency, awareness

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – The overflow of scattered folders revealed not only routine administrative paperwork, but awards and certificates of recognition uncovering a vast set of accomplishments for her work as coordinator of the Savannah District’s Family Readiness Network.

  • November

    On Nov. 21, approximately 30 home-schoolers and their parents journeyed through J.F. Gregory Park in Richmond Hill, Georgia, on a free wetlands tour jointly sponsored by the Independent Learning Network, based in Savannah, and Savannah District’s Regulatory Division. The scenic tour offered a glimpse into the Corps’ regulatory practices which include preserving and protecting Georgia’s wetlands.

    Corps sponsors wetlands tour for Coastal Georgia home-schoolers

    RICHMOND HILL, Ga. – Discovering frontiers outside of the classroom – or the home – can reconcile traditional learning methods and enrich the educational experience for students inundated with an array of new concepts.
  • Hundreds gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony held Nov. 7 in the atrium of the newly-constructed Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia. The ceremony culminated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ $390-million construction project and signified Fort Benning’s commitment to provide quality healthcare to its wide-spread community of soldiers, families and local veterans.

    New Fort Benning hospital set to open for business

    FORT BENNING, Ga. – Hundreds gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony held Nov. 7 in the atrium of the newly-constructed Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia.