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The New York

District TimesFeb./Mar. 2005, Vol. 30, No.1-2 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

Lesson learned : Teamw ork works.

Example: Closure of the Fort Monmou th Resi-den t Office with volun tary reassignment or retirement

of all personnel – no red uction-in-force. Close coordi-

nation am ong the resident engineer, Construction Di-

vision, Human Resources, union, and potential

receiving offices through out N ew York District mad e

it happen.

“I t was a t rue par tnersh ip ,” sa id Diane

Deptula, chief of the Human Resources Office. “The

way it’s designed to work is the way it worked .”

“One of the reasons we w ere able to keep ev-

eryone is because w e realized early on that the fieldoffice was experiencing a reduction in work,” ex-

plained Rick Alvarez , chief of the Constru ction Divi-

sion. “So wh en I went to sp eak with the em ployees in

Novem ber, I was ready to present them w ith options,

instead of just placing them wherever there was an

opening.”

The office had been serving Fort Monm outh

and portions of southern New Jersey for decades.

When the decision was made to close the office be-

cause of declining w orkload, several employees had

already been detailed to other N ew York District areaor p roject offices.

Two who had called the Fort Monmouth of-

fice home for many years op ted to retire rather than

transfer, but every other emp loyee has a “new ” job in

New York District. Alvarez also reached out to neigh-

boring d istricts in Baltimore and Ph iladelph ia, seeing

it as “a logical way to give emp loyees more opt ions.”

For Felix Chevere and Joe Rossano, the d etail

to the Green Brook Flood Control Project office became

Corps’ Fort Monmouth resident office closesits doors following decades of service

By Ken Wells and Sue Hopkins, Public Affairs

a permanent assignment and they now report to the

resident engineer at the McGuire Air Force Base of-

fice. George Proprocki, Gamal Awad, and Chris

Nastasi und erwen t the same kind of change as their

details to the East Brunsw ick Resident Office became

perm anen t. The FUSRAP Residen t Office added

George Fedoriw and Ken Maley, thou gh Maley will

continue as project engineer on the last project be-

ing hand led by the Fort

Team leader Jerry Valade and Lt. Col. Taras J. Jemetz, area

engineer, lock the door of the Fort Monmouth Resident Of-

fice. The building is closed and staff members have moved

on to other positions in New York District or retired.

Continued on page 3



U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District2

of Engineers

New York District TimesNewsletter of the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,New York District

February/March 2005

Commander andDistrict Engineer

Col. Richard J. Polo Jr.

Chief, Public Affairs

Peter H. [email protected]

Editing and DesignVince Elias

[email protected]

- Authorization: The New YorkDistrict Times is an authorizedunofficial newsletter of the NewYork District. It is published inaccordance with provisions of

Army Regulation 360-1.

- Circulation: 1500 copies perissue in print and available on

the internet at:www.nan.usace.army.mil

- Submission: News, features,photos and art are solicited.

Direct queries to: Editor, PublicAffairs Office, U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers, New York District,26 Federal Plaza, Room 2113,

New York, NY 10278-0090.

- Contents: Views and opinionsexpressed herein are notnecessarily those of the

Department of the Army or thiscommand. All photos, unlessotherwise credited, are official

U.S. Army photos.

US Army Corps

New York District

9-11-01Lest we forget

What does regionalization mean to you?

Paul Tumminello , Project Manager

John Donne once said, “No man is an island,” and in many

ways, organizations today mu st follow that sam e principle, some-thing th e Army Corps of Engineers’ New York District has been

doing for quite some time. In many w ays regionalization is noth-ing new. Reaching out to other organizations both inside and out-side of New York District is second natu re and essential, since ithas become extremely d ifficult for businesses to do everyth ing in-hou se and still be successful.

We’ve been u sing the resources of other d istricts and trading work back andforth between districts for some time. This method helps deliver faster and betterquality projects to our customer.

A recent example of how this process was ap plied in N ew York District isWaterbury Dam in Vermont.

In 1999, USACE prepared a stud y docum enting seepage at the d am an d cor-rective action to reduce the risks to the d am and lives. Tasked w ith drafting a plan for

repairs, New York District reached out to New England District for p lanning andenvironmental assistance, Baltimore District for engineering help, and even NorthAtlantic Division and USACE headquarters in Washington, D.C. for policy issues. Ineach case, every district brough t something d ifferent to the table and played key rolesin helping New York District dra ft a report that w as submitted and ap proved byUSACE headqu arters in Augu st 2000, clearing the w ay for the rep air work to begin

This clear examp le illustrates the d efining p rinciple of regionalization, wh ich is team-work and providing your customers with top-notch results.

Two of New York District’s finest were p osed this qu estion in an North Atlantic Region ar-

ticle. This example illustrates the d efining principle of regionalization, which is teamw ork

and providing customers with top -notch results.

Paul Tumminello

Lawrence Mazzola

Lawrence Mazzo la, Chief, Mili tary Programs Branch

In Programs, Plans and Policy Management Division,

we’ve always used regionalization informally. It’s not at all un -usu al for New York District to call on Nor folk or Baltimore Dis-tricts, for example, for contracting assistance using a d esign-buildcontract, or to d raw on the expertise in other districts to ensurecustomers’ need s are met. We’ve don e it un consciously, bu t not

to a great extent.

Today that is changing with the regionalization of districts and divisions as

Regional Business Centers und er the Corps’ 2012 Reorgan ization.

For years d istricts had other ways of thinking. People were always concerned

over the workload . We need to say, “It’s one Corps” , and not, “It’s a different d is-trict.” Once that happen s – once you realize that it’s one large team – you get it. Youcan’t think the old way. Case in point: Experts from Europe and N orfolk Districtsrecently teamed to p repare a request for prop osals for bids on the Explosive Researchand Developm ent Loading Facility at Picatinny Arsenal, located within the New YorkDistrict bound aries. This teamw ork helped to ensure the proposal was done rightand on time for an important customer. The North Atlantic and Europe Regionalizationallowed us to better u se the resources from other districts.



3The New York District Times • Feb./Mar. 2005

Contractors continue working on the renovation of Building

1204, the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School. Work

on barracks, classrooms and physical training spaces is sched-

uled to be turned over to USMAPS in July.

Past and almost-present staff of the Fort Monmouth Resident

Office (top row l-r) Tom Thompson, Felix Chevere, Judy

Santelle, Dani Miller, Mike Henry, Donna Camishion, Joe

Rossano, Joe Chupa, John Johnson, and Mike Calabrese. (l-

r front row) Paul Jalowski, Jimmy Awad, Lt. Col. Taras J.

Jemetz, Jerry Valade, Ken Maley, Rich Mandra and George

Fedoriw.

Monmouth office, renovation of the U.S. Military

Academy Preparatory School. Lou Febles, also work-ing on USMAPS, will transfer to N ew York DistrictHeadquarters. Doug Wilson, who had been detailedto work on the Pom pton Lakes Dam project, will be

working permanently out of the Picatinny ResidentOffice. Team leader Jerry Valad e is now part of the FortDrum Resident Office. Tom Thompson will work atthe McGuire Air Force Base Resident Office until heretires this summ er, and Jud y Santelle began her re-

tirement the d ay after the Fort Monm outh office closed.

After 30 years with the various member s of theFort Monmouth office “crew,”Santelle, an engineering technician,

is retiring to take advantage of other opp ortun ities. That includes

full use of the patio fireplace herco-workers gave her as a retire-ment gift.

“It’s been a great ru n,” shecommented.

A great run, indeed .

A totally unscientific sur-vey of the Fort Monmouth officestaff did n’t yield a start d ate for theoffice, but Thompson noted that

there are files from structures theCorps buil t on the post duringWorld War II.

Housed in one of the oldest buildings on the1,100-acre Army post, the staff has overseen constru c-

tion during changes in mission, commands and per-sonnel.

Team leader Valade recalled the Base Closure

and Realignm ent Com mission decisions of 1995 yield-ing $40 million in new construction an d renovationsto handle offices moving on to the main post. The com-pressed time frame proved to be especially challeng-ing, he noted. The state-of-the-art Intelligence andElectronic Warfare Division headqu arters w as a resultof a similar consolida tion.

Fort Monmouth (continued from page 1)

(Continued on pg. 4)




Tidbits

Mary Stav ina’s

In the library of a long-past Chief of Engineers, stowed in the pilothouse of a dredge boat, and also in the clock tower of a Corps of Engineers building, lay the works of one of the Mississippi River’sgreatest photographers, Henry P. Bosse.

In 1990 a Washington an tiques dealer found a p hoto album containing Bosse’s images in a stud y h ouse of Maj.Gen. Alexander Mackenzie, the Chief of Engineers from 1904 to 1908.

The dealer contacted the Corps because the album’s frontispiece read: ‘Views on the Mississippi River, fromnegat ives taken an d p rinted un der the d irection of Maj. A. Mackenzie, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. by H. Bosse,draugh tsman, 1883 to 1891.” The album h eld 169 large, oval, blue of cyanotype p hotos and docum ented th eCorps’ early w ork on the Up per Mississippi River.

Within a year, this album wou ld be w orth over $1 million. Bosse now ran ks with America’s most imp ortantnineteenth century photographers.

Did you know?

Eugene Urbanik, now area engineer for theNorth ern New Jersey Area Office, recalled working atthe Fort Monmouth office dur ing construction of theNorth east Regional Comp uter Center for the FederalBureau of Investigation in the late 1970s. The U.S.

Army Chaplains School came to Fort Monmouth in1978, then departed as p art o f BRAC ’95.

There also w ere multiple barracks renovations, fam-ily quarters upgrades, and office improvements

th roughout the pos t . And fo r years , the For tMonmouth residen t engineer was also responsible forconstruction at Thule Air Base in Greenland (nowhand led throu gh th e Picatinny Office).

And Civil Works projects also contributed tothe Fort Monmouth office’s history. The $180 million

shore p rotection project stretching from Sea Bright toManasquan Inlet was run from the base office. Floodcontrol and sup port w ork for the U.S. Environmen talProtection Agency were also par t of the mission.

Work continues on the $22 million complete

renova tion of the barracks, athletic facilities and class-rooms of the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory

School. Construction began in October 2002 and is on

track to be turn ed over in July. With the FortMonmou th Resident Office closed , Maley and projectmanager Rich Man dra will work out of the construc-tion trailer until the p roject is finished .

If new w ork comes along – a Battery Test Fa-cility is in the design stages and may move to con-struction as early as FY06 – New York District projectpersonnel w ill be co-located w ith Fort Monmou th De-par tment of Public Works engineers.

“Virtua lly the entire valu e of the Corp s residesin p eople – their expertise, know ledge and experience

– not in plant an d equipm ent,” noted Col. Richard J.Polo Jr., District Engineer. “The na tural consequ enceof this reality is that w hen an office needs to be resized

or closed, taking care of people is one of the m ost im-portan t tasks we face. The experience at Monmou thshow s that th is can be d one su ccessfully.”

Deptula is quick to extend credit elsewhere:“Rick Alvarez was really great. He thought outsidethe box. He worked to help the employees. He wentbeyond w hat he had to do.”

Fort Monmouth (continued from page 3)

Did you also know?

The Corps maintains more than 12,000 miles of inland waterways and operates 235 locks. These waterw ays-a system of rivers, lakes and coastal bays improved for commercial and recreational transportation - carryabout 1/ 6 of the N ation’s inter-city freight, at a cost per ton-mile about 1/ 2 that of rail or 1/ 10 that of trucks.

The Corps of Engineers is also the Nation’s largest provider of outdoor recreation, operating more than2,500 recreation areas at 463 projects (mostly lakes) and leasing an ad d itional 1,800 sites to State or local park andrecreation au thorities or private interests. (Source: USACE)




Computers, monitors,

keyboards, mice and

speakers were stacked on a

handtruck for carting off tothe middle school.

(From left) Alvin

Washington and

Michael Murphy of

Logistics Management

loaded up the hand

truck for Julia Bingham

and Edward Doyle of

the middle school.

Lou Benard, executive assistant, exhibited her ar-

tistic talent at an art show held in New York City in

January. A number of Lou’s pencil figure drawings

were featured at the exhibit sponsored by the New

York Art Student’s League. Some of her featured

creations included drawings of various individual

models

Employees exhibit their talents

Lou Benard, artist Vincent Perrera, performer

Vinnie Perrera of the visual information unit

is a long-time stage performer who has ap-

peared in many musical revues for charity.

He was part of a concert performance in

March which benefited the Tsunami Relief

Fund for the disaster in Indonesia. Perrera

has played various venues in and around New

York City including Lincoln Center.

District donates computers for school useNew York District donated

11 compu ters, monitors, keyboards,

mice and speakers to the Brian Pic-

colo Midd le School in Queens, New

York City.

The initiative was laun ched

by Logistics Managemen t’s Michael

Murphy and Alvin Washington

who arranged the transfer of prop-

erty to th e school in Janu ary.

The donation to schools is

part of a Defense Departmen t pro-

gram.

The computers will be taken

back to the school where they areneeded most — in the classrooms.

Washington and Murphy

loaded u p the han d truck for Julia Bingham and Edw ard Doyle

of the middle school to cart off to the school in the Far Rockaway

section of Queens.

Even though the donated government compu ters have

been used, they are invaluable to the school in its curriculum

and help stud ents with their basic compu ter skills, keyboard typ-

ing skills, and Internet access.




The Akindale racehorse farm in upstate New

York is protecting the fresh drinking w ater un der the

Watershed Environmental Assistance Program fundedby N ew York District. One of the p rojects the Corp s

supports is the Watershed Agricultural Council’s

Whole Farm Planning Pro-

gram, in wh ich the Akindale

Farm is a participant.

The program is an

inter-agency effort that as-

sists in p rotecting the w ater

quality of the State’s water-

sheds.

The inter-agency

team is comp rised of mem -

bers from the Corps, the

New York State Department

of Environmental Conserva-

tion and the New York City

Depar tment of Envi ron-

men tal Protect ion. Rifat

Salim is the Corps’ project

manager, and Doug Leite,

the Corps’ project ad viser.

A watershed is an area on the ground that col-

lects rain water and snow and drains into a marsh,

stream, river, lake or into the ground water.

“Non-point source pollution is contamination

that is not d irectly placed into the water,” said Leite.

“Storm water passing through barnyards can trans-

port ph osphoru s and path ogens, or parasites, wh ich

are present in man ure and deliver them to the streams

that flow into the reservoirs. Algae can feed off these

nu trients and d eplete the water ’s oxygen, adversely

affecting w ater quality.”

The Watershed Agr icultu ral Council’s Whole

Farm Planning Program is volun tary and works w ith

farmers in the region to create and add methods to

improve the op erations of their farms to protect the

watershed s from non-point source pollution withou t

imped ing the farm’s business.

“The project demonstrates an excellent ex-

amp le of a local, regional and federal partnership,”

said Michael Saviola, WAC, East of Hu dson program

manager.

Water quality practices make strides at horse farmBy JoAnne Castagna, Ed. D., Programs and Project Management

One of the most successful best man agement

practices implemented on the farm includ ed using ex-

clusion methods to keep livestock away from streams.

“Exclusion fencing was installed on one of the

farm’s pastures to limit the access of brood mares and

foals , o r young

horses, to a nearby

stream that runs adja-

cent to the farm,” said

Saviola.

“By keeping the

animals away from

the stream w e are pre-

venting potential ani-

mal pathogens from

enter ing the water

supply.”

The farm col-

lec t s manure and

straw bedding from

foals , o r young

horses , and tempo-

rarily stores it on an

outside 100 feet by 200 feet asph alt compost pad with

a reinforced concrete push wall, a filter field and di-

version. The farm ’s manu re comp ost facility was im-

proved to prevent any potential pathogens from

migrating from the pad to a nearby watercourse dur-

ing heavy rainfall.

“Although the compost facility was just com-

pleted, already the compost pad made the farm’s

manure hand ling an d comp osting system 1,000 times

better,” added Saviola.

“It was d esigned to be a more stable surface

with a grass filter area which w as created on the dow nslope side of the comp ost pad to intercept and treat

any storm water that happens to run off the pad d ur-

ing intense rainfall events.”

The farm is add ing a barnyard w ater manage-

ment system to d ivert clean water from p otential ag-

ricultural p ollutan t sources. Stream ban ks are being

stabilized with vegetation to prevent soil and man ure

from ru nning off the ban ks into the stream s. It is also

improving access roads to limit diffuse sou rces of sedi-

ment from the road s to streams.

Racehorses at the Akindale farm in upstate New York.




Mark Roth, a regulatory specialist in Op erations passed aw ay in Apr il.

He joined New York District in Janu ary of 1990 as a perm it app lication

reviewer and worked h is way up to regulatory specialist. He had p reviously

earned his master ’s degree in geology from Qu eens College of the City Univer-

sity of New York.

“His passion for correctness and doing the right thing for the right rea-

son w as most visible in his last regulatory action regard ing the su spension andrevaluation of the FD&P perm it in the New Jersey Meadowland s,” wrote Col.

Richard J. Polo Jr., District Engineer.

“Though th e previous permit mod ification had been his action, he had

the courage to make the d ifficult recomm endation to suspend the issued perm it

so that the mod ification could be reconsidered . Mark was an imp ortant m ember

and leader in ou r Regulatory Program , as well as the N ew York District.”

Jerry Seiff, long-time Corps emp loyee died March 29 at the age of 82. He

retired in 2003 and had over 59 years of federal service with the Army.Span ning over h alf century of service, he w rote a chapter in the Corps’ real

estate history. Seiff entered th e Army on active du ty in the 1940s and served in World

War II. In 1951 he joined the U.S. Arm y Corp s of Engineer s as a GS-6 in the planning

and control branch of the Real Estate Division. “He will be remembered by a ll of us

for his remarkable candor, goodwill and engagemen t w ith clients, contractors and

the public he served,” said Dean Dresser, chief of Real Estate. “As recent as his last

three year s wh en Fort Dix specifically asked for h im as New York District team

leader in ou tgrants to service their installation to his early years with th e attorney

adv isors, the performance has been both exemp lary and mem orable.”

He was responsible for negotiating and executing complex projects through-

out the northeast. Jerry brought to the federal workp lace a mastery of human na-ture as well as real estate. His command of contractual strategies was accelerated by

his dedication to the service men an d w omen of our Arm ed Forces.

Corps looses two icons

Mark Roth

Jerry Seiff

Retirements

Alex Sheldon of

Information Management

retired in October 2004.

He was long-time District

employee with more than

30 years of service.

Joe Cariaga of

Operations retired in

2004 after 30 years of

service. He worked in

the emergency techni-

cal support section of

the Emergency

Management Branch.

Taps




Corps supports Arctic construction mission

By JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D

Programs and Project Management

Construction of the new medical center at Thule Air Base, Greenland.

In a remote area of the world inGreenland volun teers of the U.S. Arm yCorps of Engineers spend month s at a

time supervising n ew construction andrenovation p rojects at Thule Air Base.

The air base is in th e northeastregion, nestled between two mountainsand surroun ded by miles of icebergs and glaciers. The

base is home to hu nd reds of Air Force personnel, con-tractors and Danish and Greenlandic nationals.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony in N ovember 2004signified th e official opening of the new med ical cen-ter, a single-story, 1,900-square-meter area hospital

built by Denmark-based construction comp any GC/ MTHøjgaard und er a design/ build contract and su-pervised an d quality assured by New York District.

A new med ical center was needed because theoriginal center, built more than 50 years ago, was be-coming costly to maintain and was located far from

curren t housing facilities of the main base pop ulation.“The new facility will save th e U.S. Air Force

a great d eal of money in costly ut ility services,” saidCol. John S. Haven II, 821st Air Base Group com-

mander.

“Some of the new services the medical center

provides that are un ique to this region include outp a-tient care, dental services, limited inpa tient and sur-gical services, mortuary facilities, and digital x-rayservices that w ill provide lower rad iation d osages, aquicker product to doctors and no ad verse effects to

the environm ent,” said Capt. Corey Baker, 821st

Sup-por t Squad ron m edical liaison officer.

In ad dition to the m edical center, other projects

include a flight runway, taxiways, dorm itory, and firefighting training facility.

“Construction at Thule is a great challenge.The weather is severe. The constru ct very unique, fastpaced, and there were a lot of logistical challenges,”said Joseph “Jerry” Valade, team leader, Fort DrumResident Office, New York District.

Valade has worked on various construction

projects on base, both as a m ilitary officer and civilianfor the last 20 years. He was the on-site manager forthe new med ical center.

Materials used to build the new facility in-cluded pre-insulated metal panels for the undersideof the flooring, walls, and roof and a composite gyp-sum and metal decking system for the interior floor-ing system.

Due to the arctic environment the h ospital hadto be constructed differently then a typical building.

Two-thirds of the northern portion of Greenland,where Thule is located, is covered with 6 feet to 12feet of perm afrost, perm anently frozen ground at vari-able depth s below the earth ’s surface.

“Due to the presence of perm afrost most struc-tures in Thule are elevated structures and th is includedelevating the med ical center,” said Valade.

If buildings are not constructed off of theground or have air corridors separating the buildingsfrom the ground, the heat from inside the buildings

can melt the permafrost and the buildings can sink.

“This was the first time I w as involved in the

construction of a facility with a p re-insulated panelsystem and composite flooring system. I learned newconstruction techniques,” said Valade.

Working at Thule has expanded his skills asan on -site man ager. He said, “As the on-site managerI had to be self-motivated and learn how to make fastdecisions and w ork independ ently.” He add ed, “Thesatisfaction of completing a project under severe cli-

matic conditions in such a remote area of the world isa project engineers’ d ream.”




On April 6 the crew of the

Corps vessel Hayward ren-

dered assistance to the tanker

Nobel Fortuna , which was

dragging anchor and in dan-

ger of going aground. Brian

Aballo of New York District

contacted Tim LaFontaine of

the Hayward and was dis-

patched to the scene. Hay-

ward took position on the

starboard side of the tanker along with tug boat Margaret Moran. The Hayward’s main engines

were operating full ahead, pushing the tanker toward deeper water. The tugboats Peter F. Gellately

and Dorothy J arrived a short time later. All four pushed on the tanker while it picked up and resether anchor in deeper water.

A r o u n d t h e

R e g i o n

Jerry Valade, Chairman’s Award for

Continuous Excellence

Larry Mazzola, Outstanding Supervisor

Allen Roos, Team LeaderThanh Nguyen, Direct Service

Vikki Gross, Diversity Enhancement

Treashon Ramsey, Secretarial/Clerical

Aileen Nyoka, Student/Intern

Carolyn Vadino, Award for Valor

Crew of Vessel Moritz : Walter Grauling,

Rein Virkmaa, Steve Simon and Hugh

Booker, Award for Valor

New York District’s Paul Jalowski was named Ci-

vilian Project Manager of the Year in the construc-

tion category for the prestigious 2005 U.S. Air Force

Excellence Award. Jalowski currently is the District

Construction NS Resident Engineer who leads a

team of construction engineers, construction rep-resentatives, and administration staff to manage

an “accelerated-by-Congress” $120 million, C-17

Aircraft Beddown, military construction and large operations and main-

tenance contracts at McGuire Air Force Base. He was cited for his

work involving construction of the U.S. Air Force’s MILCON and C-17

Beddown projects at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The facili-

ties include a new Fitness Center, an Air Freight Terminal/Base Supply

Complex, a C-17 Maintenance Hangar/Composite Maintenance Shops,

a new C-17 Flight Simulator, a new Bulk Fuel Storage Tank and a Con-

solidated Flightline Operations Facility that handles life support/survival

equipment operations as well as squadron operations training. Major

renovation projects included a taxiway, three existing hangars to ac-

commodate the C17, and renovation of the Air Mobility Warfare Center.

Jalowski receives USAF Award

Paul Jalowski

NY FEB announces2005 Awardees

Palmer and Tomer receive Army civilian medals

James Palmer Richard Tomer

James Palmer, OC and Richard Tomer, OP received the Com-

mander’s Medal for outstanding work performance in the New

York District and North Atlantic Region. Col. Richard J. Polo

Jr., District Engineer presented the awards following a staff

meeting in April.




New York District’s Equal Employment Op por tun ity Office arrangedseveral successful programs in February an d March that featured informa-tion wh ich p romoted African-American history, Irish-American heritage and

wom en’s history. Employees were treated to talks by featured speakers at

events in addition to information promulgated by public affairs on presi-dential p roclamations.

The African-American history celebration w as spa rked by featuredguest speakers Col. Yvonne J. Prettym an-Beck, comm and er, Nor folk Districtand New York District’s Nancy Brighton , archeologist. The p rogram featureda video p resentation abou t the 100th anniversary of the Niagara Movemen t,along with a comprehensive presentation by Brighton on the p rogress of theAfrican-American burial ground p roject in downtown Manhattan.

Prettyman-Beck oversees the Corp s’ water resources d evelopm ent

and the operation of navigable waterways for four river basins in the Com -mon wealth of Virginia. She is also responsible for the Corps’ military d esign

and construction projects for Army, Army Reserve and Air Force installa-tions throu ghout Virginia.

District commemorates heritage and history

Members of the U.S. Arm y Corps of Engineers,Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, and the

Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan celebratedInternational Women’s Day in March by deliveringsupplies to more than 300 refugees in Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led coalition mem bers held a celebra-tion for members of the Afghan Women’s Union andtheir families, according to Mar ia Or of the Afghani-stan District.

“Among the women w ho were honored w ereladies who have worked at the Afghan N ational ArmyMilitary Academy Corps’ constru ction site,” Or said.

“Hajera, one of the Afghan Women’s Union rep resen-tatives and a former Corps employee, asked us to

bring gifts and d onations in celebration of the cause.”Elizabeth Carver, the Corps’ residen t engineer

for the ANA Military Academ y, though t it wou ld bea good idea to show their app reciation for the dozenor so women who worked for the Corps’ contractorfrom Janu ary to February 2005 and to bolster the con-

fidence for all wom en in Afghanistan.

“The night before the event, at least half adozen Corps emp loyees got together to p ackage morethan 300 ind ividu ally packaged and pre-sorted giftsto hand out,” Or said.

Corps and Coalition commemorate Women’s Day

By Sgt. 1st Class Darren D. Heusel, AFIS ”Sup porting freedom and the right to live andwork for all people is at the center of our m ission here,”said Col. John O’Dowd, Corps of Engineers, Afghani-stan Engineer District. “Helping the women of Af-ghanistan in the plight for human rights and the

freedom to work is essential for u s to be successful.The coalition particiapted in a number of other

International Women’s Day activities around the coun-try March 8, includ ing the grand opening of a wom en’scenter.

Corps members at a celebration held in Afghanistan for members

of the Afghan Women’s Union and their families.

Col. Yvonne J. Prettyman-Beck, Dis-

trict Engineer, Norfolk District ad-

dresses the New York District

audience at the African-American

History program.




The Brad ley Beach shoreline in New Jer-

sey is one of the sum mer ’s busiest beach spotsand one of New York District’s major beach nou r-ishmen t projects. The project goes back to 1999when the Corps began a beach erosion controlpro ject from Sand y Hook to Barnegat In let, N.J.

The project includ ed placing 3.1 million

cubic yards of sand on the shoreline by Weeks Marine. The project included sand placement along 200 feet ofbeach front, seven groin notches and four ou tfall extensions. Dunes control beach erosion by limiting w ind-blown sand loss.

Area residen ts wan ted to take an add itional step to protect the Corps’ work, so they decided to fortify the

beach du nes by u sing discarded holiday pine trees. Brad ley Beach residen ts in concert with comm un ity repre-sentatives embraced the p ining program five years ago. The project involved collecting d iscarded holiday pinetrees and p lacing them along the m ile-long strip of sand du nes.

In February, Corps rep resentatives joined Brad ley Beach residen ts and state officials to observe the latestcollection and placement of the trees along the du nes. The trees are stacked on the ocean side of the du nes tocapture any sand blowing inland from the beach and fortify the perm anent dunes.

“Dune creation w as not a part of the Corps’ project because they are not need ed in this project area forprotection because the area has a naturally high backshore. If dunes were needed the Corps certainly wouldhave add ed th is feature,” said Lynn Bocamazo, senior coastal engineer, New York District, who designed andmonitors the completed beach nou rishment p roject.

To da te, an estimated 20,000 trees have been u sed to create a stretch of du nes, 4 feet to 9 feet high, alongthe mile-long oceanfront. This past holiday season an additional 3,000 trees were added.

The dun es are a saw-tooth d esign, and snow fences are also placed on an angle along the prom enad e sideof the du ne to supp ort the du ne system. “This makes the beach look appealing from the shore side,” said Rich-

ard Bianchi, operating supervisor of PublicWorks for Bradley Beach.

Fifty-thousand plugs of dune grasswere also planted, and according to Bianchi,Bradley Beach is in the process of receiving agran t for an ad ditional 25,000 to 50,000 plugs ofdu ne grass.

“A proactive m un icipal pu blic worksdep artmen t is a beneficial addition to any Fed-eral or State beach erosion control project. Bra-

dley Beach is trying to aggressively maintainthe sand th at was p laced there and is an activeparticipant in the project’s success,” Bocamazoadded.

Community usesinnovative method

to fortify dunesBy JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D

Project and Programs Management

Trees were placed

on their sides to

capture sand

blowing inland

from the beach

and eventually

forming perma-

nent dunes.

Representatives from Bradley Beach, NJDEP, and Rep. Frank Pallone’s

office with Corps representatives, JoAnne Castagna PPMD, Lynn

Bocamazo senior coastal engineer, EN, and Doug Leite, project man-

ager observing the pining project.




Images of neighborhoods ravaged by floodsfilled newspapers and television new s program s in late

March and early April as commu nities in New Jerseyand New York coped w ith up to 5 inches of rain in one

day, followed by another w eek of nearly daily show -ers. Damage w as extensive in some areas, with n eigh-borhoods d evastated by flooding.

What doesn’t usually make the news: Flood

control projects that did exactly what they were de-signed to do, saving millions of dollars in propertyand pu blic resources because flooding d idn’t happenwh ere projects were in p lace. U.S. Arm y Corp s of En-gineers programs and projects prevented nearly $60

million in damages at locations in Vermont, Massa-chusetts, N ew York and New Jersey. Levees, channelimprovements, flood walls, dam modifications andopen space preservation all played a part in easingthe effect of a significant rain ev ent.

In the midst of extensive regional floodingdam age, three Ulster Cou nty, New York tow ns are es-pecially grateful for Corp s flood con trol projects thatsaved th em millions of dollars d uring recent regional

Corps projects save $31M in flooded Ulster CountyBy Sue Hopkins , Public Affairs

flooding. And one town across the creek is hopingfor Corps help to p revent future flooding.

“If it had not been for the (Corps) project, wewou ld h ave been r avaged,” said Elliott Auerbach, vil-lage m anager for the Village of Ellenville, N.Y.

He estimated th e savings to his comm un ity atwell over $10 million in flood dam age prevented be-cause of the chann el, levee and d am removal projectthe Corps com pleted in the 1970s. New York Districtestimates of damage prevented by the project stand

at $5,387,100.

That’s low, according to Auerbach. The

village’s sewer facility, entire school d istrict an d valu -able comm ercial proper ties lie along the Beer Kill, hesaid, as well as up and down Sandberg and Miraclecreeks.

“I was born here,” he said. “I live on one ofyour p rojects. I stood on one of the berms du ring amajor storm at 2 a.m. and was amazed at the power ofthe water.”

The rushing wa ter didn ’t go over the berm, hesaid. Auerbach d eemed the $5 million ini-tial constru ction cost and $2 million in re-pairs ( in the 1990s) wel l worth theinvestment.

“Consider this project a success,” heconcluded.

Also praising a Corps project: BobGallagher, town sup ervisor in Rosendale,N.Y.

“This flood reached the same height as1955, a record,” he noted . “The projectper formed excellently.”

The Corps p roject wid ened an d d eep-ened the Rondou t Creek channel, add inglevees and dr ainage pond s. Work wascomp leted in 1971.

The project successfully protectedmore than 50 prop erties, he reported, en-

dorsing the Corp s’ estimate of $10,956,600in dam ages prevented.

(Continued on pg. 13)

Photo:Carolyn

Vadino

A contingent of Corps representatives met New Jersey Senator John Corzine in

Oakland, N.J. that was severely flooded. Corzine and the Corps met with resi-

dents. The Corps was on hand for technical answers about the Corps’ project in

the area.




New Jersey

RahwaySouth Orange

ElizabethHillside

New York

HerkimerHoosick Falls

Pleasant ValleyRosendale

South AmsterdamWallkill River

North Ellenville

Holland PatentKingston

YonkersNepera Park

Ardsley

ChappaquaConnecticut

PemberwickMassachusetts

Adams

North AdamsVermont

East BarreWaterbury

WrightsvilleBennington

Richford

Lamoille RiverTotal

26.92,252.7

531.933.4

0.051.0

8.810,956.6

2,435.31,191.0

5,387.1

24.110,397.3

12,946.6742.2

1,257.6

235.8

63.8

240.8

2,085.2

557.1410.0

1,278.76.1

117.2

291.5

52,631.7

LC, L

C, L

L, P, Pm

LC, L

C, L, D

C, LF

C&SC, L, D

LLC

CF, S

C

C, L

C, L

C, D, L

D

D, RD, R

LC

C, D, B

P = Pond

Pm = PumpR = Reservoir

S = Swales/ditches

Key B = Bank work

C = Channel workD = Dam work

F = Floodwall

L = Levee

Damages WorkProject Prevented Completed

(x $1,000)

Flood control projects at work

The waters of Esopus Creed didn’t disturb areas of Kingston , N.Y., protected by th e levees bu ilt in the 1970s.

“We’re still here,” said Steve Gorsline, Kingston’s townsup erintendent. “The project held u p fine. Water was a coup le of feet from the top” of the levee protecting the downtown area,includ ing the Kingston Plaza Shopp ing Center.

The Corps estimate of property damage prevented —$10,397,300 – is abou t righ t, he said.

But across the creek it’s a different story, where th e Townof Ulster is not protected by a flood control project.

Town Supervisor Frederick Wadnola estimates damageat more than $25 million. Two m obile home p arks were destroyed,

300 families were disp laced, and floodw aters stretched more thana mile to the N ew York State Thruw ay.

“It’s un believable, the damage,” he sa id. “We’ll be askingthe Corps for help.”

(Thanks to Rich Campbell, Operations Division; Peter Koch,

Engineering Division, and Paul Tumminello, Programs and Project

Management Division, for their assistance in researching this story.)

Damage in New

Jersey was

extensive in some

areas, with

neighborhoods

devastated by

flooding.

Flooding (cont inued from pg. 12)

Corps of Engineers personnel load sand-

bags for use in the flood area. Communi-

ties in New Jersey and New York coped

with up to 5 inches of rain in one day, fol-

lowed by another week of nearly daily

showers.




Corps personnel have deployed in support

of the Global War on Terrorism. There are hun dreds

of Army Corps military an d civilian emp loyees in

Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a continuous needfor personnel with vital skills and experience.

New York District has had several people

who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan d e-

ployments, some remain currently dep loyed, and

more are prepar ing to go in the futu re.

New York District cur rently has several

people supp orting Afghanistan Engineering Dis-

trict and several more who have returned. The

Corps is managing design and construction of

various building projects.

Corps personnel answer the call to duty

Milton Ricks, quality assurancerepresentative reviews the punchlist for a building prior to beingturned over.

M i l t o n R i c k s , q ual i t y as s ur an c e r e p r e s e n t at i v e r e -

v i e w s a p r o j e c t j o b s t at us w i t h c o n t r ac t o r s .

In a d d i t ion to t he C

or p s re b u i l d in g

m i s s ion, t he y ha ve

la un c he d var io u s

en dea vor s to a s s i s

t t he na t i ve

peo p le.

Rich Bulvid, Richard Lavole, and William Matias are part of history.

They are making a difference, serving the nation, Army and the Corpsin the region.




serving Afghanistan mission

A contract to bu ild a bridge between Af-

ghanistan and Tajikistan was awarded by the

Corps. The bridge will enable economic devel-

opm ent and integration in the region.

“The Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge is a

start in developing a new form of cross-border

cooperation betw een the countries of Afghani-

stan and Tajikistan which ultimately will en-

hance the market economy and democracy of

both countries,” said Maj. Don Pincus, who is

the resident engineer for the project.

The bridge will provide a two-lane ve-

hicle bridge w ith a p edestrian walkway connect-

ing Afghanistan and Tajikistan, spanning the

Pyandzh River at Sher Khan, Afghanistan, and

Niznji Pianj, Tajikistan. Scheduled to be com-

pleted April 2007, the contract was awarded to

Rizzani de Eccher S.p.A. of Udine, Italy.

A vehicular/pedestrian walkway bridge with access roads and approach

ramps will be designed and constructed by the successful offeror across

the Pyandzh River between Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Bridge contract awarded

MAJOR CORPS AFGHANISTAN PROJECTS

Pol-e-charki: construction of 167 structures including barracks,

training, administration and support facilities for Afghan Na-

tional Army soldiers.

Darualman: construction of 98 major structures including bar-

racks, training and administrative and support buildings for

troops.

Mazar-eSharif: construction of 71 major structures as well as

a waste water treatment plant and power plant to provide life

support for troops.

Several New York District person-

nel have volunteered to augmentthe Afghanistan Engineer District

and support the Army’s and the

Corps’ primary focus in the region

and mission in Afganistan.

Kabul Military Training Center and Military Entrance Pro-

cessing Station: construction of 57 major structures in-

cluding barracks, training and processing support facilities

for active troops.

Herat: construction of 71 structures including barracks,

administration and support facilities for troops.

Kandahar: construction of 14 structures including bar-

racks, administration and support facilities for troops.

Gardez: construction of 71 structures including barracks,

administration and support facilities for troops.




Regional action

Col. Richard J. Polo, Jr., District Engineer speaks with a tele-

vision news crew on Long Island. The media was intrested in

the Corps’ Westhampton interim project Fire Island to Montauk

Point beach erosion and hurricane protection, South shore,

Long Island, New York.

In April, Steve Couch and Lynn Bocamazo of New

York District conducted a comprehensive briefing

for a group of six Dutch engineers. Also on hand

were Roselle Henn, John Tavolaro and Donald

Cresitello of the Corps. The briefing included a

question and answer session, a slide presentation

and overview of the Corps beach protection projects

along Long Island. Following the briefing the group

toured the Corps projects.

District hosts Dutch engineers

Archaeologists reach out to students

Carissa Scarpa and a team from New York District’s

Environmental Section visited a streambank stabilization project.

Nearby, teachers and students at Menlo Park Terrace School in

Methuchen, N.J. had the opportunity to observe the Corps at

work on the project.

Kirsten Davis, Bobbi Jo McClain, Jeffrey Cusano, and

Susan Schneider conducted archaeological field testing in

Woodbridge Township. The project is the South Branch of the

Rahway River Emergency Streambank Stabilization Project.

“Because our project is adjacent to the school, the prin-

cipal, Sharon McGreevy, asked if it would be possible to demon-

strate to the kids how an archaeological survey is done,” said

Scarpa. “I agreed and gave a presentation to the class. The

work involved digging an archaeological test pit, and showing

the students how to screen the soil, what tools archaeologists use and explained how archaeology fits into the field of science..”

Scrapa, along with the group discussed, the prehistory and history of the area and which artifacts came from a site near the

project area.

District Engineer speaks to media




A four-man team from th e U.S. Arm y Corps of Engineer s is at

Fort Irwin, Calif. provid ing sup por t to Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat

Team.

At the same time, the team is providing h elp for the National

Training Center ’s mu ch-worn roads.

The Forward Engineer Support Team, or “FEST,” is making

its first-ever ap pearan ce at the N TC.

Besides su rveying roads in the tra ining areas and infrastruc-

ture at the p ost’s forward operating bases, the team is also consulting

with Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, the BCT’s commander, as his

Soldiers prepare for their deployment to Iraq in May.

On a warm April day, Maj. Andrew Kelly, FEST team com-

mander, and An drew Smyth , a civilian civil engineer, surveyed Main

Supply Route Barstow that runs through this massive post in

California’s Mohave Desert. Both paid particular attention to breaks

in the road surface.

“The traffic and w ater damage have simply worn it out,” Kelly said a s he looked over the road bed. “The

dra inage problems and abuse have also worn it ou t, so we’re prop osing a fix for this road.”

Kelly and Smyth are with the Corp s’ New York District. They are part of the nearly 40,000-member

organization that serves as the U.S. governmen t’s engineering management firm.

In add ition to the su rvey w ork on the p ost’s roads and FOBs, the team also consults with the 48th BCT

leadership. To do that, team members based them selves out of FOB Detroit.

“We’re here, first of all, to validate th e civil engineer training the brigad e’s been tasked with here,” Kelly

said. “And second , we want to provide the maneu ver command er with services not normally at his disposal.”

Kelly explained that the Corps has a d ivision in Iraq working to rebu ild the nation’s roads an d infra-

structure. Those roads are suffering from a lack of funding, neglect and abuse by the former regime, he contin-

ued.

FEST’s presence here will enable the BCT leadership to better u tilize Corp s personnel through th e U.S.

Field Force Engineering concept once the brigad e is in Iraq.

“The FFE is a new program that makes better use of Corps of Engineers capabilities,” Kelly said. “Com-

manders are often not u seg to the degree of support offered throu gh civilian experts and professionals and this

makes it better for them.

“These assets offer the maneu ver comman der a better opportu nity to use them to achieve his goals on

the ground ,” he added .

“This is similar to w hat he will see in Iraq,” Kelly continued. “Ou r d ivision in Iraq is mad e up of men and

wom en who have 30 years of experience, and this allows the command er to use that to his advan tage.”

Andrew Smyth, a civil engineer with the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, measures a break in

Barstow Road during the FEST Team’s first-ever

visit to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin,

Calif.

FEST makes FirstBy Spc. Lee Elder

133d Mobi le Public Affairs D etachment,

Army National Guard

(Continued on Pg. 18)

Photo;

Pfc.MichaelPfaff,KentuckyArmyNationalGuard




Kelly also was qu ick to p oint out th at the grou p’s findings have an immed iate benefit to the infrastruc-

ture at Fort Irwin.

“It will certainly make things a lot easier for the folks here,” Kelly said. “The next time th ere’s rainfall,

the road w on’t wash out. It’s a decaying infrastructure, and th is team believes it can fix its problems.”

Once the FEST team finishes its work , it will make recommend ations to the 48th BCT leadership . Then ,

it will be matter of funding those projects, he went on. That’s because it’s the brigade that will handle those

issues in Iraq, he said .

“Then it w ill be a m atter of app lying dollars and resources,” Kelly said.

Besides making training and traveling easier, Kelly said the expected imp rovements w ould also benefit

the communities surrounding Fort Irwin.

There’s been a lot of effort pu t into repairing and maintaining these road ways,” Kelly said, “and each

time that’s done, it gets more painful.”

The proposed improvemen ts, however, should p rovide a long-term answ er to that, Kelly said.

“We don’t make short-term repairs… that wou ld be like putting a Band -Aid over a bu rsting artery,”

Kelly said. “We want to d o something that is a little more p ermanent.”

FEST Continued from pg. 17)

Bridge to success. Project engineers met at the USMA for a unique train-

ing opportunity. (l-r) Evan Ward, Rudy Khalil, Gus Lymberis, Jimmy Awad,

Mack McKenna, John Kenney, Nick Multari, Mike DeBlenedistis, Julio Santos,

Mike Henry, Adelhamid Adelhamid, Sal Chiommino, Ken Maley, Brian Jack-

son, Heather Durr, Mandeep Talurer, Sharif Guirguis, Chris Nastasi, and

Reggie Perry.

Twenty of the District’s project engi-

neers met in December 2004 in a un ique train-

ing opp ortu nity at the U.S. Military Academy,

West Point. The project man agerss came from

various construction division field offices in-

cluding Fort Monmouth, McGuire Air ForceBase, Fort Drum, Kill van Kull, Fort H amilton,

Environmental Residency, Picatinny and the

FUSRAP Residency.

The training involved on-site school-

ing in a wide array of construction techniques

and materials being implemented on the Arvin

Cadet Physical Development Center which is

scheduled for comp letion in Apri.

“Due to the project’s enormous size

and technical complexity, it afforded the par-ticipants a rare exper ience to witness in action

the multitude of trad es, systems and m aterials used in facility construction,” said Rick Alvarez, chief, Constru c

tion Division.

Building the huge facility encompassed rock blasting to specialized architectural features, thus using

every subject matter p ossible used in construction.

“This provided an extraordinary op portu nity for cross training of Constru ction Division’s field p erson

nel assigned to the Corps’ civil, military, and hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste programs,” said Alvarez.

From a tr aining perspective, “the value ad ded comes from having a capable, mod ified and mobile work

force ready to be d eployed an ywh ere to assum e ad ditional mission respon sibilities,” said Alvarez.

Project engineers train at Army military academy




Caven Point crews keep harbor free fromnavigation hazards

The crews of the Corps’ vessels

have a year-round mission of keeping the

harbor free from floating debris and free

from obstructing nav igation.

Corps boat crews are gearing up for

the floatables season which runs from May

throu gh Septem ber. The floatables season

was designated in 1989 after large amoun ts

of floating d ebris washed on the shores of

New Jersey and southern Long Island in

previous years.

536,200 cubic feet (1,985 30 cu. yd.Dumpsters) of debris were collected in

2004.

New York District’s debr is removal

program has p roved an outstanding suc-

cess with no regional beaches being closed

as a result of floatable contamina tion.

Harbor crews snared tons of floating debris from

the metropolitan area waterways.

Keeping the New York City waterways clear

and safe for maritime navigation and recreation

is a major function of the boat crews who oper-

ate from their homeport of Caven Point, N.J.

The crew of the Hayward plucks a catamaran from the New York Harbor in

January.

Photos:PeterShugert

Photo:AlanDor

fman

Wood debris comprises a

large percentage of material

collected with tires, plastic

waste, cardboard andseaweed accounting for the

remainder.




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Security Office...

Do not process, store or transmit classified in-formation on non-secure telecommunicationssystems. Official Department of Defense tele-communications systems — including tele-phones, fax machines, computer networks, andmodems — are subject to monitoring for tele-communications security purposes at all times.Use of official DoD telecommunications systemsconstitutes consent to telecommunications se-

curity monitoring.

Attn: PAO, Rm 2113

26 Federal PlazaNew York, NY 10278-0090

FIRST CLASS MAILAddress Correction Requested

April 22, 2005

Mark Lulka of PPMD and his wife Julia are the

proud parents of son, William McMillen Lulka born

February1, 2005. Vital stats: 7 pounds, 6.75

ounces.

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