The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is a federal agency made up of some 33,000 civilian and 580 military men and women. Many people associate the Corps of Engineers only with the environment or flood protection. However, USACE is involved in a wide range of public works support to the Department of Defense and to the nation. The Corps's mission is to provide military and public works services to the United States by providing vital engineering services and capabilities, as a public service, across the full spectrum of operations--from peace to war--in support of national interests. Their most visible missions include
Planning, designing, building, and operating locks and dams. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, beach nourishment, and dredging for waterway navigation.
Design and construction of flood protection systems as in New Orleans through the federal mandate called the Flood Control Act of 1965.
Design and construction management of military facilities for the Army and Air Force and other Defense and Federal agencies.
Environmental regulation and Ecosystem restoration.
Mission AreasUSACE provides support directly and indirectly to the warfighting effort.
The Corps builds and helps maintain much of the infrastructure the Army and the Air Force use to train, house, and deploy troops. Corps built and maintained navigation systems and ports provide an effective means to deploys vital equipment and other materiel. And Corps R&D facilities help develop new methods and measures for deployment, force protection, terrain analysis and mapping, and other support.
And USACE directly supports the military at the front, making expertise available to commanders to help solve and avoid engineering and other problems. Forward Engineer Support Teams may accompany combat engineers to provide immediate support, or to reach back electronically into the rest of the Corps for the necessary expertise. Corps professionals use the knowledge and skills honed on both military and civil projects to support the US and local communities in the areas of real estate, contracting, mapping, construction, logistics, engineering and management experience. This work currently includes support for rebuilding Iraq, establishing Afghanistan infrastructure, supporting international and interagency services.
In addition, the work of almost 34,000 civilians on civil works programs throughout USACE provide a training ground for similar capabilities world-wide. USACE civilians volunteer for assignments world-wide. For example, hydropower experts have helped repair, rennovate, and run hydropower dams in Iraq in an effort to help get Iraqis to become self-sustaining.
Warfighting
USACE supports the United States' Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its security planning, force protection, research and development, disaster preparedness efforts, and quick response to emergencies and disasters. The Corps of Engineers is able to help save hundreds of lives and millions of dollars in property damage every year from natural and manmade disasters (however, see Civil Works controversies below).
Homeland Security
Work comprises engineering and management support to military installations, global real estate support, civil works support (including risk and priorities), operations and maintenance of Federal navigation and flood control projects, and monitoring of dams and levees.
More than 67 percent of the goods consumed by Americans and more than half of the Nation's oil imports are processed through deepwater ports maintained by the Corps of Engineers, which maintains more than 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of commercially navigable channels across the US.
In both its Civil Works mission and Military Construction program, the Corps is responsible for billions of dollars of the nation's infrastructure. For example, the Corps maintains direct control 609 dams, maintains and/or operates 257 navigation locks, and operates 75 hydroelectric facilities generating 24% of the nation's hydropower and three percent of its total electricity. USACE inspects over 2,000 Federal and non-Federal levees every two years.
Four billion gallons of water per day are drawn from the Corps' 136 multi-use water supply projects comprising 9.8 million acre-feet of water storage, making it one of the United States' larges water supply agencies.
All of this work represents a significant investment in the nation's resources.
Infrastructure Support
Through its Civil Works program, USACE carries out a wide array of projects that provide coastal protection, flood protection, hydropower, navigable waters and ports, recreational opportunities and water supply. Work includes coastal protection and restoration, including a new emphasis on a more holistic approach to risk management. As part of this work, the Corps is the number one provider of outdoor recreation in the US, so there is a significant emphasis on water safety.
Water Resources
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental mission has two major focus areas: restoration and stewardship.
The Corps supports or manages numerous environmental programs, that run the gamut from cleaning up areas on former military installations contaminated by hazardous waste or munitions to helping establish/reestablish wetlands that helps endangered species survive. Some of these programs include Ecosystem Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites, Environmental Stewardship, EPA Superfund, Abandoned Mine Lands, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, Base Realignment and Closure 2005, and Regulatory.
This mission includes education as well as regulation and cleanup.
Environment
One HQ, 8 Divisions, 1 Provisional Division, 45 Districts, 6 Centers, one active-duty unit, 2 Engineer Reserve Command
At work in more than 90 countries
Completed over 4,400 infrastructure projects in Iraq at an estimated cost of $6.1 billion
Supports 159 Army installations and 91 Air Force installations
Owns and operates 609 dams
Owns and/or operates 257 navigation lock chambers at 212 sites
Owns and operates 24% of US hydropower capacity (3% of the total US electric capacity)
Operates and maintains 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of commercial inland navigation channels
Maintains 926 coast, Great Lakes, and inland harbors
Dredge 255 million cubic yards annually for construction or maintenance
Nation's number one provider of outdoor recreation with more than 368 million visits annually to 4,485 sites at 423 Corps projects (383 major lakes and reservoirs)
Total water supply storage capacity of 329,900,000 acre feet (406,900,000,000 m³)
Average annual damages prevented by Corps flood risk management projects (1995-2004) of $21 billion (see "Civil works controversies" below)
Approximately 137 environmental protection projects under construction (Sep 2006 figure)
Approximately 38,700 acres (157 km²) of wetlands restored, created, enhanced, or preserved annually under the Corps' Regulatory Program
Approximately $4 billion in technical services to 70 non-DoD Federal agencies annually
The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to June 16, 1775, when the Continental Congress organized an army with a chief engineer and two assistants. Colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washington's first chief engineer; however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill. The first Corps was mostly composed of French subjects, who had been hired by General Washington from the service of Louis XVI.
The Corps of Engineers as it is known today came into being on March 16, 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy." The United States Military Academy was under the direction of the Corps of Engineers until 1866. The Corps's authority over river works in the United States began with its fortification of New Orleans after the War of 1812. A Corps of Topographical Engineers, authorized on July 4, 1838, consisted only of officers and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses. It included such officers as George Meade. It was merged with the Corps of Engineers in March, 1863. In the mid-1800s, Corps of Engineers' officers ran Lighthouse Districts in tandem with US Naval officers.
From the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps to contribute to both military construction and works of a civil nature. Assigned the military construction mission in 1941, the Corps built facilities at home and abroad to support the U.S. Army and Air Force. In the 20th century, the Corps became the lead federal flood control agency and significantly expanded its civil works activities, becoming among other things a major provider of hydroelectric energy and the country's leading provider of recreation; its role in responding to natural disasters also grew dramatically. In the late 1960s, the Corps became a leading environmental preservation and restoration agency.
Notable dates and projects
