THE SUCCESS MEMO PAVES THE WAY FOR IMMEDIATE INSTALLATION AT OVER 800 U.S. FACILITIES.
TechFlow, a 100% employee-owned forward-thinking energy, mobility, logistics, and digital solutions company, today announced it has received a success memorandum from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) for its self-sustaining electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure solution. This distinction marks the DIU’s first recognition for an EV charging solution.
The success memorandum allows all Department of Defense (DoD) Services – including the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard – along with Civilian Agencies to enter production agreements with TechFlow, enabling the immediate installation of EV charging infrastructure across more than 800 facilities nationwide.
TechFlow’s EV charging infrastructure solution represents the pinnacle of adaptability and sustainability in EV charging. Adeptly designed for versatility, TechFlow’s solution accommodates a comprehensive suite of applications, including Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS), Government-owned Government-operated (GOGO), Government-owned Company-operated (GOCO), Company-owned Company-operated (COCO), and multiple tenancy models. Compatible with a wide spectrum of vehicles, TechFlow’s solution supports both Government Owned Vehicles (GOVs) and Personally Owned Vehicles (POVs), providing each access to utilize the same Level 2 and Level 3 fast charging assets, thus reducing infrastructure costs.
Beyond mere self-sufficiency, TechFlow’s solution seamlessly integrates cutting-edge energy storage systems, microgrid technologies, and a diverse array of energy sources, ensuring the delivery of robust and efficient EV charging services that are responsive to the rapidly evolving energy landscape.
TechFlow’s year-long collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has culminated in developing and successfully deploying advanced EV charging infrastructure prototypes at multiple Department of Defense (DoD) sites across the United States, including Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy bases. The DIU thoroughly evaluated TechFlow’s EV charging infrastructure and associated cloud software, confirming TechFlow’s exceptional service delivery with over 99% uptime.
“The recognition from the DIU is a testament to TechFlow’s commitment to engineering excellence and versatility in our EV charging solutions,” said TechFlow Vice President of Energy and Mobility Solutions Michael Genseal. “Our approach is customer-centric, ensuring that our infrastructure not only meets the diverse needs of the Department of Defense but also paves the way for adaptable installations across various agencies, enabling reliability and efficiency in their shift to clean energy.”
“We are immensely proud to be among the first recipients of a success memorandum from DIU’s Energy Portfolio,” said TechFlow President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Carter. “This recognition underscores TechFlow’s pivotal role as a critical partner in delivering innovative solutions for our government customers, and this significant achievement is a testament to our team’s dedication and expertise.”
About TechFlow
TechFlow Inc. is a 100% employee-owned company with nearly three decades of success defined by innovation, agility, and proactiveness. As employee-owners, we balance technology and human factors to determine the best outcome for our customers’ missions. The company supports government and commercial sectors as system developers, integrators, and optimizers in mission-critical markets: digital, platform, base management/logistics, and energy and mobility solutions. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices throughout the United States, TechFlow delivers leading-edge solutions for customers in mission-critical markets. TechFlow. Always Ahead. For more, visit https://techflow.com.
November 14, 2023 - Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK), a leading provider of high-end consulting and engineering services, announced today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Rock Island District, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, selected Tetra Tech for a $33 million task order to provide architectural and engineering (A-E) services to design a new 1,200-foot navigation lock on the Illinois River.
Tetra Tech was awarded the task order through the USACE Great Lakes and Ohio River Division’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Contract. Tetra Tech scientists, consultants, and engineers will design the new lock chamber to improve efficiency, reliability, and safety for navigation traffic along the river. The new lock will be twice as long as the existing lock system which will reduce wait times by more than seventy percent, accommodate larger vessels, and improve mariner safety. The project is a top priority of the USACE Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program.
"The USACE Rock Island District maintains navigable waterways that are essential to the transportation of goods throughout the Midwest," said Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech Chairman and CEO. "Tetra Tech looks forward to using our Leading with Science® approach to design systems that improve critical infrastructure, support public safety, and enhance the resilience and reliability of U.S. waterborne transportation supply chains."
About Tetra Tech
Tetra Tech is a leading provider of high-end consulting and engineering services for projects worldwide. With 27,000 employees working together, Tetra Tech provides clear solutions to complex problems in water, environment, sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, and international development. We are Leading with Science® to provide sustainable and resilient solutions for our clients. For more information about Tetra Tech, please visit tetratech.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project has been selected as the recipient of the National Academy of Construction Recognition of Special Achievement Award.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, and its partners, the cities of Fargo, North Dakota; Moorhead, Minnesota; and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority, are working cooperatively to implement this critical project.
According to NAC, the award highlights creativity, innovation, vision, and accomplishments of practitioners in the engineering, design and construction industries. From concept to construction, USACE and its partners consistently solved challenges on this complex project to include splitting work between the entities to allow simultaneous design and construction which expedites project completion by approximately 10 years when compared to traditional delivery methods. Additionally, as the first USACE project in the nation to leverage a public private partnership delivery model, the St. Paul District, the Cities of Fargo and Moorhead and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority are setting the example of how to deliver projects to the nation more efficiently in a resource-constrained environment. Dozens of consultants and construction firms have participated in the effort, showing the strength of the private commitment to the project.
“NAC is thrilled to select this project for our second annual Recognition of Special Achievement Award,” said Edd Gibson, NAC president and CEO. “What stood out to us when evaluating the project was the impact that it will have on both North Dakota and Minnesota, as it is truly a generational project that will help citizens of both states for decades to come. And it provides a good road map on how to innovatively address resilience and sustainability in a large civil infrastructure project. All involved are to be applauded for their dedication to improving the lives of those in this region.”
“Congratulations to our USACE teammates and our partners, the cities of Fargo, Moorhead, and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority for this well-deserved recognition,” said Lt. Gen. Scott A Spellmon, 55th Chief of Engineers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding general. “In spearheading the Fargo-Moorhead Metro Area flood risk management project, the St. Paul District exemplified the kind of innovation and partnership that we strive for, as we work to protect communities and engineer solutions for the nation’s toughest challenges.”
The award will be presented to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the NAC annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts Oct. 12.
The $3 billion federal project includes a 30-mile diversion channel with upstream staging and floodwater storage as well as 21 bridges (18 highway, 3 railroad); 2 aqueduct structures; nearly 40 miles of levees and floodwalls; 3 large, gated control structures; 22 miles of dam embankment; 4 miles of Interstate-29 raise; and environmental and cultural mitigation and monitoring. This project will provide flood risk management for nearly 260,000 people and 70 square miles of infrastructure in the communities of Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, North Dakota; Horace, North Dakota; and Harwood, North Dakota, and will save the nation millions of dollars annually in flood fighting and potential flood damages.
More than 150 people attended the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville (Huntsville Center) Energy Workshop Aug. 1-3 at the Jackson Center located in Huntsville’s Cummins Research Park.
The focus of the workshop was Huntsville Center’s capabilities in the Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) and Utility Energy Services Contracting (UESC) programs.
This year's theme as "Innovation and New Technology Integration."
Jon Winkler, Huntsville Center Energy Division chief, said Huntsville Center holds this annual workshop for customers and stakeholders, utility providers and all Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) holding contracts on the Center’s $1.5 billion Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC).
“Huntsville Center considers events like these essential for ‘cross-leveling’ fundamental knowledge of industry trends and innovations to make what we all do better,” Winkler said.
Huntsville Center’s customers include Army, Navy and Air Force garrisons, Army Material Command (AMC), Installation Management Command (IMCOM), Deputy Chief of Staff of Army (DCS-G9), Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainment (DASA-ES), Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment (ASA-IEE), Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC), Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), and Headquarters US Army Corps of Engineers (HQUSACE).
Patty Mooneyham, UESC Program Manager, said Huntsville Center is considered the Army's expert in third-party financing and utility negotiation energy due to its unique ability to provide support world-wide.
“Unlike other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Divisions and Districts, Huntsville Center has no geographic boundaries allowing the Center to develop, award, and maintain long-term energy projects worldwide,” Mooneyham said.
Guest speakers for the event were Rep. Gary Palmer, Alabama 6th District and member of the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Energy, Grid Security, and Climate Change, and Brendan Owens, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Defense, Energy, Environment, and Infrastructure.
Other speakers include Christine Ploschke, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability; Susan Call, Department of Defense Installation Clean Energy & Energy Efficiency; William Kidd, Army Installation Management Command G4 Facilities and Logistics director and Drew White, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Installation Readiness Division chief.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-South Pacific Division and Navajo Nation signed an agreement intended to improve USACE’s support to Navajo Nation at Window Rock, Arizona, July 6.
The agreement was signed by U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, commanding general, USACE-South Pacific Division, and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.
“With this framework provided for intergovernmental support, the South Pacific Division looks forward to assisting the Navajo Nation by collectively addressing the Nation’s highest priorities and delivering bold solutions to serve and strengthen their communities,” Gant said.
Services and any goods which the Corps may provide to the Navajo Nation under this agreement include full or partial services in the areas of planning, design, engineering, consultation, technical support and training, and construction activities.
The purpose of the agreement is to establish a mutual framework governing the respective responsibilities of the Parties for the provision of goods and services for NN projects, leveraging the Chief’s Economy Act. 10 U.S.C. § 7036(e).
The signing puts a formal agreement in place to allow the Navajo Nation to utilize specific services on a cost reimbursable basis with all of the Corps’ districts under the South Pacific Division.
The South Pacific Division (SPD) is working to put a portion of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law monies to good use by supporting their regulatory program through training, development of programmatic tools, hiring of new Regional Technical Specialists (RTSs), and tribal nation outreach initiatives.
The funding also supports hiring of new staff to establish and maintain a Regional Technical Support and Execution Center (TREC) to support execution, increased agility, and consistency in program delivery, specifically for BIL projects. SPD is taking advantage of the flexibility they were offered when standing up their respective TREC.
“What this means for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the opportunity to develop the relationships, processes, and technology that will enable USACE Regulatory Program to continue to effectively deliver decisions that balance natural resource protection with the need for progress and economic growth,” says Tori White, SPD’s chief of Operations and Regulatory Division.
“Each USACE Division was given flexibility in establishing their TREC by USACE headquarters,” added White. “So, SPD hired a workload/program manager and team leader at the Division level to oversee the Center and lead a team of regulators in implementing and delivering BIL projects.”
White says SPD is unique in that it has leveraged its Regional Technical Specialists (RTS), or high-level subject matter experts within a district, to provide a minimum 25 percent support to the region. SPD also pulled its existing RTSs into the TREC to ensure agile “support center” staff to provide execution and technical expertise across region.
This support was also extended through the integration of their RTSs from the Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise - another distinctive SPD focus. The TNTCX provides a cost-effective administrative tool to improve USACE’s quality and effectiveness in delivering USACE missions and Federal Trust responsibilities to Federally recognized tribes.
“With 182 federally recognized Tribes in SPD’s AOR, having a dedicated Regional Regulatory Tribal Liaison is essential for SPD to meet its tribal trust responsibilities effectively and efficiently,” said White. “So, SPD pulled its a tribal liaison from the Albuquerque District Tribal Nations Technical Center of Expertise to support not only the TREC but the entire regional regulatory program.”
Mark Gilfillan, a senior tribal liaison with USACE SPD, sees the value and long-term benefits of this initiative by the division.
“Knowing that SPD covers an area of at least 10 states and 182 Tribal Nations, the tribal land areas within SPD AOR alone constitute more than 50% of all Indian Tribes within the contiguous 48 states;” said Gilfillan. “Therefore, throughout all of our SPD Missions and business line areas, there is a great need and an advantage to having a RTS for tribal actions and attention. The TNTCX is vital to the successful management of our relationships with Tribal Nations, which helps us maintain and operate key infrastructure projects that contribute to the Nation’s economy, environment, safety, and quality of life - now and in the future.”
Gilfillan also sees how the integration of the RTSs is critical to serving this often-unseen community and relishes in his opportunity to be part of this change.
“My favorite part is providing tools to meet the task, within the given timeframes, procedures, program limits, and work regimen, we all have today. However, as a tribal liaison, it is equally important to bring forward the tribal concerns and needs for consideration. Tribal communities are often some of the most deserving, but underserved areas of our Nation.”
The TNTCX is currently preparing a scope of work for SPD to address strategic tribal communications, outreach, and treaty rights including development of a GIS based tool for Regulators, adds White.
SPD is also developing an Environmental Justice Principles for the Regional Regulatory Program. Environmental Justice is the fair and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, national origin, or income regarding the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, with no group bearing a disproportionate burden of environmental harms and risks.
“These initiatives align with SPD commander’s priorities and the SPD vision for delivering bold solutions to serve and strengthen all communities,” said White.
On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation funding the construction of the U.S. Interstate Highway System (IHS)--something Americans had dreamed of since Detroit starting building cars.
The Missouri Highway Commission awarded the first contract to begin building the interstate along the famous Route 66 in rural Laclede County, 160 miles southwest of St. Louis. However, construction on the first section of interstate actually began in St. Charles County, Missouri, on Aug. 13. Kansas and Pennsylvania have also made competing claims that their states were first to possess sections of interstate.
No matter who was first, the enthusiasm for a uniform system of roads, bridges, and tunnels was very high in 1956, nearly fifty years after the introduction of Henry Ford's Model T automobile. The building of the IHS, formally known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, proceeded rapidly throughout the country, and by the early 1990s, nearly 45,000 miles of interstate highway were complete.
In order to understand the IHS's importance in U.S. society, let's examine its history. President Eisenhower is widely regarded as the catalyst for the IHS. His motivations for a highway network stemmed from three events: his assignment as a military observer to the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy, his experience in World War II where he observed the efficiencies of the German autobahn, and the Soviet Union's 1953 detonation of the hydrogen bomb, which instigated a fear that insufficient roads would keep Americans from being able to escape a nuclear disaster.
In the summer of 1919, Lt. Col. Eisenhower was a dejected midcareer Army officer. He narrowly missed out on overseas service during World War I and anticipated a reduction in rank as the Army shrank and prepared for peacetime operations. Adding to his discontent, he was physically separated from his wife and infant child because of a shortage of military housing.
Eisenhower was assigned as an observer to an unprecedented military experiment--the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy. The operation was a road test for military vehicles and was used to identify the challenges in moving troops from coast to coast on the existing infrastructure. The excursion covered 3,200 miles from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. It included 79 vehicles of all sizes and 297 personnel.
During the expedition, Eisenhower gained some insight for the creation of a network of connected roads and bridges. Eisenhower's report to Army leaders focused mostly on mechanical difficulties and the condition of the patchwork of existing roads. He reported a mix of paved and unpaved roads, old bridges, and narrow passages.
Narrow roads caused oncoming traffic to run off the road and encounter added difficulty when reentering the roadway. Some bridges were too low for trucks to pass under. Eisenhower pointed out that the roads in the Midwest region of the United States were impracticable, but the roads in the east were sufficient for truck use.
Eisenhower singled out a western section of the Lincoln Highway, a transcontinental road with routes through Utah and Nevada, as being so poor that it warranted a thorough investigation before government money should be expended. He praised California for having excellent paved roads. Lastly, he observed that the different grades of road determined much of the convoy's success.
During World War II, as the supreme Allied commander, Gen. Eisenhower was the architect of the defeat of Nazi Germany. As Allied armies raced across France and into Germany, he marveled at the vast highway system built by the Germans prior to the war. Eisenhower wrote in his presidential memoirs, "During World War II, I had seen the superlative system of German autobahn--[the] national highways crossing that country."
This advanced European highway system helped the Allies. The autobahn aided the Allied victory by enabling the Allies to efficiently resupply forces that pursued the German Wehrmacht across France and into Germany. The famous Red Ball Express was a magnificent achievement that kept swift-moving Allied field armies resupplied.
In August and September of 1944, an around-the-clock operation of 6,000 trucks delivered materiel to forces on the move. It involved a 300-mile divided road that eventually converted to a super highway. The road extended from the Normandy beachhead to terminals near Paris. Later, a second super highway extended from Paris into Germany.
Instrumental in the logistics success following the D-Day landings was Lt. Gen. Lucius Clay. He was a key aid to Eisenhower during the war and later when Eisenhower ascended to the presidency. Eisenhower knew Clay, a West Point-trained engineer, was a respected troubleshooter, an effective administrator, and politically adept.
In 1954, Eisenhower appointed Clay to head the President's Advisory Committee on the National Highway System. The so-called "Clay Committee" began work to develop a national highway plan, and its outcome was a report to Congress on the National Highway Program.
The resulting "Grand Plan" obligated $50 billion of federal funds over 10 years to build a "vast system of interconnected highways." The committee based its proposal on four points. The first point appealed to safety. It cited 36,000 traffic fatalities each year and the multibillion dollar effect on the economy.
Next, the report cited the physical conditions of existing roads and their effect on the cost of vehicle ownership. It was thought poorly maintained roads adversely affected the economy by increasing transportation costs, which were ultimately borne by the consumer.
The third point involved national security. The pervasive threat of nuclear attack in the United States called for the ability to execute the emergency evacuation of large cities and the quick movement of troops essential to national defense.
The last point appealed to the health of the U.S. economy. Improvements in transportation must keep up with the expected increase in U.S. population. Moreover, road improvement is essential to the economy and an efficient use of taxpayer money.
The Clay Committee concluded its report by stating that the positive economic attributes of the highway system were the potential for economic growth and the well-being of the economy through "speedy, safe, transcontinental travel" that could improve "farm-to-market movement."
The IHS was the largest public works project undertaken in the Unites States and came at a time when the Cold War consumed not only a large part of the federal budget but also the attention of the U.S. public.
The Cold War played a pivotal role in the creation of the IHS. Shortly after Eisenhower took office in 1953, Soviet leader Josef Stalin died, setting off a power struggle in the Kremlin. It was not until September that Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
On Aug. 12, 1953, the Soviets exploded their first hydrogen bomb, thus moving closer to the United States in nuclear parity. It was unsettling to have a superpower with an unstable government armed with the latest nuclear weapons technology. This event further jolted an already rattled U.S. public, which routinely engaged in civil defense drills. Citizens built bomb shelters, stockpiled food, and prepared for imminent nuclear war.
In a July 1954 speech to the Governors' Conference, Vice President Richard Nixon expressed concern over the "appalling inadequacies" of the existing U.S. road infrastructure and its inability to meet the needs for responding to a national emergency on the scale of atomic war. Nixon mentioned atomic or atomic war no less than 10 times in the speech.
This topic was on the minds of most Americans. Seventy-nine percent of the public thought a nuclear conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union was imminent. In the event of war, 70 million urban residents required evacuation by road.
The Clay Committee also warned of the need for large-scale evacuation of cities in the event of nuclear war. Furthermore, it cited federal civil defense authorities who were worried that a withdrawal from urban areas would be the largest ever attempted. The Committee soberly stated, "The rapid improvement of the complete 40,000-mile interstate system, including the necessary urban connections thereto, is therefore vital as a civil-defense measure."
A large scale urban evacuation drill conducted in June 1955 drove home the importance of an evacuation plan. The ensuing confusion coupled with crowded evacuation routes seemed to make President Eisenhower's case for the IHS. Moreover, the administration was serious about the role of a uniform system of roads for national defense and directed Department of Defense (DOD) involvement.
When the IHS began in earnest, a testing facility was created in central Illinois to evaluate pavement, road standards, and construction techniques, among other things. The DOD contributed equipment and personnel for the tests. Military leaders knew from their experiences in the two previous world wars that roads were vital to national defense. During World War I, military truck traffic destroyed roads. In World War II, defense plants were often supplied by truck, but the lack of road standards sometimes impeded timely delivery.
Over a two-year period, Army trucks drove 17 million miles on the test roads. Some vehicles carried blocks of concrete in an effort to see how long a 24-ton truck would take to destroy roads and bridges. Highway building and maintenance standards were developed from the tests.
Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 creating federal funds for interstate highway construction. As the IHS developed so did its ability to support national defense. For example, throughout the system, mile-long stretches of concrete pavement double as emergency landing strips for military aircraft. Many Army posts, especially where division-level units are garrisoned, are near interstate highways.
For example, the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, is adjacent to I-70, and the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, is close to I-10.
During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the IHS contributed to the success of mobilizing the military for war in the Middle East. Military planners were emboldened by the ability to move personnel and materiel with ease during national emergencies.
Despite the convenience and ease of movement, the IHS is showing its age. When funding was appropriated in 1956, planners knew that, at some point, roads, bridges, and various infrastructure would deteriorate. The IHS was expected to last only into the 1970s when improvements would be needed. The 1956 appropriation ran out in 1972 and current funding is sustained by the motor fuel tax, which is funneled into a trust fund.
The IHS's disrepair was highlighted in July 2007 with an unfortunate tragedy in Minnesota. On a summer day near Minneapolis, a section of a steel arch bridge on Interstate 35 collapsed into the Mississippi River. The accident killed 13 people and injured another 145.
The accident remains one of the worst bridge failures in the U.S. history, and it highlights the poor condition of the nation's infrastructure. At the time of the incident, approximately 150,000 of the nation's nearly 600,000 bridges "were considered either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete," according to a 2012 ABC News report. Since the I-35 incident, political leaders have called for a major investment in the nation's infrastructure.
Most Americans see the IHS for what it is: a quick, efficient, and convenient means of travel. The automobile culture, which hit its stride in the 1960s, thrived on networks of paved roads and inexpensive gasoline. Along the way, an entire segment of the economy was born. Businesses catered to travelers. Hotels, motels, restaurants, and service stations appeared at interstate exits to serve weary motorists.
The IHS is an icon and marvel of man's ingenuity. Great leaders such as Dwight Eisenhower and Lucius Clay had the foresight to conceive and build a network of interconnecting highways that helped to shape and define postwar America. Who from the current generation of leaders will repair, rebuild, and expand the IHS?
Lee Lacy is a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and an assistant professor at the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and holds a master's degree from Webster University.
This article was published in the March-April 2018 issue of Army Sustainment magazine.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division made a significant impact at the U.S. Central Command's State Partnership Program Adjutant General Conference, held at the CENTCOM Headquarters, May 4-5, 2023.
Scott Cilley, the Transatlantic Division’s Plans and Operations chief, represented the division at the conference, which convened Adjutant Generals from Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, along with senior CENTCOM officials and representatives from U.S. Army Central, U.S. Air Forces Central, U.S. Special Operations Command Central, U.S. Space Force Central, and the U.S. National Guard Bureau.
The event focused on synchronizing State Partnership Operations, Activities, and Investments for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, aligning them with CENTCOM priorities, and developing Theater Security Cooperation plans.
Cilley delivered a compelling presentation on the potential of the Transatlantic Division’s involvement in Theater Security Cooperation Operations, Activities and Investments which was well received by the approximately 80 participants.
"We can leverage the subject matter expertise of our 36,000 civilians across the USACE Enterprise to add value to Theater Security Cooperation Operations, Activities and Investments,” Cilley noted during his address. "There are literally hundreds of disciplines where USACE can contribute to enhance our relationships with our partners and allies."
Cilley went on to illustrate specific areas where the USACE could contribute to upcoming Operations, Activities and Investments for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, particularly in regions like Central Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Levant.
“The Transatlantic Division can significantly contribute to Theater Security Cooperation workshops, forums, mil-to-mil exchanges, travelling contact teams, and key leader engagements with partners and allies,” Cilley continued. “Our expertise can assist in everything from water management to building partner capacity and infrastructure development. As part of our Theater Security Cooperation planning, we are strategically poised to augment existing State Partnership Program events across all regions in the CENTCOM area of responsibility. With this involvement, the division can foster closer ties with partners and allies, promote regional stability, and contribute to shared security objectives.”
Col. Craig S. Baumgartner, the Transatlantic Division deputy commander, expressed his commitment to the State Partnership Program.
"Our participation in this conference underscores our growing engagement with the State Partnership Program. Over the past 18 months, the Transatlantic Division has proactively reached out to all eight State Partnership Program senior leaders and coordinators, highlighting our potential contributions. The Adjutant Generals have warmly welcomed our value proposition, leading to plans for supporting Operations, Activities and Investments in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan."
The conference's outcomes set the stage for USACE's upcoming attendance at the CENTCOM Security Cooperation Working Group scheduled in Germany, June 12-16, 2023.
The CENTCOM State Partnership Program is a key component of the U.S. defense strategy, fostering mutual cooperation and building long-term relationships with partner nations. It has been instrumental in strengthening military and civilian relationships between the U.S. and partner nations, enhancing regional stability, and contributing to a broader understanding of national and international security issues.
