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The New York

District TimesSummer 2005, Vol. 30, No.3 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

Brig. Gen. Grisoli to command regionIowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, N orthDakota, Oregon , South Dakota, Washing ton, Wiscon-sin and Wyoming. This program includ es the designand construction of barracks, hospitals, airfields andfamily h ousing at Arm y an d Air Force installations.

The North western Division is a national leader

in providing environmental cleanup of hazardou s andtoxic waste for the Environmental Protection Agencyand at hundreds of formerly used defense sites andactive military installations.

A registered p rofessional engineer in the stateof Virginia, Grisoli graduated from the U.S. MilitaryAcadem y, West Point, N .Y., and was comm issioned in1976. He received a master ’s degree in civil engineer-ing from the University of Illinois and a secondmaster ’s d egree in Na tural Resource Strategy from theNa tional Defense University.

Prior to his assignment to N orthw estern Divi-sion, Grisoli served as Depu ty Director of Arm y Transformation at the Pentagon. He has held numerousother command and staff positions in the U.S. andabroad.

His m ilitary d ecorations includ e the DefenseSup erior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with Oak LeafCluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Merito-rious Service Medal (with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters), Arm yComm endation Medal (with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters), JointService Achievement Medal, Parachutist Badge

Ranger Tab, and the Arm y Staff Identification Badge.

Inside . . .

Page 5 4

Brig. Gen. William T. Grisoli

Brig. Gen. Will-iam T. Grisoli is slatedto comman d the NorthAtlantic Region. Hewill relieve Brig. Gen.Merd ith “Bo” Temple ata change of commandceremony Aug. 1.

Grisoli has beenthe Commander andDivision Engineer of the U.S. Army Corp s of Engineers, Northwest-ern Division since July8, 2003.

Through th e Division’s head quar ters in Port-land, Ore. and a Missouri River regional office inOmaha, Neb., he directed all Corps of Engineers civil,military an d environmental activities in an area com-prising one-quarter of the continental United States.

The Division’s annu al program s exceed $2 bil-lion and are largely carr ied ou t throu gh d istrict officesin Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha; Portland, Seattle andWalla Walla, Wash. A large p art of the civil works p ro-gram bu dget is earmarked for maintaining and oper-ating hydroelectric, navigation, and flood controlprojects, in addition to fish and wildlife activities atCorps projects in the Missouri and Columbia Riverbasins.

Grisoli also directs the Corps’ military con-struction program for the states of Colorado, Idaho,



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

April/May/June2005

Commander andDistrict Engineer

Col. Richard J. Polo Jr.

Chief, Public AffairsPeter H. Shugert

[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 not

necessarily those of theDepartment 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

Message from the Chief of EngineersEvery June, we celebrate Engineer Day

to honor the contributions of U.S. Army Engi-neers, which began w hen Col. Richard Gridleybecame the first chief engineer in June 1775. His

fortifications at Bunker Hill began a long heri-tage of service by Arm y engineers th at contin-ues today. Although mu ch has changed d uring

the centuries, the commitment, courage, andcompetence exhibited by Army engineers havenever changed.

During the past year, the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers and the entire Engineer Regi-men t have accomplished terrific work. Thanksto the Corps of Engineers team, we accom-plished our daily, important work at home on

the nation’s wa terways an d recreation areas, onour military facilities, and in our research facilities. This past year, when our fellow

citizens needed a id after four hu rricanes struck the Southeast, you ru shed to h elpthem.

Around the world you supported the armed forces with quality facilitiesand you helped to improve the qua lity of life in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thanks toyour contributions, the Gu lf Region Division passed its one-year an niversary inJanu ary. Later that month , Iraq held free elections. Many peop le will never forgetthe photos of smiling Iraqis leaving polling places, showing their fingers stainedwith pu rple ink like badges of honor. Be proud that wherever you served, you con-tributed to that imp ortant milestone.

Sadly, many in the Engineer Regimen t have paid th e ultimate p rice. InMarch, the nation awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to Sgt. 1st Class

Paul Smith of the 11th Engineer Battalion. His extraord inary, un yielding courageduring a firefight outside the Baghdad Airport in April 2003 saved many of hisfellow Soldiers’ lives.

His aw ard reminds m e that the regiment is blessed w ith Soldiers and Civil

ians who live the Army values, and w ho are ded icated to pu blic service. As amem ber of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, you are pa rt of a great team that h asmad e many contributions to th e nation’s security, economic prosperity, and environmental quality. With your h elp, we will do m ore.

We pu blished ou r camp aign plan on June 16, and I ask that you read it awww.usace.army.mil, so you can help us become “One Team: Relevan t, Read y, Re-spon sive, and Reliable.” The camp aign plan describes goals, sup por ting objectives, and enab ling capabilities that will help us achieve our vision. As you readthe plan, remem ber that ou r goals and objectives are connected, and every Corpsmem ber has a role to play in m aking our vision a reality.

Thank you for your service to our nation, and thank you for being p art ofthe Corps team. With your help, we will add to the long, proud heritage of servicethat began more than two centuries ago.

Essayons!

Lt. Gen. Carl Strock

Chief of Engineers

®



3The New York District Times • April/May/June 2005

Each District Commander is committed to keeping the work force informed on the Fiscal Year 2006budget and beyond.

We are all different, but we are also part of one regional team; a larger team m ade u p of mem bers whosup port each other. Because n o d istrict has the capability to p erform all required functions, we therefore needto leverage each other ’s strengths, wh ile sustaining those resident in each d istrict.

As we look to the future, I ask each of you to look for ways to do things even better. We need to do our jobs effectively an d efficiently, wh ile eliminating redu nd ancy an d adop ting smarter w ays of condu cting day-to-

day operations. Working together, I know we can all look forward with confiden ce to the futu re and mak e FY2006 a su ccessful year for the N orth Atlan tic Region.

Essayons!

We have a ll heard m essages abou t the Fiscal Year 2006 bud get and be-yond , some of which are more alarming than others.

What shou ld w e believe?

Although the future is not know n w ith certainty, the District Comm and -ers and I believe that we can be certain abou t two th ings: that the Global Waron Terrorism could last man y years and we face tight bu dgets w ith little spend -ing discretion. Despite this, regionally, the overa ll workload increased over thepast five years, from just under $2 billion to over $2.5 billion, predominantlygrowing in the Military Program, while Civil Works, the Environmental mis-sions, and Interagency & International Sup port have rem ained fairly constant.After the Base Realignment and Closure 2005 announ cement this month, w ewill know more about our future workload, and this may require us to con-

sider tran sferring skills or p ursu ing other alternatives to be successful.

One of the keys to that success, if not THE key, is being very flexible and agile, both in thought andaction. During the recent Command Council, mad e up of the six District Comm and ers, the Division Com-man der an d other senior leaders, we examined th ree key enablers: regional cost-saving measures, regionalrates, and regional w orkload m anagem ent. These enablers will help the region to m ore easily and effectivelymove capability and resources across district bound aries at a lower cost to our customers.

Through ou r Commu nities of Practice, we will be able to maintain ou r core competencies w ell into thefuture w hile sharing ou r tremen dou s skills throughou t the region before acquiring n ew resources.

The technical Communities of Practice are Planning, Engineering, Construction, Operations and Real

Estate. While there is little question Fiscal Year 2006 (and beyond) w ill presen t several challenges (tight bud-gets, potentially large Military Programs, continu ed USACE 2012 transformation, etc.), we are postu red to m eetthose challenges.

Thanks to you r leaders’ hard w ork, North Atlantic Division w ill also be better able to m eet our custom-ers’ needs.

The Region leadership will continue to take care of our m ost valuable resource—our em ployees, thepeople w ho m ake up this great Army Corps of Engineers in w hich ou r core comp etencies lie.

How ever, I wou ld ask that you, our N AD work force, continue to ad apt to change. Time and again, Ihave seen you respond to challenge, from disaster response to supporting the Global War on Terrorism tocreative engineering and environmental solutions. Keep up the good work!

Regional Commander’s thoughtson the FY 06 budget and beyond

Brig. Gen. “Bo” Temple

Commander, NorthAtlantic Region




Corps sends surplus supplies to AfghanistanBy Carolyn Vadino

Surplus equipment was

furnished by the FDNY

Quartermaster in

Brooklyn, N.Y., and

donated to the Kabul,

Afghanistan Fire

Department. Lt. Col.

Kurt G. Hoffmann, on

behalf of the Corps,

accepted four 44-pound

boxes containing FDNY

bunket sets for further

transfer to Afghanistan.

Corps employees

loaded the cargo

onto the Corps’vessel Hocking

for further

shipment to

Afghanistan.

Photos:PeterShugert

Mismatched firefighter u niforms that aren’t always fireproof, fire hoses that leak like sieves, and a graveyard of broken dow n Soviet fire trucks, make u p the scene at the Kabul, Afghanistan fire station.

With no fire fighting training aids available and little gear at the main facility where more than 350firefighters train, the site was a call to action for Ed Qu irk, a boat engineer w ith New York District. Quirk is aretired New York City Fire Depart-ment boat engineer and current boatengineer dep loyed to Afghanistan asa qu ality assuran ce representative.

Lt. Col. Herman Dick, anArmy officer w orking for the Corp sin Kabul, enlisted the help of theKabul Fire Department to washdown the parking lots in the areas

wh ere the Corps works and lives.

“Lt. Col. Dick foun d out I w asa retired FDNY [fire boat engineer]and asked if I would like to see theKabul Fire Department,” said Qu irk.

On a Friday, their h alf day, Dick took Quirk and Rich Bulvid, a lso of New York District, visitedthe firefighting training center.

“We saw their need. It was so p itiful to see

the lack of equipment, especially their old bu nkergear. It was m ismatched and you could tell a lot of it was d onated,” said Quirk.

After visiting the fire station, Quirk andDick d ecided to tap into their stateside resources.They sent a letter w ith ph otograph s to the chief of operations of the N ew York City Fire Depar tmentrequesting used firefighting equipm ent. Quirk a lsoenlisted the assistance of Dan Red dan of New York District, also retired from the FDNY, who worked as a fire boat engi-

neer.

“I called Dann y Reddan and told him w e needed m ajor help,”

said Qu irk. “He w orked in the FDNY, recently retired, so I knew he still had a lot of comm un ication with th emI asked if we could get old bun ker gear d onated.”

The New York District staff stateside w orked with th e FDNY and acquired gear an d shipped it to Af

ghanistan. A compan y that ou tfits the New York City Fire Depar tment d onated brand new sets of bun ker gear.

A few weeks after the gear was shipped, it arrived in Kabul where the Kabul Fire Department held aceremony thanking those responsible with Corps employees and Afghan fire chiefs and firefighters in atten-dan ce. A tour of the fire station followed wh ere Corps em ployees met with firefighters.

“The help [gear] has the wor th of med icine for a sick person,” said Col. Mohamm ed Kazeem, head of the

Kabul fire station.(Continued on page 5)




Quirk decided to put an advertisement on theretired N ew York City Fire Depar tment w ebsite seekinggear.

Around the same time, Col. John B. O’Dowd,comm and er of the Afghanistan District and former com-mand er of the New York District, got a call from the Com -bined Forces Comm and -Afghanistan. The lab portionof an area hospital was on fire due to a rocket attack.

They wanted equ ipment to bulldoze through the flames.Bulldozers w ere used at the requ est of the Afghans, but

New York District has had as many as n ine em-ployees deployed to Afghanistan in supp ort of the re-building mission. Seven from the Caven Point PhysicalSup port Branch and work on Corps vessels in the New

York H arbor. The w ork includ es constructing m ilitarybases for the Afghanistan National Army and build-

ing roads and bridges.

“All those nautical people in a landlockeddesert, there is something to be said abou t that. I givethem a lot of credit,” Dan Redd an, a Caven Point col-

league of Quirk and Bulvid, said.

water throu gh hoses with holes in them w ere spray-

ing water everyw here. With no run ning w ater in Af-ghanistan, most fire trucks have to carry their ownsupply.

When Quirk app roached O’Dowd with theidea to get gear stateside, he was fully supp ortiveFor two m onths, personnel from N ew York and Afghanistan worked together to bring the gear over-seas.

“I could tell from the photos of the peopleover there how involved they got,” said Redd an. “Igive them a lot of credit. They d id the right thing.”

Several Corps emp loyees participated in thehandover of the equipment, as well as Afghan firechiefs and firefighters. The event includ ed prayertrad itional tea, speeches, and a dem onstration of theFire Departm ent’s rapid response. Corps emp loyees

also toured the facility and met other firefighters.

Afghanistan (continued from page 4)

The survey vessel Gelberman was selected as

New York District’s Boat of the Year an d now has th e

honor of flying th e “safety and efficiency” flag from her

mast.

The award w as bestowed on the Gelberman be-

cause of the outstanding performance of her crew con-

sis t ing of Eric Gundersen, Wil l iam Cobb, Rich

Goudreau, Liz Finn, Kasey Malerbi and James Branigan.

An engraved plaque w ith a chronometer with

the words “Safety and Efficiency” now enhances the

bulkhead of the Gelberman signifying this achievemen t.

The Gelberman was selected from among seven

vessels from N ew York District. Gelberman met th e strict

criteria ou tlined in the comp etition guidelines and was

chosen as a result of her superior record in the category

of safety and overall performance efficiency.

The award w as conceived in 1977. It is the only

Supp ort Branch comp etition and is award ed annu ally. Several factors are considered in selecting the boat of the year, such

as total hou rs of availability, operations, cond itions, and th e age of the vessel.

Col. Richard J. Polo Jr., District Engineer, forma lly presented the aw ard in May to the crew.

Award-winning crew. (l-r) Eric Gundersen, William Cobb, Rich

Goudreau, Alan Dorfman, Chief, Physical Support Branch; Col. Ri

chard J. Polo Jr., District Engineer; Liz Finn, Kasey Malerbi and

James Branigan.

the building didn’t need to be bulldozed; instead itneeded to be extinguished.

Inadequate fire trucks with pumps feeding

Gelberman named ‘Boat of the Year’




Army Academy facility keeps Cadets fighting fit

By Kenneth Wells

The Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center is an efficient, properly config-

ured state-of-the-art facility.

This spring the United States

Military Academy celebrated an an-

nual event in its grand history: two

graduations.

The first came in May, when

Arvin graduated from a collection of

blueprints, fund ing reports, and h ope

to be a brand-new physical develop-

ment center capable of serving futu re

generations of cadets for many year s

to come. The second occurred in Jun e,

wh en the cad ets at West Point left be-hind their temp orary tra ining facilities

for a brand new p hysical development

center.

“Arvin Cad et Physical Devel-

opm ent Center is an efficient prop erly

configured state-of-the-art facility capable of meeting ac-

ceptable life safety, gender equity, and handicapped ac-

cessibility standards,” said Jim Demetriou, project

manager for New York District.

“The Physical Education Department took pos-

session of the building in mid-May,” said Paul Merritt,

USMA’s project manager at West Point. “We open ed th e

building to th e p ublic in Jun e.”

The construction of Arvin is a project tha t has been

in the works for some time. Originally planned as a reno-

vation of the old Arvin Gym, officials from West Point

and the U.S. Arm y Corp s of Engineer s, New York Dis-

trict realized acquiring su fficient fund ing to renovate the

entire building was unlikely.

Issues such a s no m aster design p lans, an inabil-

ity to accomm odate the hand icapp ed, the need for a com-

plete electrical overhau l, and seismic up grad es convinced

everyone that the best way to proceed w as by demolish-

ing the old Arvin Gym and building a n ew facility alto-

gether.

The process of constructing a physical develop-

ment center was very time consuming, and during the

reconstruction, the cadets trained in a n um ber of tempo-

rary facilities across campu s.(Continued on page 7)

The process of constructing a physical development

center was very time consuming, and during the recon-

struction, the cadets trained in a number of temporary

facilities across campus.




One of Arvin’s premier attractions is the 48-foot high

climbing wall.

West Point’s cadets have access to Olympic-size swimming pools.

Arvin (Continued from page 6)

“We had two comp lete classes miss out on having apermanent physical development facility for their entirefour years at West Point,” Dr. Tom Horne, d irector of Fac-ulty Op erations and Programs Sup port for West Point, ex-plained . “Three other classes were also forced to spen d

some time w orking in temp orary facilities.”

That all came to an end in Jun e, when West Point’scadets gained access to Olympic-size swimming pools,regu lation basketball cour ts, racquetball courts, boxing fa-cilities with retractable heavy bags that can be lifted intothe ceiling for additional room, and other modern equip-men t. Two of Arvin’s prem ier attractions are the 48-foothigh climbing wall and the wave generator in one of thepools. This device allows instructors to simu late real-lifechallenges in th eir survival sw imming classes.

“The class of ’79 don ated mon ey for us to build th e

climbing wall,” Horne explained. “The movable handh oldsand different heights will provide good experience for themmilitary m ovement classes each cad et is required to com-plete. The wave generator w ill allow us to create chop inthe w ater. We are also looking into acquiring fog machines,and other pieces of equipment that can create challengesour Soldiers w ill face in the real wor ld.”

The opening of Arvin also requ ired some of the staff to go back to school as well, since they had to learn how touse some of the new equipm ent. “We have new sound sys-tems, scoreboard s, and v ideo equipm ent,” Merritt said. “Sowe set up training sessions for everyone to get them u p tospeed on h ow to use the new stuff.”

The physical development center is expected toserve th e cadets at West Point for the next 50 to 60 years.

Demetriou said th e project was a totalteam effort, and was quick to share credit forArvin’s success with individuals like DomPassantino, area engineer, Steve DeN ardis, resi-dent engineer, Nick Multari, project engineer,Merritt and Horne.

Horne considers th e facility a career-de-

fining event since he has been part of theproject’s develop ment since 1990. “I’m thrilledthat this happ ened,” he said. “It’s nice to showpeople that we came in on time and on bud getwith a p rodu ct that is essential in helping pre-pare future generations of Soldiers.”

The total cost for the pro ject is $97 mil-l ion. The contr actor for the project is J.Kokolakis Contracting, Inc., located in RockyPoint, N Y.




Enforcement action aids wildlife refuge

The pond at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

Photos:U.S.FishandWildlifeService

found an app ropriate project.

“We thou ght th is one was just right,” said Wil-liam Koch, long-time manager of the wildlife refuge“It preserves open sp ace along th e Passaic that other-wise would h ave been bought by developers, and even-tually it will be a visitors center and edu cation center

to help people un derstand how special the GreaSwamp is.”

The fund s will help pu rchase 6 acres of a farmin Hard ing Township, along the Passaic River and abut-ting the refuge boundary. Koch said it will be several

years before fun ds allow renovation of some ofthe tract’s 16 buildings into an education andvisitors center.

The refuge is located in Morris County, N.J.about 26 miles west of Manhattan. Accordingto its Web site, the refuge h as become a resting

and feeding area for more than 244 species ofbirds. Fox, deer, muskrat, tur tles, fish, frogs anda wide variety of wildflowers and plants alsocall the refuge hom e. The area was once a lakeformed by the retrea ting Wisconsin Glacier.

(This article was written by Sue Hopkins, Public Af-

fairs. For more information about the Great Swamp

National Wildlife Refuge, visit http

greatswamp.fws.gov.)

The Great Swamp NationalWildlife Refuge is continuing togrow, thanks in part to an enforce-men t action by N ew York District.

A failed mitigation effort inthe m id-1990s yielded a d onation forland preservation in the PassaicRiver basin. That $385,000 contribu -tion has grow n to $420,000 and willnow be used to add acreage for anedu cation and visitors center at the7,600-acre refuge.

In granting a p ermit for con-struction of a railroad interchange

and train station in Kearny, N.J.,New York District requ ired N ew Jer-sey Transit to enhance an area of theCedar Creek Marsh a long thePassaic River. The complicatedmarsh hydrology doomed practicalmitigation efforts, so the District sought a lternatives.

District officials reviewed a number of sug-gestions from area environmen tal groups, but “they just d idn’t seem r ight,” explained Dr. Chris Mallery,chief of the Enforcement an d Compliance Section inthe Regulatory Branch.

Ultimately, the National Fish and WildlifeFoundation, established by Congress in 1984, ac-cepted the contribution to put toward open spacepreservation in the Passaic River Basin. The foun da -tion invested the m oney for u se wh en refuge officials

A field at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.




Diane Deptula

Chief, HR

New York District’s H um an Resources Office has un dergone man y changesin the past few month s. The chief, Diane Deptu la, has w orked in H um an Resourcessince the regionalization concept w as introduced last century and continu es to lead

a staff of new sp ecialist acquisitions w ho now call New York District home.

Depu la has formed an efficient H R team achieving a seamless transition sincerelieving Amy Card one, wh o retired in 2004.

Recently significant changes occurred within HR w ith four new profession-als onboard with a ssigned responsiblities for a broad range of p ersonnel actions in-clud ing training, recruitment, and benefits counseling.

All employees shou ld contact the H R specialist assigned to their d ivision forany H R requirements, requests, questions or concerns.

“We are h ere to sup port all of you. Please do not h esitate to contact us viaphone, email or in person,” said Diane Deptula, Chief, Civilian Personnel Division.

FRANK CAMBRIA (917) 790-8127

Executive OfficePrograms & Project Management

DivisionEngineering Division

Office of CounselPublic Affairs

Equal Employment Opportunity

Security OfficeDeployment

ANGELA SMITH (917) 790-8125

Construction Division

Planning DivisionReal Estate Division

Resource ManagementSafety Office

Internal Review

CP 18 Interns

KATHRYN SYKES

(917) 790-8126Operations Division

Contracting Division

Information MangementOffice

Logistics Management Office

Human Resources meets Corps needs

KENYA BROWN (917) 790-8027Workers Compensation Program

Leave TransferMedical Surveillance

Civilian/Military Buy Backs

Milton Ricks of New York District was assigned in May the duties of managingthe rehabilitation of plum bing, electrical, sewer an d painting u pgrad e at Rabia BalkhiWomen’s Hosp ital in Afghanistan. While this hu man itarian un dertaking is a worth -wh ile effort, he also initiated a d rive to provide toys and children teaching m aterials tothe H ospital’s Children’s Nur sery.

“Friend s at the N ew York District supp orted th is initiative and mailed four boxesfor the n ur sery,” said Ricks. Ricks, Ed Qu irk, Myrland e Lee, Rich Bulvid, and Avril Jonesparticipated in this initiative and condu cted a dr ive to obtain toys and teaching m ateri-als locally in Afghanistan .

Corps employee initiates children’s toy drive

P h o t o s : V i n c e

E l i a s

Milton Ricks




(Continued on page 11)

Cold weather challenges MEPs design teamBy Sue H opk ins

Thoughts o f sub-zero windchills and blizzard conditions are gone

now that sum mer is here – un less you’repart of the team working on MEPSNiagara Falls.

For them w inter is always near,because it’s a pr ime consideration in th edesign an d construction of the Military

Entrance Processing Stat ion at th eNiagara Falls (N.Y.) Air Reserve Station.

The design team at N ew York District w orked from a basic design ap -

proved by the m ulti-service Military En-trance Processing Command in NorthChicago, Ill., but w eather challenges meant ad apting th at d e-sign.

Constru ction on the $6.37 million one-story brick build-ing began in mid-May and is expected to be completed in abouta year. The new MEPS will have rooms ded icated to p hysicalfitness testing, medical and laboratory work, written exams,administration and dining – everything required to begin thetransition from civilian life to military service for America’s

new est recruits. There will be offices for representa tives of eachservice to work w ith recru its and a ceremon ial room d esignated

for the all-imp ortant swearing-in ceremony.

Robert A. Philbrick, engineering manager for the p roject,

described it as “a p rocess of changing our entire mind set. Wehad to be creative, but n ot un conventional,” he explained. “Weenvisioned it one w ay, and had to revisit the d esign.”

For example, the cold weather conditions at NiagaraFalls required m ore mechanical space for heating and ventila-tion units than were included in the basic MEPS design, butthe squa re footage could n ot be increased because of other re-quirements. The answer: put the m echanicals in the attic. It

wou ld ap pear to be a simp le solution, but required significantdesign changes to strengthen the attic floor and supporting

walls below, and even a red esign of the roof trusses to ensureaccess for maintenan ce and repair.

“We had to consider winter wind patterns in placingthe building on the site,” said Armando G. Jimenez, projectman ager. The building had to have cold roof venting and in-sulation to minimize icing. “Snow m elt had to be considered ,too,” and required changes to the main entry design so newrecruits won ’t get snowed u nd er as they arrive.

Military Entrance Processing StationNiagara Falls (N.Y.)Air Reserve Station

The Project

1-story, 24,600-square-foot brick structurehousing 50 full-time employees

screening and processing recruitsfor all military services

For New York DistrictArmando G. Jimenez, project manager

Design team

Ralph L. DeBari, chief architect & designerRobert A. Philbrick, engineering manager

The CustomerMilitary Entrance Processing Command

North Chicago, Ill.for

Military Entrance Processing Station,Buffalo, N.Y.

The ConsultantsNew England District, MEPS Springfield

Norfolk District, MEPS Fort LeeCold Regions Research & Engineering

Laboratory

The Contractor

SLR Construction & Services Co., Buffalo

Next upMEPS Syracuse, N.Y.

The new MEPS will have rooms dedicated to physical fitness testing, medical

and laboratory work, written exams, administration and dining – everything

required to begin the transition from civilian life to military service for America’s

newest recruits.




District Engineer addresses group at port news conference

In May, Col. Richard J. Polo Jr., Dis-trict Engineer, spoke at a Port Authorityof New York and New Jersey press con-

ference which commemorated the open-ing of the 45-foot channel in New York

Harbor.Polo addressed a large group from

the pod ium , includ ing Reps. RobertMenend ez and Rodney P. Frelinghu ysen.The 45 foot deepening project will meetthe growing d emand s of the port and im-prove navigation safety and assomodatethe next generation of cargo vessels that

require deep w aters to operate.

MEPS (cont’d from page 10)

The team investigated other d esigns, includ-

ing visiting MEPS at Fort Lee, Va., which was built

under direction of Norfolk District, and Springfield,

Mass., which was supervised by New England Dis-

trict. The Corps’ Cold Regions Research and Engineer-

ing Laboratory in Hanover, N.H., also provided

advice.

The team a lso was very conscious of the exte-

rior design because the new MEPS will be the first

building p eople see as they en ter the base, Philbrick

added.

The design team refined the basic MEPS de-

sign presented by MEPCOM, especially the exterior

and landscaping d esign, to set the Niagara Falls facil-

ity apart from others. Even the curv ed w all in front of the facility became a design element by adding the

official seals of the four services that will welcome

recruits at new MEPS – Air Force, Army, Marine Corps

and Navy.

Everyone on the team w as challenged in some

way to get the d esign ap proved an d meet the construc-

tion start da te. Philbrick cited budget constra ints, ar-

chi tectural goals , New York State per mit t ing

requirements, and w orking on an u nusually depressed

site (which required elevating the building tw o feet

to enhan ce the design).

Time was critical becau se the MEPS in Buffalo

N.Y., which th e new facility will replace, is in a Gen

eral Services Administration building abou t to be va

cated for total renovation.

“The longer the MEPS has to w ait to get into

the new building, the more money they have to pay

for rent,” said Jimenez. And d elays that pu shed back

the construction start date could push critical work into

the cold weather season, extending the delays even

further.

Jimenez p raised the d esign team for getting th

plans done to meet the bid an d construction start d ates

“There were a lot of changes,” he said .

“It was a process of evolution,” Philbrick re

ported. “There were design ad aptations and user ad

aptations.”

“The customer really knows the requirements,

Jimenez said. “They’re involved in every detail.” He

add ed th at, while MEPCOM has a basic design for it

new MEPS, that design continu es to evolve as lesson

learned and local conditions are incorporated. The

project manager confers regularly with MEPCOM

Head quar ters as w ell as with MEPS Buffalo.

The relationships forged and experience gained

working on MEPS Niagara Falls w ill come in han dy

Jimenez said. MEPS Syracuse, N.Y., need s a new hometoo.

P h o t o :

P e t e r S

h u g e r t




Milestones and announcementsAt an awards dinner in May, Kevin

Smyth received the Engineer of the

Year Award from the New Jersey

American Society of Civil Engineers.

Smyth received the award for his work

in Afghanistan and for support of

hurricane disaster recovery efforts in

2004. The presentation was made at

their annual awards dinner held at the

Newark Club, Newark, N.J.

“Bioengineering Slope Stabilization Techniques Coupled with Traditional Engineering Applications - The Result A Stable Slope”

has been accepted at Corps Conferences. The paper is authored by Bethany Bearmore, Kerry Anne Donohue, Kim Righter and

Marty Goff ands details the design work done in-house for the Waterbury Dam Mitigation Project using bioengineering tech-

niques. The Corps’ Environmental and Natural Resources Conference is held in May, and the Corps’ Infrastructure Conference

held in August.

Costas Lymberis of New York District was elected chairman of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers International,

Metropolitan New York Section.

Donna Braun, daughter of Donald

Braun, Resident Engineer of the

Metro Area Office, Fort Hamilton,

New York District is a recipient of

the U.S. Army Reserve National

Scholar Athlete award. Donna

received a bronze medal andcertificate at a ceremony held June

7. The senior high school class

president is ranked in the top four of

her class with plans on attending

college this fall to major in Educa-

tion.

Jamal Sulayman of

Engineering and Rifat

Salim of PPMD were

wed June 11. The

wedding was a small

family affair with

plans for a reception

sometime later in

year.

Congratulation to Quang

Thanh Nguyen of Infor-

mation Management and

husband Tony Le, whowere wed June 13.

Dan Falt, archeologist of Planning

Division is a musician with “Condo

the band,” Falt plays bass guitar

and has performed in numerous

gigs with the group in and around

New York City. Their music is

described from their web site

www.condotheband.com as tiger-

hearted yet dreamy post-punk pop.

In June, Patricia Donohue, of Operations Division was promoted to GS-13 project manager for operations and maintenance

phase projects. She is a licensed professional engineer in New Jersey. Donohue was cited by the District Engineer as one of the

North Atlantic Division’s emerging leaders. She earned her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College

and her Masters Degree in Energy and Environmental Management from the New York Institute of Technology. Besides suc-

cessful assignments in private industry as a project engineer and as a project manager, she has worked on navigation projects

both here in the New York District and in Wilmington District.

Donald E. Cresitello of

Planning Division is an

avid surfer with a passion

for photographing surfing

action. Cresitello is chief

photographer for EasternSurf Magazine as well as a

contributing photographer

for Surfer, Surfing, and

Transworld Surf Maga-

zines.




Regional headlines

Hayward crew recovers aircraft from New York river

The crew of the Corps vessel Hayward hoists the helicopter from

the East River in lower Manhattan, June 14.

June p roved to be a busy m onth for

the crews of the debris collection vessel

Hayward . The Hayward was called into ac-

tion on two separate d ays to recover heli-

copters which had crashed into the East

River, only four days apart.

The first accident occurred Jun e 14

shortly after a helicopter taking tourists

around the city crashed in the East River

in lower Manha ttan.

The second crash occurred Jun e 17

when a corporate helicopter went down

into the East River around m idtown Man-

hattan after takeoff.

Tom Creamer, chief of Operations

heard of the incident and reported it to the

Caven Point office. The shipkeeper noti-

fied the boat crew, and the Hayward got underway to assist in

the recovery of the aircraft.

On both occasions, the crew of the Hayward used her 20-

ton crane to remove the dam aged helicopters from the w ater.

Hayward’s crew hoisted the second helicopter onto the p ier

at 38th St., Manh attan , to enable Fire Departm ent personnel to

pu mp off fuel tanks from the aircraft wh ich w as reported to be

leaking fuel.

(Above) The crew of the Corps vessel Hay-

ward hoists the helicopter from the East River

in lower Manhattan on June 17. Hayward ‘s

crew placed the wreckage on the pier for fur-

ther investigation by FAA / NTSB.

(left) The helicopter was placed on a quaywall

in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Photo:Brian

Aballo




Moritz crew rescues crew from disabled boat

The crew of the Survey Vessel Moritz rescued a disabled New Jer-

sey State Marine Police vessel and its crew of two policemen from

the path of an inbound 958-foot, 50,000 ton containership.

The Driftmaster outboard one of the foreign

ships during Fleet Week on Staten Island, N.Y.

Driftmaster used her huge crane to remove

debris that ended on the bottom under the

stern.

Driftmaster called to action during Fleet Week fender bender

In May, Cap tain Walter Grau ling, Captain of

the Corp s vessel Moritz and crew of Rein Virkman,

Steve Simon and Hugh Booker courageously res-

cued a d isabled New Jersey State Marine Police ves-

sel and its crew of two p olicemen from the p ath of the inboun d 958-foot long 50,538 ton containership

Orienta l Express. Behind th e Oriental Express was

another huge vessel, a chemical tanker.

Upon observing their d istress call, the Moritz

overtook the containership and man euvered Moritz

alongside the police boat.

The containership was bearing down so

quickly on the d isabled boat, there w asn’t enoug h

time to transfer the men, so the Moritz crew towed

the police boat out of danger w ith less than a m inuteprior to an imm inent disaster.

As a result of their efforts, the Moritz crew received the New York Federal Executive Board award for

valor.

During May 2005 Fleet Week, the

Corps v essel Driftmaster received a call from

the Fleet Week Coordinator that a Pakistani

oil replenishment ship and French frigate

suffered about 30ft section of its hull dam-

age to their por t side, after a minor collision

at the Staten Island homeport.

The Driftmaster’screw using her hoist

removed th e debris from an accommod ation

gangw ay that w as broken off one of the ships

and ended on the bottom under the stern.

Navy divers teamed with the Driftmaster crew in the removal end eavor.

The Driftmaster

crew maneuvers

the Jacob’s

ladder alongside

the oil replenish-

ment ship.




Corps interacts with students during Earth Day

The Corps vessel Hocking gets underway during Estuary Day, a celebration

which commemorates Earth Day.

P h o t o s : C a r o l y n

V a d i n o

Students got an up-close look at the sea creatures.

Estuary Day has become p art of the ann ual Earth Day celebration for New York

District.

In Apr il at a marina in Elizabeth , N.J., New York District personnel work-

ing with teachers from Futu re City Inc. created an environmental laboratoryand boat inspection tou r for science studen ts from the Elizabeth area.

District personnel Nancy Brighton, Kirsten

Davis, Hal Hawkins, Tim LaFontaine,

How ard Ruben, Jason Shea, Debra Smith,

Jenifer Thalhauser, Carolyn Vadino and

Bryce Wisemiller instructed over 100 stu-

den ts on a variety of topics such as dredg-

ing operations and uses for sediment

material along w ith information on p re-

serving the watersheds, imp ortance of the

Harbor Estuary, and history of the Arthu rKill and H ud son River. The harbor estu-

ary w as discussed in great detail, as well

as the watershed , including the Corps res-

toration and mitigation projects.

The highlight was an hour-long boat tour aboard the

Corps vessel Hocking wh ich traveled along the Arthur Kill wa-

terway th at flows between the states of New York and New Jer-

sey.

The Hocking served as a floating educational laboratory,

with stations set up on the bow, stern and inside. Stud ents re-

ceived information abou t the Corps in the form of presentationsaboard the Hocking.

On the dock, the Corps created an environmental tent

class room w ith poster board exhibits, as well as plastic and glass

tanks filled with live sea creatures from the harbor estuary.

Corps personnel and students inside the vessel Hocking .

On the dock, the Corps created an environmental tent class room

with poster board exhibits.




Diversity Day features smorgasbord buffet

Dredging to be featured in TV documentary

Col. Richard J. Polo Jr., District Engineer,

answers questions regarding the dredging in the

Arthu r Kill for an up coming broadcast on the His-tory Channel’s “Modern Marv els.” The Arthu r

Kill is a waterw ay w hich flows betw een N ew York

and New Jersey.

The program, which is schedu led to air in

August, will profile dredging equipment and

Corps contracts nationw ide.

Photos:Vince

Elias

Photo:Carolyn

Vadino

New York District held its an nual Diversity Day cel-

ebration in May featuring a smorgasbord of delectable deli-

cacies from arou nd th e world. District personnel were able

to sample authentic food from a variety of recipes from

countries from around th e world.

Sand ra End o of a N ew York City cable new s chan-

nel was the keynote speaker.

More soda, please.

Deserts outnumbered the entrees

The serving line featured volunteers.




District welcomes Deputy Commander

Lt. Col. Charles “Chuck” Klinge is the new Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers, New York District. Klinge reported aboard June 13. He is not new to the

Corps. His last assignment was with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles

District. Klinge replaces Lt. Col. Kurt Hoffmann who retired in June after serving 25

years.

Retirements, departuresand transfers

Personnel Actions

Lt. Col. Kurt G. Hoffmann, retiredLt. Col. Taras Jemetz retiredMaj. David Freedman retired

Maj. Yee Hang, PCSMaria Beiberneit, SA, retired

William Cobb, OPKasey Malerbi, OP

Michael Williams, COAnesta Botros, CO

Brig. Gen. Merdith W. B. “Bo” Temple, Commander

North Atlantic Region and Col. Richard J. Polo Jr.,

District Engineer, display the Commander’s pennant

during a harbor inspection in May aboard the Corps

vesselHocking . The inspection was part of Temple’s

farewell itinerary. A fire boat water salute and pa-

rade of Corps vessels rendered honors to Temple.

District pays tribute toRegion Commander

Photo:PeterShugert

New employees and summertemporary personnel

Raynette Gurney, CT

Scott Helmer, CT

Loretta Parris, CTStuart Sumner, CT

Summer

Chantel Borroum, OP

John Belnap, COAnthony Gerace, OP

Anthony Giorgianni, EN

Jean Lau, EXRobert Pietrocola, OP

Eric Rozycki, OPLewis Spears, OP

Marace Vaughn, EN

Simon Siu, COVeena Varadarajan, OP

Ali Williams, OPLt. Col. Kurt G. Hoffmann

Maj. Yee Hang

Maj. David Freedman

On June 29, the Department of the Army Selection board recommended the

promotion of Cpt. Kevin Lovell to the rank of Major. Subject to confirmation

by the United States Senate, he will be promoted late this year or early next

year. He also recently returned from Afghanistan just in time to join his wife

Claire for the birth of their daughter, Maeve Rose Lovell, born June 22.

Sean Keane, OP

Stephen Lebarron, CO

Cpt. Lovell recommended for field grade




Work in progress

Corps’ top leaders tour Afghanistan Mili-tary Entrance Processing Station.

Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, Chief of Engineersand Brig. Gen. Merdith W. B. “Bo” Temple,Commander of the Corps’ North AtlanticRegion, greet Afghanistan constructionworkers at the Military Entrance Processing Station construction project for the AfghanNational Arm y June 25.

Dam project takes shape

Col. Richard J. Polo Jr., District Engineer, was on site in Jun e at Pompton Lake Dam at the Corps’ RamapoRiver at Oakland , N.J. Flood Dam age Redu ction Project. The project involves the constru ction of features forflood p rotection along the Ramapo River from Pompton Lake in Wayne Town ship and th e Borough of Pompton

Lakes.

Photo:LaShawnSyke

s

Col. Richard J. Polo Jr., District Engineer,

signed a memorandum of agreement for the FortSlocum-Davids Island project Jun e 27.

Plans include documentation with photogra-phy and interviews with people who l ived andworked at the fort, an interpretive display and stud-ies to determine if any bu ildings can be p reserved inplace.

“The MOA outlines the work New York Dis-trict will do to document the historic fort prior todemolition of a number of structures,” said NancyBrighton , archaeologist.

Significant signing

Nancy Brighton, archeologist, Col. Richard J. Polo Jr., Dis-

trict Engineer, Arthur Connoly, Chief PPMD, and Greg Geopfert,

project engineer for Davids Island in the District Engineers

Office at the signing.

Photo:VinceElias




Attn: PAO, Rm 2113

26 Federal PlazaNew York, NY 10278-0090

FIRST CLASS MAILAddress Correction Requested

July 14, 2005

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn

Pershing Loop North

Food, Fun, Festivities, and much more

Tickets available in the

Resource Management Office, Room 1909

Adults $24

Children (7 to 11 years old) $11

Children 6 and under are FREE

Tickets need to be purchased before

Wednesday, July 13

In April the Annual Green Brook Legislative Luncheon took

place in Bound Brook, New Jersey. During the lunch Joseph

Forcina showed attendees a project update video which can be

also be viewed on the Green Brook web page on the district

web site. Attendees included Joseph Forcina, Project Manager

for the Green Brook Flood Control Project and former deputy

commander Lt. Col. Kurt G. Hoffman.

Green brook luncheon held in New Jersey

Employee Day PicnicSecurity Office reminder:

Personnel planning to travel overseas on TDY need to

obtain a country clearance 30 days in advance of travel-

ing. Assistance in obtaining a country clearance should

be obtained from Tyra McManus at (917) 790-8673.

Additionally, all personnel traveling overseas on official

duties need to complete anti-terrorism training. This can

be accomplished by going on line at:

http://at-awareness.org/ and using the password:

AWARE.

You will need to print a copy of your training certificate

when you complete the training.

Any questions concerning travel should be directed to

the security office at (917) 790-8010.

us army: summer05

Documents