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The New YorkDistrict TimesWinter 2006 Vol. 31, No.2 ‘Cradle of the Corps’ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

Felix Novelli was 19 years oldwhen he was assigned to the USS Intrepid dur ing World War II. Heclearly remembers the enormoushorror and splendor he experiencedwhile onboard the aircraft carr ier, in-cluding his first attack.

“ I w as standing on the flightdeck when a tw in-engine Japanesedive bomber attacked from the fan-tail . He came along the starboardside when one of our guns hit him,

blowi ng his wing off and sending itinto the ship, causing a very badfi re,” said Novelli , who wi tnessedmany of his “brothers” being ki ll edand w ounded.

Today Novelli is 81, lives in Southampton,N.Y., and continues to support h is fellow sailors.

On Dec. 6, he was present at the movi ng ofthe Intrepid f rom a New York City pier to receive re-

furbi shment and repairs in N ew Jersey – a move thatwouldn’t have been possible without the ti reless workof the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York Dis-tr ict; the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command and it ssalvage contractor, Donjon Marine Co. Inc; many stateand city agencies, and McAllister Towing Company.

Today, the retired warship proudly serves asthe Intrepi d Sea, A ir & Space M useum. It i s theworl d’s largest naval museum and has been berthed

at Pier 86 on M anhattan Island in the Hudson Riversince 1982.

The aircraft carrier was saved from beingscrapped by the Int repid Foundation, a charitable or-

ganization started by the New York City-based Fisherconstruction and real estate family. The Foundation,through i ts Fallen Heroes Fund, the Center for the In-trepid and Fisher Houses, respond s to the hardshipsof mi li tary serv ice and meets a humanitarian need be-yond that normally provided by the Department ofDefense. The Fisher Houses at mi li tary hospi talsworldw ide provide assistance to the famil ies of crit i-call y inju red serv icemen and women.

Corps teams with Navy to free USS IntrepidBy JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D,

PPMD

USACE leading the way. The Army Corps vessels Gelberman and Hayward lead theUSS Intrepid ‘flotilla’ while being towed slowly down the New York Harbor stern firstenroute to its temporary dock in Bayonne, N.J.

Photo:Tom Creamer

Continued on page 4



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

Colonel’s Cornerof Engineers

New York District TimesNewsletter of the

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

Winter 2006Nov.-Dec. 06 Jan 07

Commander andDistrict Engineer

Col. Aniello L. Tortora

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, unless

otherwise credited, are officialU.S. Army photos.

US Army Corps

New York District

9-11-01Lest we forget

®

Colonel’s Corner

Col. Aniello L. Tortora

Happy New Year to all of you! Looking back,we had a fantastic 2006. As a District, we continue tofocus on project delivery and executing all missions su-perbly well . We completed $454 mill ion i n constructionand executed the majority of our projects better (qual-ity), faster (on schedule), cheaper (w ithin budget), safer(no seri ous accidents), and greener (inculcate environ-mental operating principles).

In the four months since I took command, I havefocused on meeting all of you and understanding your missions. I cannot tell youhow impressed I am with the District Team: professional, experienced, innovative,adaptive team pl ayers that are making a posit ive di fference for the Distr ict, the NorthAtlantic Division, USACE and our Nation. I want to especially thank those whohave volunteered to deploy in support of the GWOT – this is a cri tical mission andour overseas districts need your help. And a special thank you to those who de-ployed to help with di saster relief in CONUS, from Florida to New Orleans to Tem-porary Housing Missions in our own region – your work has helped thousands ofpeople.

As I said i n the December Town H all, I have been in the Army 21 years andcannot remember a year when there was not ongoing change and uncertainty. Thereare always new systems to implement, continuing resolutions, and changes in theway we do business. 2007 wil l be no di fferent. In 2007 we wil l continue to focus ontaking care of people and executing our mission: deli ver quali ty civi l w orks, mil i-tary and envi ronmental p roj ects and servi ces on ti me, wi thi n budget, and safelyin ord er to deli ght our customers, partners, and stakeholders, whi le always pre-

pared to respond to civil emergencies, disasters and support the Global War onTerrorism.

To start off 2007, I w ant to reemphasize something that w il l not change: com-mitment to Army Values. These enduring values are the foundation for our endur-ing purpose – serv ing the Armed Forces and the Nation. I ask that all members ofthe District know and li ve the Army Values and take pride in public serv ice.

Loyalty . Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army,your uni t, and other Soldiers and Civi li ans.

Duty . Fulf il l your obligations.

Respect . Treat people as they should be treated.Selfless Service . Put the welfare of the Nation, the Army, and your subordi-

nates before your ow n.

Honor . Live up to all the Army Values.

Integrity . Do what’s right, legall y and morally.

Personal Courage . Face fear, danger, or adversity (physical or moral).

I am excited about 2007 − there wil l be many chall enges and many opportu-ni ties. Working together as a team of teams, there is nothing w e cannot accomplish!

Commander



3The New York District Times • Winter 2006

MAJ Rodney Abrams, U.S. Army Reserve, Iraq, 2003

SGT Rich Bulvid, U.S. Army. 1 st Air Cavalry (Air Mobile), Vietnam1966-1967

SGT Mark Burlas, 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne),Fort Bragg, NC, 1979-1983

SSGT Frank Cambria, USMC, Vietnam, 1966–1971

AE3 Richard Campbell, U.S. Navy, 1966-1970

SP4 John Connell, U.S. Army, FDR-DDR Border Patrol 1983–1985

MAJ Kally Eastman, U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, 1978–2002,Gulf War 1, Bosnia–Herzegovina

YN1(AW) Vince Elias, U.S. Navy, Naval Air Wing, Destroyer staff,Seabees, Amphibious Forces, 1970s-1980s.

SGT Robert A. Hass. U.S. Army, Vietnam, 1967–1969, and NewYork Army National Guard (1984–2004).

SSG Terron Johnson, U.S. Army, Operation Desert Shield, DesertStorm and Operation Provide Comfort (1990–1991)

SP5 John Kenney, U.S. Army, Vietnam, 1968–1970

CW3 William Kozak, U.S. Army, 1973-1993

FN Robert Kurtz, U.S. Navy, 1965-1967, Vietnam, 1966-67

HM3 Lorraine Kush, U.S. Navy, 1963-1966

BM3 Tim LaFontaine, U.S. Coast Guard, 1975-1979

CWO3 William Lyness, U.S. Coast Guard, Desert Storm,Liberty Shield, WTC Response, Iraqi Freedom, Active Duty

1983 – 1997, Reserves 1997 to present

SGT Bart De Martino U.S. Army, 1967-1970

SSGT Tyra McManus, U.S. Army, 1976-1987

LTJG Brian Orzel, U.S. Navy, Desert Shield/Desert Storm,1988-1991

SP5 George Paprocki, U.S. Army, Vietnam, 1968-1970LTC James Palmer, U.S. Army 1966-1995, Vietnam 1968-

1969

SGT Robert Philbrick, U.S. Army, Vietnam, 1968-1969

LCPL Dan Petrie, U.S. Marine Corps, 1983 - CampSmedley D. Bulter, Okinawa, Japan

SP5 John Pye, U.S. Army, 1099th Medium Boat Company,Vietnam, 1966–1969

PO3 David Salton, U.S. Navy, Vietnam Era 1965-1969 andCold War

LTC Andrew Smith, U.S. Army, 1985-Present. Stillcontinues to serve in U.S. Army Reserve. Operation

Desert Storm 1991 and Operation Iraqi Freedom 2004

LTC Eugene Urbanik, U.S. Army Reserve, Corps ofEngineers, 1978–2003

SP4 Alvin Washington, U.S. Army, Vietnam, 1968–1969

PO3 Robert Will, U.S. Navy, Anti-submarine destroyerescort North Atlantic, 1970-1972

SN Thomas Wyche, U.S. Coast Guard, 1976-1980,Antarctic Mission, Deep Freeze 1980

Honoring New York District veterans

“ Veterans are men and women from all around the country, from different backgrounds and communi ties who served or are serving our Nation. All of these individuals have something in common – an understanding that freedom is not free, and that our Nation’s securi ty and prosperity depend on those who are willing to defend it,” wrote Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, Chief of Engineers in his Veterans Day message.

New York District salutes District veterans who have served in the five branches of the Armed Forces.

I am an Army Civilian – a member of the Army Team

I am dedicated to the Army, its Soldiers and Civilians

I will always support the mission

I provide stability and continuity during war and peace

I support and defend the Constitution of the United States and consider it an honorto serve the Nation and its Army

I live the Army values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity,and Personal Courage

I am an Army Civilian

The U.S. Army Civilian Corps Creed

MAJ Floyd McGurk, U.S. Army, 1961-1976, Corps of Engineers.Vietnam 1966-1967 and 1969-1970. Thailand 1964-1965 & 1970-1971




Novelli supports these pro-grams as well . “ Every ti me a FisherHouse is opened we raise flags from

the Intrepid flight deck then bringthem down and present them to theFisher H ouse at a ceremony.”

Novelli witnessed numerousattacks duri ng the Second World War,“ The sky blackened with Kamikaze.They w anted to sink a carr ier and theykept on coming left and ri ght, 200-300each day. She was hi t fi ve ti mes byKami kaze and a suicide bomb,” saidNovelli.

In addi tion to i ts World War I Iservice, the 925-foot-long ship saw action in the Ko-rean and Vietnam conflicts. “ The Ghost Ship,” as shewas known by the enemy, also tr acked Sovi et subma-rines during the Cold War, and served as NASA’spr ime recovery vessel for Mercury and Gemini cap-sules in the 1960’s.

After 24 years, offi cials of the Intrepid Foun-dation recognized that the ship needed repairs and

refurbishment as well as a rebuilt public pier to servethe 700,000 vi sitors each year.

In A ugust of 2006, the museum received a fed-eral permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers todredge an access channel from the berthing area outto the main federal channel of the Hudson River, a“ dr iv eway,” to facil itate the movi ng of the vessel to

During the initial attempt to tow theUSS Intrepid from its berth, amound of mud plowed up aroundthe ship’s propellers and shafts.The ship moved only 10 to 15 feet.The challenge was to dredge 300feet from the stern forward to thebow along the port side and toremove the ‘speed bump.’

The USS Intrepid docked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River onManhattan’s west side.

(continued on page 5)

Illustrationby DanDesmet

USS Intrepid (cont’d from page 1)

During the initial attempt to tow the USS Intrepid from it’s berth, a mound of mud plowed up

around the ship’s propellers and shafts. The ship moved only 10 to 15 feet.

The challenge: Dredge 300 feet from the stern forward to the bow along the port side and to

remove the ‘speed bump.’

Photo: Dan Desmet

Bayonne, N.J., where it would undergo inspection andnecessary repairs. Intrepid’s contractor, Jay CashmanDredging Inc, completed the work in October. Dur-ing the 24 years, river mud accumulated around theship like a bun around a hot dog. The dredging op-eration removed approxi mately 16,000 cubic yards ofri ver sediment that was mixed w ith Port land cementand beneficially reused as in terim cover in the closureof the former Fresh Kil ls landfi ll in Staten Island.

On Nov. 6 an “ Intrepid on Leave” celebrationwas conducted by Intrepid Foundation officials to givethe ship an elaborate send-off to its temporary home.Several public service agencies’ vessels were invitedto escort the ship down river, including four Corpsworkboats to lead the floti ll a.




During this initial attempt to remove theengineless ship, seven tugboats began to pul l and theIntrepid l iterally got stuck in the mud.

The 27,100-ton ship moved stern first, back-ward, about 15 feet before its four gi ant propellers, eachmeasur ing 16 feet i n d iameter, dug into the riv er sedi -ment and prevented any more movement. Try as thestraining tugs did, it w ould not budge. The effect ofthi s fi rst attempt was a compacted “ speed bump” ofriver mud under the ship’s fantail.

Museum officials immediately called numer-ous government agencies for help, including Penta-gon offi cials. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NewYork District was tapped to respond because it is theclosest federal agency with expertise. Within two

hours, the District commander and technical expertswere on the adjacent pier assessing the situation.

“ When we got to Pier 86, we saw Intrepid’s con-tracted divers standing in the Hudson next to her inonly four feet of water. He was standing on the com-pacted speed bump of mud that had plowed up,” saidPeter Shugert, Chief of Public Affairs for the Distr ict.

“ Things looked bad,” said Tom Creamer, Chiefof Operations for the Distr ict. “ The stern of the shipwas tw o feet hi gher than thebow. A t low tide, the aircraftcarrier was only resting onthe bow and the stern’s speedbump. This was adding seri -ous stresses to the hull, plac-ing the ship in a precarioussituation.”

“ We quickly reali zedthat this was not a simplematter of more dredging, buta grounded ship that neededto be carefully freed,”Creamer added.

The Corps recom-mended Intrepid officialsreach out to the U.S. Navy’ssalvage experts to join theteam, since the Navy has theuni que knowledge and expe-ri ence freeing large ships. TheNavy could also bring to theteam the knowledge and ex-

perience on how the Intrepid would react to being insuch a precarious situation. The U.S. Naval Sea Sys-tems Command was assigned the salvage operation.

The next day, Naval Sea Systems Commandexpert salvage contractor, Donjon Marine Co. Inc.,Hill side, N.J., had an assessment team at the Intrepid.Donjon salvage divers surveyed below the waterli neto inspect the vessel for any damage and determinethe extent of the speed bump. The divers’ first-handexamination confirmed the initial assumptions anddocumented the extent of the problem.

Soon the Navy was working with the Corps,Intrepid Foundation and state and city agencies toquickly execute a uni que and hi ghly vi sible dredgingoperation to remove compacted sediment from

around the propellers and shafts.The U.S. Navy brought techni cal and contrac-

tor expertise to the Army-Navy partnership. TheCorps provided project oversight and integration.“ Because thi s is our home turf, the District team mem-bers had the local know ledge and existing relation-ships with stakeholders, government agencies andoffi cials, and the media,” said Col. Ani ell o L. Tortora,the District Commander.

USS Intrepid (cont’d from page 4)

Initial dredging operations removed approximately 16,000 cubic yards of riversediment.


Photo: Dan Desmet




“ We executed this mission as a joint mili taryoperation with dail y progress meetings and situationreports. Key members of the Naval Sea Systems Com-mand and the Corps of Engineers worked 24/ 7 unt il

the job was done,” he added.The team devised a three-phase execution plan.

Fir st, dig the existing d riveway deeper and w ider, andadd an access trench on the south side of the vesselfrom the Intrepid’s stern to beyond its trapped pro-pell ers and shafts. Second, uti lize a drag bar to dragfrom under the stern and rake the sediment out, andthird, airlift or vacuum the remaining mud from un-der the ship ’s fantail .

“ We had to w ork ‘round the

clock because there was a lot of mudto be moved and we only had 29days to the next high tide. Thatwould be the next day for highesttide which would provide an extra5 feet of water to get her out. Thatwas going to be our best shot, andwe didn’t want to miss the opportu-ni ty,” said Creamer.

“ We also had to move swif tly

because of environmental reasons,”said Shugert. “We were concernedbecause the Intrepid was in a pre-carious state and her hull platescoul d separate and leak petroleum-contaminated bilge water into theriver. All of this bilge water w as tobe removed and envi ronmentally di sposed dur ing itsshipyard visit in Bayonne. We also were very con-cerned about the return to the river estuary of theanadromous fi sh species for the winter spawning sea-

son. We needed to continuously work so the fish w ouldstay away from our work area and settle into otherparts of the estuary.” Anadromous fish are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean to grow into adults, andthen retur n to f resh w ater to spawn.

Since the weather and river winter tempera-tures were remaining unusually warm at that time,the return of the fi sh was delayed. Because of thisand the urgent need to dredge, the Intrepid M useumreceiv ed extended works permits from the Corps and

the New York State Department of EnvironmentalConservation to allow Donjon to start the dredgingNov. 13, a week after the grounding.

Equipment included an environmental d redg-ing bucket to minimize any adverse water quality andfisheries impacts. This is a clamshell bucket f it ted withgaskets at all of the openings so that dredged mate-rial stays inside the bucket, while the water escapesback i nto the river.

First, Donjon deepened and widened the ex-isting dredged “ dri veway” to the main channel. Thento start to get access under the ship, Donjon dredgeda 150-foot- long by 30-foot-w ide, 35-foot-deep access

trench down the starboard (outboard) stern side of theship — from the Intrepid’s stern to beyond the propel-lers and shafts that w ere encased i n mud .

Unfortunately the access trench could not bedug directly next to the Intrepid’s hull because theflight deck’s overhang prevented the crane dredgefrom coming right up next to the ship .

To overcome this problem, Donjon brought ina drag-bar barge. The barge was moved und er thefl ight deck alongside the hull, where the drag-bar bladewas low ered to the shallow bottom.

USS Int repid (cont’d from page 5)

The Army Corps vessel Gelberman displays a huge American flag from itsstern as it steams alongside the USS Intrepid in New York Harbor.

(Continued on page 7)

Photo: Peter Shugert




USS Intrepid (cont’d from page 6)Then pulli ng the barge and blade away from the

ship, the bar raked the river mud into the trench. Itworked like an underw ater bul ldozer. The plowed mudwas then dredged out of the trench and the process re-peated again and again until the 35-foot trench was ex-

panded all the way in to the ship ’s hul l.As the 35-foot-deep trench approached the hul l,

river mud f rom under the fantail and f rom around thepropellers and shafts began to fall into the trench. Thismud was raked by the drag bar and removed by theenvi ronmental bucket dredge.

The ship needed 28 feet of water to be extractedfrom its berth. As Donjon di vers and hydrographic sur-vey crews measured progress next to and under the ship,they saw that the propellers and shafts on the starboard(outboard) side of the ship w ere nearly exposed as themud was sloughing down into the trench. These in-progress investigations together with the experience ofthe Donjon salvage masters prompted officials to ex-tend the access trench an additional 150 feet toward thebow.

The extended t rench w ould allow the ship to bepulled both sideways from the pier and backward to-ward the main channel then extr icated from the remain-ing mud on the port side.

After almost three weeks of work and the re-

moval of approximately 39,000 cubic yards of river mud,salvage di vers were able to touch the exposed p ropel-lers and shafts, showing that the dragging and dredg-ing operations were worki ng and the ship w ould soonbe ready for tow. Lucki ly, the slow and inefficient air -li fting method did not have to be employed.

One of the biggest chall enges was the availabil-ity of dredged material processing barges. “We workedto assure there was alw ays an empty barge next to ev-ery d redge. This inv olved joint ly locating and trackingbarges 24-7 with the New York City Department Eco-

nomic Development Corporation and the New YorkCity Department of Sanitation so that the dredging cyclecoul d continue,” said Creamer.

Another chall enge of thi s operation w as to ben-eficially use the dredged materi al as much as possible.The 39,000 cubic yards of river mud was transportedand processed i n 53 New York Ci ty Department of Sani-tation barges. The sedi ment was tested for poll utantsand found to be acceptable for beneficial reuse.

Port land cement w as added to each barge load

and thoroughly mixed by Donjon at its existingdredged material processing facil ity. The addit ionof the Portl and cement chemicall y and structurallystabili zes the dredged material. Any pollutants werecaptured in the processed d redged materi al. All of

the dredged materi al from the Intrepid rescue op-eration was used as interim cover in the closure ofNew York City’s former Fresh Ki ll s landfil l.

On a crisp, clear morning Dec. 6, the 29 th dayof the emergency operation, officials from the In-trepid Foundation, the Corps, the Navy, Intrepidvets, including Novelli, and the media stood onIntrepid ’s fli ght deck. Surrounded by McAl li stertugboats, Corps harbor workboats, U.S. Coast Guardcutters, New York City police boats and fireboats,and a flock of helicopters over the Hudson, it was

time to try again.But i t w asn’t over yet. There were sti ll sev-

eral challenges. The morni ng w as the coldest of theyear with constant winds of 10-20 knots comingacross the Hudson out of the west pushing againstthe ship .

Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, Chief of Engineers and JosephV. Doria Jr., Mayor of Bayonne, N.J. hold a wreath onthe flight deck of the USS Intrepid to pay respects tomilitary veterans on Veterans Day.


Photo:Peter Shugert




The Hudson River’s high t ide and slack w a-ter w ere not at the same time. When the tide was thehighest, the river ’s strong current had not stopped yetand w as sti ll runni ng upr iver at over five knots.

M cAl li ster ’s tugs had to extr act The GhostShip w ith great force and finesse pull ing the ship at afive degree angle away from the remaining mud inthe berth whil e maintaini ng tight control so it d id notswing out and crash back i nto Pier 86 as it entered theswift river currents.

The world and public opini on had r all ied be-hind The Ghost Ship and the good w ork of the Foun-dation. Int repid off icials had received thousands ofmessages of encouragement, including an e-mail f romthe Vatican. Novelli told people, “ We are going to

move. If the Empire of Japan couldn’t stop us, whatmakes you thi nk a ton of mud wil l?”

Novell i yell ed, “ Give! Give!”

The operation started at 8:30 am and after 29minutes of relentless pulling by five powerfulMcAl lister tugboats and the combined force of 21,000horsepow er, the Intrepid gave in and said goodbye toNew York City at 8:59 a.m.

The ship moved gracefully out of the berth,through the newly dredged dri veway, and out to the

main H udson Riv er federal channel i n a slow but ma- jestic voyage five miles dow n the Hudson River.

On the way dow n r iver, the Intrepid slowedslightly on passing the World Trade Center site.Twenty former crewmembers unfurled a 100-foot U.S.

flag from the superstructure to honor those who diedthere Sept. 11, 2001.

The Intrepid paused again briefly on passingthe Statue of Li berty enroute to the ship’s temporaryhome, the Bayonne Dry Dock Company at the formerU.S. Army Military Ocean Terminal, Bayonne, N.J.,where the 63-year-old ship will begin a long-over-due refurbishment. Novell i said that part of this workwould involve renovating the low er decks where heand his crewmembers lived. The ship will then bemoved to Staten Island, N.Y., for i nterior renovationsbefore returning to a rebuil t Pier 86 in late 2008.

Seeing her move again was inspiring forNovelli , who stood on the fl ight deck l ike he did as ateenager. “ It w as li ke I was a kid w aking up on Christ-mas morning and fi ndi ng a nice set of electric trainsunder the tree. You’re fi ll ed w ith joy. I w as back at

sea and 19 years old again. A mi ll ion thoughts cameback. My main thought being the kids that we left onthe floor of the ocean.”

Novelli believes the preservation of the In-trepid museum, is very important for the futu re. Herecentl y w as interviewed by a 10-year-old boy whosegreat-grandfather served i n World War II and w hosefather currently serves in the Army. The boy wasworki ng on a project about the Intrepid. “ This is theimportant thing right here. These kids need to knowwhat happened. Ninety-nine percent don’t know

what w ent on,” said N ovell i.“ It wil l be interesting to see the ship in tw o

years when all of the repairs are completed. I’m go-ing to say a special p rayer and tell the good L ord togive me a couple of years more.”

USS Int repid (cont’d from page 7)

This years Combined Federal Campaign was an overwhelming success! Col-lectively the CFC Key workers received over $35,900 in pledges. This ex-ceeded the campaign goal of $35,000 by almost $1,000. According to NYCCFC officials this is the first time the New York District has done this in thelast five years.

“In appreciation for this achievement, the New York District will be receivingtwo awards from the NYC CFC organization; the Goal Buster Award andMost Improved. To win the most improved category the District competedagainst a number of other organizations.” said Randy Hintz, CFC Coordina-tor.

A very big congratulations to all of the District employees who contributed tothis years success and a special thank you to the CFC. Key workers whowere instrumental as well.

CFC goal exceeded

Employees take advantage of a CFC bake salein November which raised an additional $400.




Resident engineers, team leaders andkey field office personnel from New YorkDistr ict’s Construction Div ision assembled inWatertown, N.Y., in October for the annualthr ee-day A rea/ Resid ent Engineer Confer-ence.

The conf erence w as held near For tDrum, NY., an Army install ation bustli ng withnumerous Army Corps construction projectsassociated w ith the Army’s mult i-bil li on dol-lar troop re-stationing initiatives.

Projects at Fort Drum include con-structing troop barracks, aviation hangars,vehicle maintenance facilities, and a numberof administrative and operations supportbuildings.

The underlyi ng theme of the conference focusedon fast-track design-build delivery, the military con-struction t ransformation program, the use of model re-quests for proposals for design and construction ofstandard facil it ies, and the expected fu ture shif ting ofroles and relationships betw een various Corps Districts,some of which will be designated as centers of stan-dardi zation with respect to design and contract admi n-istration of mi li tary construction.

At the conference, Rick Alvarez, chief, Construc-tion Di vi sion emphasized the need for personnel to beglobally aware and to remain relevant by staying cur-rent with industry construction and contract practices.

Alvarez’ primary goal is to promote learningand professional development among Construction Di-vi sion personnel responsible for administering construc-tion contracts in New York District’s civil works andenvironmental clean-up main mi li tary construction pro-grams.

“ This is especially important as the Corps of En-gineers is beginning to adapt more of a variety of pro-curement and contract management strategies in theexecuti on of i ts mil itary construction programs,” saidAlvarez. Ideally, this cross training of staff helps themindivi dually as well as to become more effective in pro-

viding better on-the-ground serv ice to their respec-tive customers.

There were several informative and thought-provoking presentations by project management per-sonnel and construction personnel, including alaydown of massive out year program by Ed Sim,

Fort Drum program manager.Another presentation highl ight was given by

James Corriveau, chief, Public Works Department,Fort Drum, who provided an overview of thecustomer ’s perspective and chall enges tow ard up-grading and expanding the installation’s infrastruc-ture in order to accommodate all active and futureconstruction projects by the Corps and to meet near-term increased infl ux of troops returning f rom over-seas duty.

The conference concluded Oct. 20 fol lowinga number of project site tours at Fort Drum demon-strating construction execution at it s best.

Part icipants felt the overall goals of the con-ference were met in fostering camaraderie, and inheightening their awareness of matters both inter-nal to the District, and regionally as well , and in par-ticular those changes in traditional roles,responsibilities, and processes likely to be experi-enced in the not-too-distant future under the mili-tary construction tr ansformation program.

Construction Division conference heightensawareness and fosters camaraderie

By Tom H arnedy, CENAN-CO

At the conference, Rick Alvarez, chief, Construction Division empha-sized the need for personnel to be globally aware and to remain rel-evant by staying current with industry construction and contractpractices.




Corps reaches out to next generation of engineersBy Vince Elias

Maj. Trinidad Gonzalez, Corps keynote speaker, interacts withthe students at the Viva Technology event.

P h o

t o :

D a n

D e s m e

t

Continued on next page

In N ovember, New York Di strict expanded i ts

community outreach p rogram and embraced an op-portuni ty to foster and motivate high school studentsin their academic and future engineeri ng and sciencecareers. Volunteers from the Distr ict parti cipated in aco-sponsored technology workshop held at MartinLuther King High School of A rts and Sciences in Man-hattan.

The workshop was part of the Hi spanic Engi-neer National A chievement Aw ards Corporation Inc.,program in concert with Viva Technology. Viva Tech-nology and H ENA AC Inc. are both based in Los An-geles, Calif. HENAAC’s mission is to enlighten thenation about the achievements of Hispanics in engi-neeri ng, science, technol ogy, and math; motiv ate andeducate students to pursue careers in these fields; andincrease the role the Hispanic community plays inmaintaini ng A merica’s status as the world ’s technol-ogy leader.

Col. Aniello L. Tortora, commander, U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers, New York District endorsed theoutreach workshop. “ Supporting these events ensuresmy vi sion, goals and objectives as we expand our out-reach program,” said Tortora.

The success of the event can be attributed toRick Alv arez, the chief of Construction Div ision w hospearheaded the program along w ith the support ofNew York Distri ct’s EEO. Alv arez got the wheels inmotion after meeting w ith Antonio Arocho, assistantpr incipal, and Monica Vil lafana, program director ofViva Technology.

The first Viva Technology event was held inLos Angeles District, as a pilot program supportedby H Q USACE. There are plans for a Viva Technol-

ogy event in Florida sponsored by Jacksonville Dis-trict.

The objective was to make the students awareof the academic and career opportuniti es in engineer-ing, environmental science and for Corps membersto serv e as positive role models and mentors.

At the Manhattan event, District volunteerswere from a variety of di scipli nes and diverse back-grounds and were eager to interact with the youngaspi ri ng students. Over 100 students and facul ty

members assembled in the school auditorium for theprogram, whi ch began w ith a student survey.

District participants were Rick Alv arez, Mel-issa Al varez, Gene Bri ckman, Estell e Capowski , Maj.Trinidad Gonzalez Jr., Bonnie Hulkower, DanielKriesant, Jean Lau, Julio Ochoa, Luis Perez, JuanPineiro, Maj. Charl otte Rhee, Christina Rasmussen andJodi McDonald . They represented the fi elds of science,engineeri ng, biology, hydrology, coastal, civ il, electri -cal, mechanical, and environmental. Jul io Arocho, as-sistant director for Military Programs, HQ USACE,also attended, along with Jacksonvi lle Distr ict observ -ers Al berto Gonzalez and Edwin Cuebas.

Maj. Gonzalez was the Corps’ keynote speakerfollowed by individual introductions by Corps par-ti cipants. Each person spoke about his or her educa-tion background, specific duties, and key projectinvolvement.

The students were captivated by Maj.Gonzalez’ command bri efing. Gonzalez expl ainedhow large a footpr int the Corps has in geographicalboundaries as well the Corps’ capabilities.




Corps reaches out t o next generat ion of engineers (cont’d from page 10)

Gonzalez also expl ained the Di str ict’s missions andoutreach program to help them understand the op-portuni ties avail able to them as they transit ion f romhigh school, to college, to a satisfying and ful fi ll ingcareer in engineering or the sciences. He also ex-plained the duties of the military operating forcesand the Corps’ civi li an mission, endi ng with a ques-tion and answer session.

The workshop featured competitive exercisesfor the students to reinforce the problem solv ing pro-cess, coll aboration and l eadership skil ls. Each vol-unteer helped mentor groups of students throughoutthe day in their Corps-related projects, such as bui ld -ing a USACE vehicle prototype for speed and off-road vehicle capabilities.

“ I don’t think I have seen so many hands goup to ask questions as we saw today,” said Maj. Rhee.“ The students exud ed a level of academi c savvy,

passion and dedication uncharacteristic of 15- to 18-year-olds,” said Maj. Rhee.

“ The volunteer program gives back to the com-munity, establishes and maintains a long term

mentoring relationship with high school studentsthrough a learning objective of a program w ith careeropportunities and information about the Corps,”added A lvarez.

“ The fact that they (students) are being edu-cated about the service that the Army Corps of Engi-neers does, not only in New York, but world wide, Ithink it’s very important, because it demystifies theconnotation that Army spell s mil itary,” said A nneGeiger, pri ncipal. “ What Viva Technology and w hatthe Army Corps is doing, is giving them (stud ents) a

taste of what experiences might l ook like, and giv ingthem and offering them a wonderful experience to-day.”

New York District personnel participated in the2006 annual A merican Indian Science and Engineer-ing Society conference held in Nov. in Detroit . Acareer booth w as set up by the Corps of Engineers.

The AISES mission i s to increase substantially therepresentation of American Indian and AlaskanNatives in engineering, science and other relatedtechnology di scipli nes. AISES bui lds partnershipswith tr ibes, schools, other non-profit organizations,corporations, foundations and government agen-cies to realize its goals.

USACE personnel at the career booth (l-r) Lt. Col.Leonard Law, Deputy Commander, New York District,Karen Krepps, LRE; Marty Goff, EEO Special EmphasisProgram Manager for Native American employment; and

Randy Hintz of New York District.

District participates in career conference

New union board members announcedInternational Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 98

Frank Tangorra – PresidentStanley Nuremburg – Vice President

Kenneth L. Kovacs – Vice President (NAD)Treasurer – Denise Butts

Financial Secretary – Maxine R. SistrunkSecretary – Vanessa Davis

First Trustee – Franco DiCroceTrustee – Maureen Shepherd-DannerTrustee – Leo StrogachTrustee – Elaine T. EubanksTrustee – Juliette P. Baker




AwardsAwards

James MooreQuangthanh NguyenGenaro PerezRonald PinzonRonald RheaChristopher RicciardiStephan RyshewitchCarissa ScarpaBhavesh ShahRussell SmithMichael VissichelliWei-Chong Yang

Melissa AlvarezJohn Beldin-Quinones

Freddy BilbaoAndrew Dangler

Marzena EllisEugene Fountain

David GentileKhie Go

Naron JohnsonChristina King

Daniel KriesantAlexander Litvak

Jodi McDonald

Years of Government Service awards

Loren BleauAndre Chauncey

Carolyn CrisicMichael GanleyKerry DonohueEric GundersenMichael HarrisScott HelmerJennifer IrishRoger Knight

Catherine ScottJenny Tsolisos

Jan BovierKevin Bruce

Johnny ChanAmy GitchellAlma GloverMarty Goff

Brian JacksonStephen Knowles

Patrick NejandHoward RubenArlene Tirado

Richard LavoieDouglas Wilson

10 Years30 Years 5 Years15 Years

Doug Leite, of N ew York District presented the Command-er ’s Aw ard for Publ ic Serv ice to John Garofalo (r ight) of theNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bu-reau of Coastal Engineering at his retirement ceremony inDecember. Garafalo was recognized for his 32 years withthe NJDEP work ing on the NJ coastl ine.

David Rackmales was awarded the Commanders Aw ardfor Civil ian Serv ice in November.

Rackmales received the award for his performance dur-

ing 1994 to 2006. He was cited for his dedication and loy-alty and for direct involvement in various projectsincluding the design and analysis of bulkheads and piersin the Middle East; support of the Global War on Terror-ism; Kosovo deployment and structur al engineeri ng sup-port to U.S. and NATO forces in the region; initialresponder to H ur ri cane Katrina disaster; and FEST A teammember.

Brig. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, North Atlantic Division

commander, presents the Commander’s Award for

Civilian Service to David Rackmales of Engineering

Division as Col. Aniello L. Tortora, New York District

commander, looks on.

M il ton Ricks receiv ed a Cert ifi cateof Achievement from North A tlan-tic Divi sion.

Ricks was nomi nated for the Blacksin Government 2006 MeritoriousServ ice Aw ard. Ricks was cited asbeing an inspiration to people of allbackground s, and is an exemplary

role model for young African Americans in Govern-ment serv ice. Ricks volunteered for mult ip le deploy-ments to Afghanistan in support of the Global War onTerrorism, and domestic deployments in the wake ofnatur al disasters.

Photo:DanDesmet




Deputy Commander frocked to lieutenant colonel

Maj. Kevin Lovell of the Fort Drum Office received the MeritoriousService Medal Jan. 16. Brig. Gen. Todd T. Semoni te, Commander,North Atlantic Division pinned the medal on Maj. Lovell at a cer-emony held at New York District. Lovell received the deocration forhis work with the Corps’ Fort Dr um Off ice.

Stu Piken, DeputyDistrict Engineer forPrograms and ProjectManagement, New YorkDistrict congratulatesMaj. Lovell on hisachievement.Brig. Gen. Todd T. Semonite,

commander, North Atlantic Divisionpins the Meritorious Service Medal onMaj. Lovell at a ceremony held at NewYork District.

Lovell receives Meritorious Service Medal

Lt. Col. Leonard J. Law, deputy com-mander and chief of staff, U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers, New York Distri ct w as frockedto his present rank Nov. 21.

Law’s parents, Warren and LindaLaw were on hand for the ceremony. Bri g. Gen. ToddT. Semoni te, commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers, North Atlantic Division, conducted the cer-emony w ith Law’s wife, Eli zabeth N evins Law. Alsoattending was Mrs. Law’s sister, Carrie Nevins.

Law enlisted in the U.S. Ar my Reserve in Spo-kane, Wash., in 1982. Following active duty with the25th I nfantry Div ision at Schofield Barr acks, Hawaii,he enrol led at the University of Idaho, Moscow. Hewas graduated w ith a bachelor ’s degree in 1990 and

commissioned an engineer officer through theuniversity’s ROTC program. He has serv ed on active duty since 1991.

Law has served in a variety of tactical, operational and staff assignments. Pri or to reporting for duty atNew York Distr ict, he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Div ision at Fort Hood, Texas, where he serv ed as a divi -sion plans officer for Task Force Baghdad and as a battalion operations offi cer.

He earned the Bronze Star M edal for his serv ice in Ir aq. He also has earned four awards of the Meri tor i-ous Service Medal, three Army Commendation M edals, and the Good Conduct M edal, in addi tion to variousuni t and campaign decorations.

The Idaho native holds a Master of Business Admini stration from the Uni versity of Colorado at Colo-rado Springs and a Master of Military Arts & Sciences from the School of Advanced Military Studies at the

Command and General Staff Col lege, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Law’s father Warren hands the silver oak leaves to Law’smother Linda Law and wife, Elizabeth Nevins Law whopinned on the new rank.

Photo:DanDesmet

Photos:Vince Elias




Fort Drum i s a major mil itary facil ity in upstateNew York that i s presently undergoing a major trans-formation with several ongoing construction projectsand building renovations by New York District.

With construction projects simul taneously on-going, there is a necessity to emphasize safety aware-ness, and a reminder of mandatory safety proceduresto be followed.

M any of the projects have signifi cantly en-hanced the quality of l ife of the sold iers, such as the WSAAF Barr acks complex. Part of the project involveddismantling a 161-ft.-high, WW II-era steel water storage tank tower.

With no room for error, the project was accomplished in less than two days wi thout a safety accident. A100 percent tie-off system and a detailed respiratory protection program to safely complete the project wereused.

The project involved workers carefull y climbing the tower, then fl ame cutt ing the tank and support ingstructure into sections, each weighing 3,000 pounds., and then riggi ng each section to the ground with a hydrau-lic crane. Two hundred tons of metal sections were salvaged and recycled. As part of the expansion at FortDrum, the tank was replaced w ith a new 1-mill ion-gallon water tank.

“ This was a very ri sky activi ty that w as done by a specialty contr actor in a safe way,” said John Steinbeck,project engineer. “ Our team d id an excell ent job. The tank w as 120 feet tall, w ith l ead paint on i t and the workerswere above 120 feet dur ing the work.”

Safety training and following procedures are two important ways a construction site stays safe. Safetystandards are clear to all personnel on each project site. A nd safety is a major pr ior ity i n the Distr ict commander’sphil osophy, which emphasizes the importance of personnel safety and a command-w ide emphasis on safety.

Col. Aniello L. Tortora, commander, New York District applauded Steinbeck, M arty Tokos, and the workerson the project’s success, and completing the project without incident.

“ A zero accident r ate is attr ibu ted to safety procedures being adhered to, and engineers ensuri ng safetyprocedures are fol low ed, and that safety remains a top pri ori ty,” said Paul a Higgins, safety offi cer, New YorkDistrict.

Workers safely operate a crane during the disman-tling of the one-half million gallon, 161 foot high wa-ter tower at Fort Drum, N.Y.

In 1802, Thomas Jefferson formally established a Corps of Engineers by declar-ing, “that the said Corps, when so organized, shall be stationed at West Point, andshall constitute a military academy.” In fact, up until 1866, the West Point AcademySuperintendent was also the Chief of Engineers. All members of the Corps in thoseearly years were West Point graduates.

The Corps did all the construction at the U.S. Military Academy until 1861, andthen from 1941 until present. (Source: USACE Office of History)

Did you know?TidbitsBy Mary Stavina

Water tower safely removed

C E N A N

P h o

t o




F o r t D r u m, N. Y.

Around the District

Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg, U.S. Air Force, Air Force Civil Engi-neer, Col. Aniello L. Tortora, New York District commander,Tom Creamer, chief of Operations and district group ex-perts during a harbor inspection in November.

Gregory CuyjetChief, Small Business

The judges evaluated each coin usingfour criteria: history of the District,

creative design, mission; and Districtpride. The top three designs and

corresponding prizes were as follows:

1. Gus Sierra-Gonzalez

($125 in USACE apparel)

2. Ralph DeBari

($75 in USACE apparel)

3. Hal Hawkins($50 in USACE apparel)

The District thanks the followingpersonnel for submitting designs:

Ellen Simon, Joseph Salvatore,Michael Murphy, David Salton, Steve

Knowles, Douglas Leite, JamesDemetriou, Ronald Pinzon, Adam

Perelson, Sandra Montagne, LorraineLee, Sharoyah Fernandez.

RetireesTom Pfeifer, PLMike Soroka, IM

King Yee, IM

FarewellHeather Durr, CO

Daniel Kriesant, ENCarolyn Vadino, PP

TransactionsNew Employees

George Vancook, COStacey Jensen, OP

Jason DeGruttola, OP

Top three designs forDistrict coin selected

CENAN Snap shots

In honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Holiday, New York District EEO sponsored amovie in January. Employees at DistrictHeadquarters were invited to view a 90-minute film on Dr. King’s life and legacy.

District honors Martin Luther King Jr.




Attn: PAO, Rm 211326 Federal PlazaNew York, NY 10278-0090

FIRST CLASS MAILAddress Correction Requested

A reminder for all employees

Personnel accountability procedures in the event of an emergency:

In the event of an emergency, New York District personnel should first make every effort to contacttheir supervisor in accordance with locally established plans.

For some reason, if personnel are unable to follow local personnel accountability procedures,employees should then use the USACE toll-free phone number or alternatively use the e-mail ad-dress within 72 hours of an emergency or an evacuation.

Toll free phone number: 1-877-HI-USACE (1-877-448-7223)

E-mail address: [email protected]

It’s a Girl!

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Smyth ofPlanning Division are the proudparents of Marguerite KatherineSmyth (Maggie Kate) born Nov. 21

Vital stats: 9 lbs., 3 oz.

It’s a boy!

Mr. and Mrs. JohnO’Connor are the proud

parents of their new familymember, son Jack Owen

born Nov. 9. Vital Stats: 7lbs., 13 oz.

Stork Club

US Army: winter06

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