Lieutenant Colonel Russell “Rusty” K. Sears is Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East District, located in Winchester, Virginia. He became deputy commander in August 2010.
The Middle East District is responsible for providing engineering, construction, and related services in the Middle East, Central Asia, and other areas as required. Its work includes designing and constructing facilities for use by U.S. forces, performing engineering activities for other U.S. government and foreign agencies, and providing operations and maintenance services for various customers. In addition, the district provides project management, engineering, contracting and support services to the two USACE districts in Afghanistan.
As Deputy Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sears is responsible for supporting USACE operations in the region and for overseeing all business support organizations within the district.
Before his assignment at the Middle East District, Lieutenant Colonel Sears served as the U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) Deputy Engineer Forward (Kuwait) and as the USARCENT Acting Engineer. During much of his four-year assignment at USARCENT, he served as the Chief of Construction. In this position, he was responsible for a $4 billion construction program in support of U.S. Army units deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of operations.
Lieutenant Colonel Sears deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Executive Officer of the 70th Engineer Battalion in 2005, and as the Assistant Chief of Operations, C3, Combined Joint Task Force-7, and Adjutant, 937th Engineer Group, in 2003. His previous assignments also included ROTC Instructor, Louisiana State University; Company Commander, 19th Engineer Battalion, Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Platoon Leader, 40th Engineer Battalion, Baumholder, Germany.
Lieutenant Colonel Sears graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry.
His military awards and decorations include two awards of the Bronze Star, five awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two awards of the Army Commendation Medal, three awards of the Army Achievement Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Iraqi Campaign Medal (with six campaign stars), and the Combat Action Badge.