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Author: Joe Macri
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  • May

    52919338323Lt. Gen Scott Spellmon, the 55th Chief of Engineers, flying from Amman to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan aboard a Jordanian Blackhawk helicopter to visit Jordanian aircraft infrastructure projects being built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Jordanians willingness to fly the Chief to project sites speaks to the strong relationship USACE has built with their allied nation mission partners in the region.

    55th Chief of Engineers Builds Bridges with Allied Nation Partners

    The 55th Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon recently had a hand in building those bridges while visiting the Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Qatar – two long-standing U.S. allies currently working with USACE’s Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) on defense infrastructure projects.  
  • Ken Kajihiro working at his desk for the Transatlantic Middle East District.

    Army Lawyer shares journey from Marine Infantryman to Attorney

    For Asian American Pacific Islander month, we feature Ken Kajihiro, a fifth-generation Asian-American. Fresh out of high school, Kajihiro joined the U.S. Marine Corps, which provided him with the skills to become a lawyer and join the U.S. Army Corps Transatlantic Middle East District.

  • March

    Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) along with representatives from AFCENT, AFCEC, and an architecture engineering firm team meet during a planning charette and conduct a Design Based Threat Assessment (DBTA) to assess and mitigate potential threats to U.S. military facilities.

    Middle East District offers mission partners new capability

    Prior to the Khobar Towers 1996 attack, there were no uniform Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection standards required for Department of Defense Facilities. After that attack in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the U.S. military made a multitude of changes to how it managed force protection and in 2002, conducting a Design Based Threat Assessment was codified in the military construction process. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) has developed dedicated support to help its mission partners with the DBTA process.

  • December

    A rendering of a nature center designed by high school interns working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District. The interns were part of a program the district hosts aimed at providing students with an interest in engineering and architecture opportunities to further explore those careers before attending college.

    District prepares for the future one student at a time

    Three high school students working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) wrapped up a fall internship this week by presenting their capstone project to district leadership and staff.

  • November

    Leadership Development Program participants and leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District walk the 3rd Battle of Winchester Battlefield in Winchester, VA as part of a “staff ride,” Staff rides are a military tradition where a senior leader, like the unit commander, takes subordinates on a battlefield tour to discuss what types of leadership lessons can be learned from a given battle. During the walk, LDP participants briefed district leadership on lessons they had learned about leadership traits while studying the battle.

    Future leaders participate in Army Tradition

    TAM's Leadership Development Program participants experience traditional military staff ride during a battlefield walk of the 3rd Battle of Winchester, Va.

  • August

    The Kuwait Ministry of Defense and Middle East District teams in Old Town Winchester during the KMOD’s recent Program Management Review in Winchester, Va., at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters there.

    District Hosts Kuwaiti Mission Partners

    The Transatlantic Middle East District provides construction and related support services for U.S. military and allied nation partners throughout the Middle East, and although it has offices in eight countries in the region, the bulk of its program is managed from its headquarters in Winchester. In most cases, TAM project managers and engineers meet with their mission partners in the countries where their projects are located, but on occasion, partners are hosted in Winchester and a bit of local hospitality is showcased along with project overviews.

  • July

    Members of the Kuwaiti Military Engineering Projects Office and program managers from the Transatlantic Middle East District post outside the historic courthouse in Winchester, Va., where the USACE District is located.

    Savings lead to SAVE Award for Middle East District

    Value methodology is a process that analyzes the different parts of a project, product, or process to ensure an optimal balance among factors such as cost, time, and safety according to the Society of American Value Engineering (SAVE). Although value engineering is not unique to USACE, every USACE district incorporates value engineering processes into their work. It’s not only mandated by law but has proven again and again to achieve the best results for both the Corps and its mission partners. In fact, USACE has gotten so good at the VE process that they recently won six out of the eight awards presented at a SAVE summit in June of this year.

  • May

    Kathryn Morris

    Transatlantic Middle East District Legal Staff Continues to Raise the Bar

    Multiple staff members recently received national recognition for their work representing the interests of the U.S. government in a variety of significant legal matters. During the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Senior Legal Managers Governance and Continuing Legal Education meeting, the USACE Office of Chief Counsel announced the winners of its annual awards. District office of counsel staff members Regina Schowalter, Lindsay Nicodemus, and Kathryn Morris were all recognized.
  • MSG Shantae Allen is presented with a Meritorious Service Medal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District Commander, COL Philip Secrist, for her work as a contracting officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East District.

    Senior Contracting NCO benefits from unique USACE experience

    When Senior Contracting NCO MSG Shantae Allen was asked to describe her recent assignment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM), the first word that came to mind was “unique.”

  • February

    Newly refurbished pier and harbor house. The $53m project, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East District will enhance both Kuwait and U.S. military operations in the region.

    U.S., Kuwaiti militaries celebrate infrastructure improvements

    A ribbon cutting ceremony held on February 2 marked the completion of a new $53 million pier project at Kuwait Naval Base. The pier, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East District, will enhance both Kuwait and U.S. military operations in the region.

  • January

    U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel J. Fox, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District, presents Cheryl Young of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District, with a certificate during a recognition ceremony in Wiesbaden, Germany, Jan. 13, 2022. Ms. Young processed over 100 special issuance passport applications within a week for Europe District personnel and their family members. (U.S. Army photo by Alfredo Barraza)

    Middle East District expertise helps care for USACE Team

    TAM's Cheryl Young traveled to Germany to help clear Europe District's passport backlog.

  • October

    Member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Contracting team show off their Tie Dye during Contracting's "Spirit Week," a morale boosting event held in the lead up to a new fiscal year. The weeks leading up to the end of a fiscal year can be extremely busy for Contracting, Resource Management and others who deal with an organization's finances.

    The Magic Behind the Mystery: Fiscal New Year for Dummies

    The importance of the end of the fiscal year is something almost anyone working for the federal government is somewhat familiar with, but for Contracting and Resource Management, the days leading up to it are among the busiest and most important of their entire year. And while for some employees the days leading up to a “fiscal new year,” are simply background noise, Contracting and RM are quite literally ensuring their agencies continue to function -- especially in an organization like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) which deals in multi-million dollar construction contracts as well as a host of smaller contracts for services throughout the Middle East supporting U.S. military and allied nations in the region.

  • August

    Middle East District Assistant District Counsel Traci Cunningham recently earned the E. Manning Seltzer award from Headquarters USACE for her efforts to make federal ethics rules more understandable to District employees through her advice column and humor.

    Award Winning Attorney Moonlights as Advice Columnist

    An attorney with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District recently earned an award for her efforts to make federal ethics rules more understandable to District employees.
  • Six U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) summer hires and one Department of the Army fellow stop for a photo during a tour of the Washington Aqueduct. Since TAM's mission is primarily overseas, the team toured the aqueduct to show them another aspect of the USACE mission.

    TAM Summer Hire Program Helps USACE “Prepare for Tomorrow”

    With a nationwide shortage of students going into Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) career fields, ensuring USACE has the talent needed to continue providing those solutions has become one of those challenges.  In order to meet this challenge, USACE’s Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) has recently made a concerted effort to build a STEM pipeline, doing its part to help the Corps “prepare for tomorrow.”

  • July

    U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kimberly M. Colloton, commanding general and division engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division, and Kuwait Army Maj. Gen. Adel Al Hafez, commander with the Kuwait Air Defense Forces, cut the ribbon at the new Patriot Fire Site, Site #7, Kuwait, July 5, 2021. The new Air Defense site will expand the Kuwait Ministry of Defense’s defense capabilities and enable assured protection to Kuwaiti citizens and allies.

    Middle East District, Kuwaitis Deliver the Program during COVID

    Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District’s (TAM) Kuwait Program Management Office and Members of the Kuwaiti military held a ribbon cutting ceremony July 5th to celebrate completion of a Kuwaiti PATRIOT missile defense battery.

  • June

    Major Derek Sentinella, a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District inspects new concrete over a road connection for four lines connecting to a 20 megawatt substation on Camp Arifjan in Kuwait

    Developing Valuable Skills in the Middle East with USACE

    Both operational and USACE sides of the Engineer Regiment are equally important, but two officers assigned to USACE’s Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) recently learned that a tour with the Corps can provide a whole lot of excitement and ultimately a whole new level of experience.
  • Transatlantic Middle East District Program Manager Kim Sanders with members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District Qatar Resident Office visiting the site of one of her projects in the State of Qatar.

    Program Manager goes the extra 7,000 miles

    Headquartered in Winchester, Virginia, with projects spread throughout the Middle East, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) is farther from its projects than any other district in the Corps. So TAM program manager Kim Sanders is used to overcoming the tyranny of distance. However, when she recently had the chance to close that distance she jumped on the opportunity.

  • March

    The control tower at Imam Ali Air Base Iraq. The tower is being renovated for the Iraqi Air Force by the U.S. Air Force's Aerospace Management Systems Division at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC/HBA), Hanscom Air Force Base. The Air Force elected to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East and Memphis Districts on the project due to their experience in the region and civil engineering expertise.

    Virtual Collaboration Allows Critical Project to Stay on Track

    A current project in Iraq, to bring Imam Ali Air Base up to operational capability, involves extensive refurbishment and renovation to the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) building, includes new ATCT equipment, supporting airfield electrical power and communications infrastructure, backup power improvement, installation of new ILS/DME and TACAN systems; and a potential renovation of the existing airfield lighting system.  Accomplishing this involves extensive coordination among the Iraqi Air Force, the Aerospace Management Systems Division, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC/HBA) at Hanscom Air Force Base, TAM and Memphis Districts, all while respecting the COIVD restrictions in place.
  • Staff. Sgt. Buddy C. Reynold during his time in the Army, long before he was one of the guest speakers for this year's Black History Month Celebration.

    BHM speakers highlight value, importance of time

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) held a Black History Month celebration Feb. 26. The event was held virtually and featured two guest speakers: Staff Sgt. Buddy C. Reynolds, a 100-year-old World War II veteran and the Honorable Randall Johnson Jr., a District Judge in Richmond, Va.

  • February

    The headquarters building for the SHIELD 5 missile defense project in Qatar. The SHIELD 5 program built missile defense infrastructure project was managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of Qatar. Large scale projects such as this, which involve multiple sites and a long construction schedule require significant analysis from the District's cost engineering team to provide an accurate assessment of cost.

    It’s going to cost how much? The Inside Story of Cost Engineers

    Whether building a new deck on the back of one’s house or the entire infrastructure for a missile defense program, the most basic and complex question in construction is always, “How much is it going to cost?” That is the critical role of a cost engineer (CE) comes in. In construction organizations, project managers and design engineers get the glory but cost engineers play a critical role behind the scenes. This is especially true in an organization like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM).