Ms. Paula Johnson-Muic serves as Chief, Real Estate within the Directorate of Military Programs. In this role Ms. Johnson-Muic oversees the Real Estate Community of Practice mission executed by approximately 700 real estate personnel at over 40 locations nationwide. She will also oversee 24 million acres of Army controlled land and improvements including military installations worldwide, all water resource projects and 9,900 lease holdings with expenditures over $500 million annually as well as more than 49,000 out grants of Army and Air Force controlled real property which includes leases on both military and civil works lands.
Real Estate is responsible for program execution, policy, and the technical expertise to provide real estate planning, acquisition, management, and disposal services and products to the Army worldwide, overseeing approximately 24 million acres of Army controlled land. In this position, Ms. Johnson-Muic is responsible for the command and control, programs management, enterprise interface and quality assurance of all real estate products and services, both civil and military, as well as talent management and career development of the workforce located at HQ, nine regional centers and thirty-four district offices.
Ms. Johnson-Muic serves as a Senior Warranted Real Estate Contracting Officer (RECO) and maintains qualifications to execute GSA Intermediate leases up to $10M.
Ms. Johnson-Muic has been the Chief of Real Estate for the Southwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since May 2009, supporting real estate transactions and oversight and delegation of contracting officer warrants in all or parts of eight states including: 98 multipurpose reservoirs, major Army installations, and hundreds of leased recruiting facilities. Customers include Air Force, Army Futures Command, MEDCOM, and Custom and Border Protection (CBP). High visibility actions include acquisition of about 40,000 acres of land for Ft Polk training; disposal of over 14,000 acres of flowage easements to the Grand River Dam Authority; and, certification of about 53 miles of private land acquisition for construction of border infrastructure in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Previously, Ms. Johnson-Muic was the Senior Realty Specialist for Real Estate Acquisition and Planning in the Southwestern Division, and a member of the Fort Worth District Support Team from October 2004 until May of 2009. Ms. Johnson-Muic was assigned to the border fence initiative in support of the Customs and Border Protection from February 2007 to December 2008. She provided leadership and technical expertise to ensure the project was executed in an efficient and rapid manner to achieve the national goal of securing our country’s borders. Ms. Johnson-Muic coordinated program resource requirements across five Divisions & 22 Districts, leveraging over 140 personnel in support of the border & vehicle fence real estate acquisition program resulting in the acquisition of over 400 tracts of land using innovative acquisition approaches to expedite delivery and the successful completion of over 600 miles of fencing.
Ms. Johnson-Muic began her career with the Corps in 1991 as a real estate attorney with the Pittsburgh District. In 1995, Ms. Johnson-Muic became the Acquisition Branch Chief, Real Estate Division, Pittsburgh District. During her tenure with the Pittsburgh District through September of 2004, she worked on many diverse civil projects for inland navigation, flood reduction, continuing authorities, and ecosystem restoration, both full-federal and cost-shared.
A licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Johnson-Muic earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in business and liberal arts from Penn State University of State College, PA. and a Juris Doctorate from the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, PA. She is a native of Elizabeth, PA.
Her awards include the USACE Real Estate Professional of the Year in 2001 and 2008; the USACE Howard Armstrong Partnership Award; a U.S. Department of Justice Certificate of Commendation in 2009; Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award in 2009 and 2013; and a Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, Oct 2014.