News Stories

  • June

    USACE Marks 250 Years with Pivotal Support to the Army’s Birthday

    As the U.S. Army celebrated its 250th anniversary June 14 with a birthday festival and parade in the nation's capital, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was hard at work behind the scenes and on the logistical front lines. In a powerful intersection of history and engineering excellence, USACE’s contributions helped ensure parade success while also symbolizing its own 250th anniversary of building and defending the nation.
  • May

    USACE Navigation mission critical to Armed Forces’ strategic readiness

    When the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) needs to move over 1,000 trucks, trailers, and tons of equipment for a large training exercise, they rely on the cost-effectiveness and convenience of the nation’s waterways.
  • The Corps Environment – Spring 2025 edition now available

    The Spring 2025 edition of The Corps Environment is now available! This publication highlights how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is turning environmental challenges into mission-ready solutions. Content in this issue includes ongoing projects and initiatives from across the Army environmental community that are leveraging environmental stewardship as a force multiplier — enhancing military readiness, strengthening strategic partnerships and supporting community well-being.
  • USACE Completes Two-Week Regional Power Mission Exercise, Prepares for Upcoming Hurricane Season

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) successfully concluded a two-week Regional Power Mission Exercise on May 16, enhancing its readiness to provide critical temporary emergency power in the wake of a major disaster.
  • U.S. Engineering Team Assesses Colón, Panama’s Infrastructure Challenges, Strengthening Bilateral Partnership

    A team from the U.S. Army’s 553rd Forward Engineer Support Team-Advance (FEST-A) drove around important parts of the city of Colón, Panama, surveying the stormwater and wastewater systems on May 13, 2025. The survey was designed to find ways to bolster the ongoing partnership between the United States and Panama while addressing one of Panama’s largest city’s long-standing infrastructure issues.
  • OPTIC: Transforming Mission Planning with Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation

    The proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in civil works, emergency response, and military applications is the primary driver for development of the Operator’s Tool for Information Collection (OPTIC). Designed to meet operational needs, OPTIC leverages decades of experience to improve mission planning, operational tracking, and data-driven decisions for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
  • April

    What is a Sapper? 250 Years of “Badass” Engineers

    In the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the term sapper carries weight. For 250 years, sappers have served as elite combat engineers, supporting frontline infantry in every war throughout American history.
  • March

    Double Duty: Chris Stewarts’ Service in and out of Uniform

    Chris "CJ" Stewart seamlessly balances his dual roles as a federal civilian logistics management specialist and an Army Reservist. Serving within the Resource Integration Division (RID) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Logistics Activity (ULA), Stewart's civilian duties involve assessing logistics through the Command Logistics Review Program (CLRP). Simultaneously, as a Motor Transport Operator (88M) in the Army Reserves, his military focus is also squarely on logistics. Stewart recently completed a year-long activation based in Poland, where his mission involved deterring, defending against, and potentially defeating adversarial aggression. His logistical support stretched across multiple countries, including Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Germany. During his deployment, Stewart held multiple critical command roles in addition to his regular duties, including SHARP Ambassador Program representative, Suicide Prevention Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC), Liaison Officer NCOIC, and Unit Movement Officer NCOIC.
  • USACE Aviation Program Office: Enhancing Efficiency and Compliance in UAS Operations

    The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Aviation Program Office (APO) plays a pivotal role in advancing crewed and uncrewed aviation missions across the organization. Established to meet the growing demands of Civil Works, Emergency Response, and Combatant Command operations, the APO serves as the central aviation authority for USACE, ensuring the safe, legal, and efficient operation of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS).
  • February

    The Corps Environment – Winter 2025 edition now available

    The Winter 2025 edition of The Corps Environment is now available! This edition features ongoing projects and initiatives that are proactively considering the environment and influencing partnerships in support of military readiness and community well-being.

News Releases

Blue Roof recipients witness USACE innovation

Published Sept. 30, 2020
Drone operators from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering Research and Development Center, or ERDC, in Vicksburg, Miss., deploy forward to southwest Louisiana mid-Sept. 2020 in support of Operation Blue Roof for Hurricane Laura response. Charles McKenzie, left, and Michael Baker operate a drone in Sulfur, La., Sept. 20. On the front end of the Blue Roof mission, drones can be used to help our staff assess homes to determine eligibility for the program. On the back end, they help our quality assurance specialists verify the fiber reinforced sheeting was installed per contract specifications.

Drone operators from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering Research and Development Center, or ERDC, in Vicksburg, Miss., deploy forward to southwest Louisiana mid-Sept. 2020 in support of Operation Blue Roof for Hurricane Laura response. Charles McKenzie, left, and Michael Baker operate a drone in Sulfur, La., Sept. 20. On the front end of the Blue Roof mission, drones can be used to help our staff assess homes to determine eligibility for the program. On the back end, they help our quality assurance specialists verify the fiber reinforced sheeting was installed per contract specifications.

IN THE PHOTO, Blue Roof Mission contractors installing the 5,000th roof for another southwestern Louisiana resident. Using satellite and fixed-wing imagery allows USACE Assessors anywhere in the world to conduct assessments, but if for some reason imagery is unclear, an evaluator will conduct a physical review of the roof to ensure an accurate assessment is conducted. (USACE photo by George Stringham)

IN THE PHOTO, Blue Roof Mission contractors installing the 5,000th roof for another southwestern Louisiana resident. Using satellite and fixed-wing imagery allows USACE Assessors anywhere in the world to conduct assessments, but if for some reason imagery is unclear, an evaluator will conduct a physical review of the roof to ensure an accurate assessment is conducted. (USACE photo by George Stringham)

IN THE PHOTO, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Blue Roof Mission Assessor observes contractors as they install temporary roofing for the 5,000th homeowner to receive a ‘blue roof’ during Hurricane Laura recovery efforts. Using satellite and fixed-wing imagery allows USACE Assessors anywhere in the world to conduct assessments, but if for some reason imagery is unclear, an evaluator will conduct a physical review of the roof to ensure an accurate assessment is conducted. (USACE photo by George Stringham)

IN THE PHOTO, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Blue Roof Mission Assessor observes contractors as they install temporary roofing for the 5,000th homeowner to receive a ‘blue roof’ during Hurricane Laura recovery efforts. Using satellite and fixed-wing imagery allows USACE Assessors anywhere in the world to conduct assessments, but if for some reason imagery is unclear, an evaluator will conduct a physical review of the roof to ensure an accurate assessment is conducted. (USACE photo by George Stringham)

Innovating and improving processes are what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers do, especially when it comes to hurricane recovery operations.

So when it came time to respond to a Hurricane like Laura, the Corps came ready to deliver temporary roofing with an upgraded Blue Roof Program.

The Blue Roof Program is a Federal Emergency Management Agency program managed by USACE. The program provides homeowners in disaster areas with fiber-reinforced sheeting to cover damaged roofs until permanent repairs can be made. To receive a blue roof, homeowners must complete a Right of Entry, or ROE form, either online, via a Call Center, or in-person at an ROE Collection Site.

"We’ve come a long way with how people can sign up," Blue Roof Program Subject Matter Expert Mike Welch said. "People used to always have to come in and apply by signing up in person at a little stand in the community. Now you can sign up on the Internet using your cell phone, going to an in-person sign-up station, or by calling into the call center where they take down all your information."

The Blue Roof Planning and Response Teams also used to spend a lot more time opening ROE sign-up sites than they did actually assessing damaged roofs.

"Historically, we would have to get our teams to go and stand up a vast amount of physical right of entry collection centers instead of focusing on doing assessments," Temporary Roofing Program Manager Josh Marx said. "Now the focus has shifted from setting up ROE collection sites up to actually doing what's necessary for the mission to go forward, which is to do the assessments and create the work orders for the contractors."

So, what led to an improvement? How did this critical program evolve over the years and become what it is today?

"Every district had their own way of responding to natural disasters, so what we did was take best practices from each one and create Standard Operating Procedures for all districts to use when responding, across the board," Welch said.

"Additionally, USACE Common Operating Picture created the Field Management System 2.0," Marx said. "And then the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center helps maintain our devices and supports from a technical standpoint. This system is all electronic and allows us to manage homeowner information mostly online versus all on paper like what we normally would have done."

Assessments were always conducted in-person in the past. Now, the Blue Roof assessors have satellite and flyover imagery at their fingertips to assist with damage assessments.

"In most cases, we've had aerial imagery of the home before and after the storm," Marx said. "The quality assurance inspectors can assess the damage from a desktop, and they can immediately create work orders and push them to the contractors."

Using satellite and fixed-wing imagery also allows people anywhere in the world to conduct assessments.

"What we’ve seen this year is we're now able to have people back in Omaha and here in Baton Rouge do remote assessments," Marx said. "I think we've found that around 40 percent of the roofing reports allowed us just to look at the photos, assess damages, and then write up a work order without ever sending anybody out to the field or to the property."

And suppose for some reason the aerial imagery doesn't work out as planned. In that case, the process is still simpler than in years past because of information stored in the new database.

"There might have been cloud cover that didn't show the damages or the quality of the photograph wasn't good enough for us to assess… or there were questions that needed to be answered," Marx added. "But even so, no longer are we trying to measure the roof because the roof is already measured – we’re just trying to assess the damages and draw up a work order according to what the damages are when we go out and visually inspect it."

Furthermore, information on the homeowner is no longer stored in a file cabinet somewhere. No longer does an assessor have to search for something as simple but necessary as a phone number or address.

"This helps us go out and make sure we are at the right house, at the right tasker, and have the proper damage assessment. We just blend both tools and use them to the best of our advantage,” Welch added.

While any new program is bound to have its hiccups here and there, this system still puts the team at an output level that's faster than in years past.

As one assessor put it, the program is for lack of a better term, great.

"I've been doing this (volunteering) my entire life," Welch said. "I’ve served in the Navy, I volunteer as a fireman, I've been to Afghanistan, and so on. But, what's important about this is we have people from 20 districts downrange in support of this mission. We also have people from five districts doing reach back support in their home districts. And what it is, is… it's Americans rebuilding America."

Americans are indeed rebuilding America, and through this program, they are doing it faster and better than ever before.


Mississippi Valley Division

Institute for Water Resources

South Pacific Division

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