VICKSBURG, Miss.— Dr. William “Bill” Martin and Dr. Reed Mosher are the two newest inductees to the Waterways Experiment Station (WES) Gallery of Distinguished Employees at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) after a ceremony held Oct. 15.
The gallery, which now features 110 former employees, honors the “best of the best” who worked at the ERDC WES, according to Dr. David Pittman, ERDC director.
“This is one of my favorite events,” Pittman told the small crowd gathered in person and the larger crowd watching online. “We get to honor not just the people, but their legacies and the history of Waterways Experiment Station and ERDC discovering, developing and delivering ways to make the world safer and better. These two have done that; they have paved the way for all of us as leaders at the ERDC and in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
By the end of his 41-year ERDC career in 2013, Martin was the director of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, a member of the Senior Executive Service and the leader of a $90 million research program that provided cutting-edge technology solutions to more than 500 projects across the globe. He is also remembered for leading a team that performed emergency modeling of the Sava River after the Balkan War, providing daily river condition forecasts and answering engineering questions for more than 450 consecutive days. That work led to the creation of the WES Tele-Engineering Program, known today as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reachback Operations Center, located in Vicksburg and connects deployed troops in the field to subject-matter experts back home who can help solve engineering challenges for them.
“It’s been my observation that most people are capable of acting far beyond the assigned responsibilities and duties that they currently have; all they really need is an opportunity to shine,” Martin explained at the ceremony. “Thankfully, I got to work with good people and help them shine, and during my career, I really tried to make sure the people that worked for me got the proper recognition for their success. I accept this recognition on behalf of the hundreds of people I’ve had the pleasure of working with throughout my career.”
“His list of numerous accolades and accomplishments goes on and on,” Dr. David Pittman said of Martin. “There’s no doubt he impacted ERDC and the nation.”
Mosher, who retired in 2018 after 40 years as a federal employee, was the director of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL). Under his leadership, the lab’s staff grew by 108 percent, becoming the second-largest ERDC laboratory. Prior to his role in ITL, Mosher served as the lead technical director for military engineering in the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, where he was instrumental in developing new technologies designed to protect Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan from rockets, mortars and other explosives.
“His contributions ranged from assessments of the Oklahoma bombing attacks to support of U.S. embassies in West Africa and around the world, and force protection work in the Pentagon that saved hundreds of lives on that fateful day during the attacks on 9/11,” Pittman said of Mosher. “We are still witnessing the impacts of his work across the Army and across the nation.”
“My job was simple — to be technically competent, to be a good team player and make things happen,” Mosher said. “I focused on interesting work and work that needed doing…I figured if I did my job well, good things would happen to me.”
Today, both Martin and Mosher are still actively involved with ERDC. Martin is a member and served as 2019 president of the ERDC Alumni Association, while Mosher is the director of the Mississippi State University Institute for Systems Engineering Research, a partnership initiative with the ERDC.