6 Apr 2021

A Captain's role in an ACF build-out

Editors Note: April 6, 2020 was the day the Memphis District awarded the contract to build an Alternate Care Facility (ACF) in Memphis, Tennessee. The article below was written by Cpt. Alex Burruss, who at that time deployed to the Memphis District to work as an Operations Officer and assist with ACF projects and operations. This is his account of what happened during his few months working here. At the onset of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers. USACE collaborated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for the rapid expansion of COVID-19 treatment spaces. USACE assigned each of its districts an area of responsibility, and the districts integrated into the local and state response agencies within their areas of responsibility. As local civil authorities conducted analysis and projected bed space requirements, USACE developed facility modification options for accommodating additional beds. Districts completed site assessments and provided project management support for converting existing buildings into alternate care facilities (ACFs).  In April 2020, three weeks after the President declared a national emergency, the U.S. Army Engineer School (USAES), Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, deployed more than 30 Soldiers in support of the USACE response effort; Cpt. Alex W. Burruss was deployed to the Memphis District, USACE Mississippi Valley Division, Tennessee, for more than 60 days.

9 Feb 2021

‘He is focus and he’s freedom;’

“I am 10th generation to serve,” Emily Klinefelter, Park Ranger with Lower Granite Natural Resource Office, said. “My grandmother filled my head with dreams about being a sailor. She served in WWII teaching young Americans and Russians how to use the anti-aircraft guns.”

27 Aug 2020

Memphis Team deployed to Louisiana in support of Hurricane Laura relief efforts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis District deployed a 13-member Emergency Power Planning and Response Team (PRT) to support Federal Emergency Management Agency's Hurricane Laura response, on Aug 26.

6 Aug 2020

A look back: Hamilton’s 35 years of service

Hamilton was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957, and later adopted by his parents at the young age of six months. "I grew up here in Wynne, where the (USACE) Area Office is located (and now where he works)," he said. "And I graduated from Arkansas State University in 1982."