NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New Orleans District, also known as “Team New Orleans,” was recognized yesterday at the USACE Summer Leaders Conference Awards Dinner at the Ritz Carlton Hotel for outstanding achievement in professional excellence and the Corps’ construction efforts to reduce risk for the people of the Greater New Orleans area.
John C. Hess from Task Force Hope (TFH) won top honors as the USACE Program Manager of the Year. As the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) program manager, Hess provides the programmatic oversight for a $14.6 billion dollar budget and the execution of all program activities including design, construction, environmental mitigation and levee system evaluation to support FEMA accreditation of the system.
Protection Restoration Office (PRO) employee and New Orleans native, Kevin G. Wagner, was recognized as the USACE Project Manager of the Year. Wagner leads a multi-disciplinary project delivery team for one of the largest and most complex projects ever constructed by the Corps --- the West Closure Complex. This project is a major element of the West Bank and Vicinity (New Orleans, LA) and part of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS).
Wagner’s West Closure Complex (WCC) team won the USACE Innovation of the Year Award. The award was given in recognition of the WCC team’s innovative solutions that had an immediate and positive impact on designing and building a super structure with a collection of six sub-projects --- the largest drainage pump station in the world, the largest sector gate in the nation, T-Walls, a closure wall, a sluice gate and a system of site work featuring an inlet road, levees and channel excavation.
The USACE Excellence in Contracting Awards Program (ECAP) also recognized the accomplishments and contributions of Tim Black, New Orleans District Assistant Chief of Contracting. Black was recognized for his timely improvements and achievements in supporting a contracting mission that includes 394 HSDRRS contracts worth $14.6 billion dollars.
Four additional New Orleans District contracting employees were nominated at the national level: contracting officers Lindsay Dawson, Paulette Phillips, and Carrie Wakumoto, and Hurricane Protection Office Levees, Floodwalls and Armoring Branch Chief Marcia Meekins.
Martin Mayer, the New Orleans District Regulatory Branch Central Evaluation Section Chief, won The Ronald J. Ruffenach Communicator of the Year Award. This USACE award recognizes a member of the Corps outside the Public Affairs career field for his/her contributions in communicating the USACE missions and programs. As a key spokesperson during the Deepwater Horizon crisis, Mayer participated in over 80 interviews with local, national and international news media and was instrumental in developing and implementing a communication strategy that proactively provided accurate and timely information.
Team New Orleans contributions in professional excellence extended as far away as Afghanistan. The Office of Counsel’s Timothy A. Holliday, who was deployed to Kabul for 7 months last year, served as a member of the project delivery team that has been selected for the 2011 USACE Project Delivery Team of the Year Award. The Afghanistan National Army (ANA) Detention Facility in Pawan Project Delivery Team is recognized for its timely completion of a state-of-the-art detention facility.
"It is great to see so many of our team members recognized for their valuable accomplishments over the past year," stated New Orleans District Commander Col. Edward Fleming. "The character and dedication they have exhibited strongly reflects the types of values that the men and women of Team New Orleans strive to meet every day."