Mr. Joseph M. Savage was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in July 2019. He serves as the Programs Director for the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As the As the Programs Director, Mr. Savage provides leadership and supervision for the LRD Programs Directorate’s execution, planning, and project management activities. He also serves as the Regional Dam and Levee Safety Officer and is the lead liaison between the regional functional boards and the seven District offices. The division executes engineering, design, construction and project management for civil works, military programs, environmental programs, and international and interagency support in the region. The division operates as a regional business center with seven engineer districts covering 335,000 miles in seventeen states and consists of about 4,200 team members. LRD is responsible for water resource solutions throughout the Great Lakes and Ohio River watersheds. The division’s civil works missions include navigation, flood risk management, hydropower, environmental restoration, regulatory permitting, emergency response, water supply management, and recreation. LRD also executes a military construction program in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan with the design and construction of barracks, hospitals, airfields and family housing on military installations.
Prior to his current position at LRD, Mr. Savage served as the Regional Business Director for the division. Other previous assignments included the Deputy District Engineer and Chief of the Planning, Programs, and Project Management Division for the Huntington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Savage served on active duty as an Engineer Officer, where he served in a variety of staff and command positions. In 2002, he began working for USACE as a construction project engineer for the Savannah District’s Resident Office on Ft. Stewart, GA. In 2003 he was assigned as a Project Manager on the Ft. Bragg team and was responsible for managing a variety of projects for Army and Special Operations units. He became the Senior Project Manager for the Fort Benning, GA team and was responsible for the cradle to grave construction program of over 200 projects, valued at over $2B, for the Base Realignment and Closure mission to relocate the Armor School from Ft. Knox, KY to Ft. Benning, GA. Mr. Savage served as Program Management Branch Chief for the USACE Japan District’s Host Nation construction program for all the U.S. military services throughout Japan. In this role, he was responsible for the coordination, planning, resourcing, and execution of a massive and diverse construction program that averaged over $1B per year. In 2017, he deployed for six months to Kabul, Afghanistan as the Task Force Enhanced Security Zone Deputy. Mr. Savage earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, in 1997, from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Science degree in Project Management from George Washington University in 2011. He is a registered professional engineer in Georgia and is a certified project management professional. He is also a member of the Society of American Military Engineers.