Throughout the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Great Lakes and Ohio River Division (LRD), unity emerges not from uniformity, but from the collective minds across seven diverse districts. Though scattered geographically, they converge to synchronize efforts, share insights, and strengthen their collective mission of tackling the nation's toughest challenges.
From June 4 to 6, 2024, the Division led a workshop in Cincinnati with Executive Office staff from across the region. Together, they shared best practices and procedures, exchanged knowledge from a breadth of experience, and brainstormed ways to improve efficiency.
The Executive Office handles much more than schedules and administrative work. This highly experienced team are the gears that ensure the organization is operating efficiently. Their list of tasks and responsibilities include establishing a concise battle-rhythm, understanding, and implementing protocol and etiquette, planning and executing Congressional, stakeholder, and industry engagements, ensuring schedules are synchronized and flexible, and the list goes on. Without the experience that exists within this team, the mission would certainly suffer.
The workshop kicked off on Tuesday, June 4. LRD’s Chief of Staff and host of the workshop, Kim Longoria, gave remarks followed by an overview of the LRD Executive Office environment, including best practices for supporting the command group and leadership, and an in-depth review of the structure within the division and seven districts.
Day two of the workshop covered a range of topics. LRD’s Strategic Planning Management Analyst, Michele Rebmann, led a discussion regarding regional and executive governance. Caron Whitby, the Command Protocol Officer from USACE Headquarters in Washington, DC, educated the group on protocol for the command environment. Whitby also discussed the planning elements of change of command ceremonies. Craig Tenhundfeld, LRD’s Military Human Resource Specialist, gave an overview of military human resources, including information about the LRD Awards program. Mary Lewis, LRD’s Stakeholder Engagement Program Manager, shared her expertise in managing and planning stakeholder engagements and read-ahead preparation. And LRD’s own executive assistants, Rose Reilly, and Morgan Moser, shared their experience in executive level scheduling. The Pittsburgh District Supervisory Business Development Program Manager, Elaine Lisk, provided further perspective and insights into operations within a District Executive Office.
Day three of the event concluded with in-depth discussion on planning and scheduling VIP visits and Congressional engagements. The team spoke with a staffer from Rep. Comer’s (KY-1) Washington DC office about how to interact best with Congressional members and their staff.
The workshop was especially helpful for newer members to the career field, including Crystal Brooks, who is within her first year as Administrative Officer with the Huntington District.
“People want to share what they have learned over the years,” said Brooks. “Getting to know the other Executive Office staff on a personal level was helpful for future networking. Now I feel like I can reach out and say ‘hey, I have this event coming up, what has worked well in the past?’ Sharing knowledge and experience is the best way to ensure we all succeed at USACE.”
Faith Durden, Executive Officer/Congressional Liaison with the Buffalo District, attended the workshop to meet her counterparts from across the region, and learn more from the sharing of knowledge.
“I found it most valuable to meet my counterparts in person to dialogue about best practices,” said Durden. “We all do things slightly different, yet we accomplish the mission.”
Anna Vollick, Strategic Planner with the Detroit District, also enjoyed the team building aspect of the workshop, and how it impacts the collective mission of the entire enterprise.
“We’re all part of a bigger team working towards the same goal,” said Vollick. “We’re a team that can rely on each other and share ideas to help us be better at what we do and how we support our Command team, which in the end benefits the Corps enterprise. This is a very demanding but rewarding office to work in, and this workshop helped me confirm I’m on the right track and I’ve got strong, creative, and reliable team members across the region who are right beside me.”