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  • April

    Unaccompanied enlisted personnel housing facility groundbreaking ceremony.

    USACE and Partners Break Ground on New Barracks at Fort Johnson

    Brig. Gen. Jason Curl, Commanding General of the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson, and Arnold “Rob” Newman, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Fort Worth District Deputy District Engineer, leaned onto their shovels March 13th to break ground with their teammates on the new unaccompanied enlisted personnel housing facility.

  • March

    Viet Nguyen deployed as the chief of information technology for USACE’s Task Force Restoring Iraqi Oil in 2003.

    Viet Nguyen Comes Full Circle

    Viet Nguyen, a program manager at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Fort Worth District, has managed critical programs and projects around the world, including during three deployments, as a Department of Army civilian, supporting Afghanistan District South, Task Force Restoring Iraqi Oil, and the Transatlantic Expeditionary District in Kuwait.

  • February

    Stanly “Easy” Frerich, in red, is recognized as the 2024 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Volunteer of the Year. Easy, who volunteers at Lake Georgetown, is the first volunteer from Fort Worth District in more than 10 years to be named the USACE volunteer of the year. In 2024 USACE had more than 37,900 volunteers across the command supporting natural resource management. In total, the volunteers served 1,751,141 hours, equivalent to 842 full-time employes. The total estimated value of volunteer hours is $58.6 million. Pictured from left to right are Scott Blank, lake manager at Lake Georgetown, Easy, Josh Houghtaling, a park ranger at Lake Georgetown, Madeline Karickhoff, a park ranger at Lake Georgetown, Col. Calvin Kroeger, Commander of the Fort Worth District.

    2024 USACE Volunteer of the Year

    Can you keep a secret? The lake staff at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District’s Lake Georgetown can, at least for two weeks. That’s how long they knew Stanley “Easy” Frerich had been selected as the 2024 USACE Volunteer of the Year. The trick was keeping it a secret until an appropriate ceremony could be planned.
  • An aerial view of San Angelo during the floods of September 1936. This flood, and others like it over the previous decade, led to the authorization of O.C. Fisher Dam and Lake by the Flood Control Act of 1941. Since its completion, through fiscal year 2023, the cumulative amount of damages prevented by the dam during rain events is $21.3 million.

    O.C. Fisher – A Lake That Needs to Be

    As the clouds begin to darken and the thunder starts to rumble in the distance, the bison and longhorn herds at San Angelo State Park become restless. The first drops of rain begin to hit the parched landscape surrounding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District’s O.C. Fisher Dam and Lake as the storm rolls in.
  • Elyssa Mendez, a park ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District’s Proctor Lake, checks on an automatic deer feeder in one of the many wildlife management areas that surround the lake. Mendez serves as the hunting coordinator for the lake and calls the outdoors her second office.

    An Office in the Great Outdoors

    As the sun rises over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District’s Proctor Lake, nature comes alive. A flight of cormorant lands on the lake, blue heron and a pelican search the shallows for their next meal, and two white-tailed deer scurry across the dam road.
  • Ronald Morris is a park ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Morris has been a park ranger at Hords Creek Lake since April 2022. He started his career with the Corps of Engineer at 62 years of age after serving in the Army and Navy for more than 40 years.

    A Late Start - Continuing to Serve

    At 62 years of age, most people are thinking about what to do in retirement. Some are even enjoying the fruits of their labor that comes with it. But at 62, Ronald Morris decided to start a career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District.

  • January

    The Contracting Division takes their group photo on September 4, 2024, to archive current employees within the division for future references.

    The Fort Worth District's Cornerstone of Contracting Success

    As the fiscal year drew to a close, agencies reflected on past achievements while implementing the year’s lessons learned into the next fiscal year. This period can be likened to changing seasons; just as nature transitions from the vibrancy of summer to the introspection of winter, agencies assess their performance and strategize for the upcoming year.

  • December

    1st Lt. Leandra Ramos, project manager, Fort Worth District's Programs and Project Management Division, rings the bell to signify all her Fiscal Year 2024 contracting tasks have been completed successfully.

    Navigating Army Resources: From Military Service to Civilian Careers

    Picture the sun rising over a bustling café, two military members settled into a corner table, engaged in a conversation that reflects a pressing concern for many service members: life after military service. While one service member expresses concern over whether his 15 years of uniformed experience will translate into civilian job opportunities, the other service member is concerned with finding resources to expand her knowledge and technical skills desired before heading to the Captain’s Career Course.
  • - A view of the emergency spillway, 1950’s and today, from Overlook Park at Lake O’ the Pines. The lake’s mission is to provide water to the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District and flood risk mitigation to communities along the Red River. (Illustration by Pat Adelmann)

    Lake O’ the Pines Celebrates 70 Years

    Lake O’ the Pines and Ferrells Bridge Dam, in eastern Texas, will soon mark its 70th anniversary since ground was broken and construction began in January of 1955. Authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1946, the dam and reservoir were originally known as the Ferrells Bridge Dam and Reservoir, with construction managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District.
  • Timber Management for Habitat Management, forestry support photo

    Timber Management for Habitat Management

    In a small town nestled in an East Texas forest, there lives a skilled group of Army Corps of Engineers foresters and forestry technicians. These individuals are responsible for overseeing the sustainable harvesting of trees on USACE property, ensuring that the delicate balance of the ecosystem and the habitat for the native wildlife species is maintained.

  • October

    Team members from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern Division Regional Planning and Environmental Center meet with enlisted personnel at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The meeting was part of a visioning workshop for future infrastructure development on the installation.

    Live Locally and Plan Globally

    From Texas to Tokyo and almost everywhere in between, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern Division’s Regional Planning and Environmental Center’s Master Planning Branch, is planning the way ahead for operations, civil works and military construction projects.
  • U.S. Army Col. Calvin Kroeger, Fort Worth District commander, meets with members of the Corps of Engineers' Emergency Field Operations Center, that are deployed to Maui supporting the debris cleanup mission from wildfires that swept through the small Hawaiian towns of Lahaina and Kula in August 2023.

    Aloha and Mahalo

    In August of 2023, a little over one year ago, devastating wildfires swept through the small tropical towns of Kula and Lahaina, Hawaiʻi, setting the stage for a mission unlike anything the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Fort Worth District has ever seen.

  • September

    Clarence Banks, left, the Fort Worth District’s Value Officer, discusses projects and their location with his assistant, Derrick McCollum, an engineering technician that supports the Value Engineering office, Sept. 11, 2024. Value Engineering is a systematic, organized approach that promotes the substitution of materials and methods with less costly alternatives, without sacrificing functionality of the overall project.

    Value Engineering: More Bang for Your Buck

    Picture a scenario where an Army Corps of Engineers project manager is working on a military construction project consisting of a 20,000 square foot administrative space with mixed carpeting and tile flooring. The customer also indicated the desire for a conference room with audio-visual equipment but could not get these features due to overall costs.

  • August

    Regional LDP members from districts across the Southwestern Division visit the spillway at Lewisville Lake and other project sites to learn about projects specific to the Fort Worth District.

    Crafting Leaders: The Fort Worth District’s Embroidery-Inspired Approach

    The ancient craft of embroidery, steeped in tradition, symbolizes communication, education, precision, and artistry. Leaders have used embroidery to unite people, weave narratives, and adapt to challenges.

  • May

    SWF Training Supervisors to be Better Leaders

    SWF Training Supervisors to be Better Leaders

    Understanding the critical role supervisors play in the careers of their staff and employees, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Fort Worth District held a Supervisor University training class for more than 100 district employees at the district headquarters, Feb. 27-28, 2024.
  • An aerial view of Airman Training Center #6.

    The Sounds of Freedom

    Follow the white buses marked U.S. Air Force as they pick up new recruits from San Antonio International Airport and transport them to a tucked away location on Joint Base San Antonio. This hidden gem sits on almost four thousand acres of land designated for training the newest enlistees of the Air Force for the next eight and a half weeks. Over the course of their basic military training, you can hear groups of individuals become one voice as they chant the melodic sounds of freedom — “Everywhere I go-o, there’s an MTI* there, hut, two, three, four,” to signify unity and the wingman concept.

  • April

    Executive Suite

    Not Your Average Army Unit

    Imagine being an active-duty soldier, walking the halls and cubicles of your new Army assignment looking for someone in uniform to guide you in the right direction and not finding another soldier. There’s no motor pool, no weapons room, and no personnel office.
  • U.S. Army Col. James Schultze, deputy commander at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern Division

    Cornerstone of USAF Aquatic Training

    On a clear, blue-sky Texan day, personnel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Southwestern Division and Fort Worth District, joined with their customers from Joint Base San Antonio and the Air Force’s Special Warfare Training Wing, in dedicating the Maltz Special Warfare Aquatic Training Center, located on the Chapman Training Annex, April 2.

  • February

    Vanessa Pellegrino-Badell

    Full Circle Moments: An Interview with Vanessa Pellegrino-Badell

    As a project engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vanessa Pellegrino-Badell has coordinated many construction projects, but none as close to her heart as the U.S. Air Force’s Airman Training Centers located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Growing up, Pellegrino-Badell always had a passion for service, and when faced with the opportunity to enlist in the Air Force, she felt it was a natural step toward this. Her military service opened her eyes to new levels of possibilities and gave her the tools to be prepared for any challenges that lie ahead. We sat down with Pellegrino-Badell to discuss joining the Air Force, and how her training and military service prepared her for a new chapter in her career of becoming a project engineer for USACE.

  • January

    Hunting blind

    A Special Kind of Hunt

    On a frigid Saturday morning in January, at a park in Navarro Mills, Texas, the unthinkable happened. Seven teenagers sat in silence as they scanned the area around them for movement. Instead of staring at a screen, they quietly watched their breaths turn into clouds of steam and rise out of the hunting blind.