Building Strong

Airmen and officers temporarily staying at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Va. have a new place to lay their heads. The built Langley Inn, located on base, offers many of the same features area hotels in town have, which is an upgrade from the previous temporary lodging that served the Air Force community. Patrick Bloodgood reports. Also available in high definition.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District plays a key role in

helping the Army achieve its goal of developing net-zero installations.

Net-zero is an initiative that aims to reduce total resource consumption

(energy, water and waste) on an installation down to an effective rate of

zero. At Fort Hunter Liggett in Central California, the district is nearing

completion of the first of four new solar micro grids. The first, which is

scheduled to be complete in April of 2012, is capable of generating up to

one megawatt of power for the post, enough energy to power 250 to 300 homes. Also available in high definition.

Nation’s Environmental Engineer

As the nation’s environmental engineer, the U.S. Army Corps manages one of the largest federal environmental missions in the United States:

Restoring degraded ecosystems

Constructing sustainable facilities

Regulating waterways and managing natural resources

Cleaning up contaminated sites from past military activities

The responsibility to deliver environmentally sound projects and services to our customers touches every program within the Corps: Military Programs, Civil Works and Research and Development.

The scope and magnitude of environmental issues that the Corps addresses make it stand out among other federal agencies. But it is more than one agency can do on its own, it requires working in partnership with others to ensure our environmental efforts meet the needs of the American public.

The Army Corps of Engineers continually partners with other federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions to find innovative solutions to challenges that affect everyone: sustainability, climate change, endangered species, environmental cleanup, ecosystem restoration and more.

The Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental professionals are key resources for anyone inside or outside the Army family, wherever and whenever environmental solutions are sought. The breadth and depth of skills found within the workforce gives it the ability to seek the best solution to environmental challenges.

The seven Environmental Operating Principles, or the Corps’ green ethics, are being incorporated into all Corps business lines to achieve a sustainable environment.

Restoring Ecosystems

The Corps works to restore degraded ecosystem structure, function and dynamic processes to a more natural condition:

Through large-scale ecosystem restoration projects, such as the Everglades, the Louisiana Coastal Area, the Missouri River, and the Great Lakes

By employing system-wide watershed approaches to problem solving and management for smaller ecosystem restoration projects

Constructing Sustainable Facilities

The Corps designs and builds sustainable communities and facilities for the Department of Defense by:

Incorporating sustainable design criteria into military construction and training lands projects

Developing techniques to divert military construction waste from landfills through recycling and finding reuse opportunities

Minimizing the use of hazardous materials

Establishing the Center for the Advancement of Sustainability Innovations, a one-stop shop for sustainable planning and design expertise.

Regulating Waterways and Managing Natural Resources

The Corps regulates work in the nation’s wetlands and waters, with a goal of protecting the aquatic environment while allowing responsible development. The regulatory program works to ensure no net loss of wetlands while issuing about 90,000 permits a year.

With nearly 12 million acres of land and water to manage, the Corps is:

Responsible for the well-being of 53 special status species

Using Environmental Management Systems to integrate the Environmental Operating Principles into Corps operations to achieve waste reduction, recycling and energy efficiency goals

Restoring environmental health to aquatic resources

Cleanup and Protection Activities

Corps environmental cleanup programs focus on reducing risk and protecting human health and the environment in a timely and cost-effective manner. The Corps manages, designs and executes a full range of cleanup and protection activities, such as:

Cleaning up sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste or ordnance through the Formerly Used Defense Sites program

Cleaning up low-level radioactive waste from the nation’s early atomic weapons program through the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program

Supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by cleaning up Superfund sites and working with its Brownfields and Urban Waters programs

Supporting the Army through the Base Realignment and Closure Act program

Ensuring that facilities comply with federal, state and local environmental laws

Conserving cultural and natural resources

Bottom Line

The Corps’ goal for its environmental mission is to restore ecosystem structure and processes, manage our land, resources and construction activities in a sustainable manner, and support cleanup and protection activities efficiently and effectively, all while leaving the smallest footprint behind. Produced by Mary Cochran. Also available in high definition.

Jerry Zekert and Andrea Wohlfeld Kuhn are technical experts for Master Planning. They are part of the USACE team that promotes sustainability and quality of life while designing communities.

Planning provides the mechanism to create better environments, coordinate like-minded initiatives, and simultaneously meet the needs of the Army and our Soldiers, Civilians, and Families. Master planning is the over-arching entity that links environmental, housing, training, installation goals, etc. together to achieve success. By creating integrated master plans, we can create a sustainable environment for those who live and work on military installations.

Achieving the “Triple Bottom Line” to meet the Army’s policy on Sustainability

• Foster an ethic beyond compliance

• Reduce our environmental footprint

• Sustain land, air, and water resources

• Minimize impacts on systems, ops, facilities by integrating principles and practices of sustainability

• Enhance well-being of Soldiers, Civilians, Families, communities

• Use innovative technology now and for the future

Read how USACE is celebrating Earth Day:

http://www.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsArchive/StoryArticleView/tabid/232/Articl...

Also available in high definition

The mission of USACE is to provide vital public engineering services in peace and war to strengthen our Nation’s security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters. In achieving this mission, the USACE must contribute to the national welfare and serve the public by providing quality and responsive services to the Nation, the Army, and other customers in a manner that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable, and that focuses on public safety and collaborative partnerships.

Key mission activities include:

Development and management of the Nation’s water resources, Protection and management of the natural environment, Restoration of aquatic ecosystems, Flood risk and emergency management, and Military and civil engineering and technical services. Produced by Mary Cochran. Includes soundbites from Maj. Gen. Merdith "Bo" Temple, acting chief of engineers, David Williams, energy program manager, Phil Deffenbaugh, park ranger, Sidney Jones, landscape architect, Chris Jones, biologist, Phillip Thompson, ecologist, and Andrea Wohlfeld Kuhn, senior community planner, all of USACE. Also available in high definition.

USACE program offering jobs for veterans. Six month job opportunity designed as a transition into the civilian workforce and teaches skill sets for museum, forensics, administrative and records management fields. Produced by Mary Cochran. Includes soundbites from Dr. Michael Trimble, director, Veterans Curation Program, Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army (Civil Works), Shamus Sullivan, Marine Corps veteran, and Crystal Bryant, Navy veteran. Also available in high definition.

USACE construction in Afghanistan is supporting local education. In this video we visit a site to be an all girls school in the Qalat District. The Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team performs quality assurance inspections. Also available in high definition.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages 12,000 miles of waterways across the country. As the nation’s environmental engineer, USACE works to find a balance between human, economic and natural systems. Mary Cochran Smith takes us to the golden state where a flood control project is being transformed into an urban retreat. Also available in high definition.

More information at www.spl.usace.army.mil.

The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers laboratory organization that provides science, technology, and expertise in engineering and environmental sciences in support of our Armed Forces and the Nation. The lab has been named Army's Top Lab numerous times and the diverse team of scientists works to protect lives. This clip highlights technology that is making a difference for our war fighters.

The United States Pacific Command’s AOR (Area of Responsibility) encompasses about half of the earth’s surface. It is home to more than 50 percent of the world’s population and several of the world’s largest militaries. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is supporting a growing presence in the globally significant Asia-Pacific region. Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, USACE commanding general, toured construction at Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan. The construction and international partnership will help maintain security and stability in the Pacific region. Produced by Mary Cochran. Also available in high definition.

More information at www.poj.usace.army.mil