The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District held a townhall meeting, September 29, to address many of the trending topics within the District during the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2022.
District Commander Col. Rhett A. Blackmon, Deputy District Engineer Byron Williams, and Deputy District Commander Maj. Ian O’Sullivan were on hand to bring employees up to speed on the events leading into the new fiscal year.
Having officially taken command back in July, Blackmon shared his insights on learning about all the different projects, meeting with non-federal partners, and getting to know the District during his first two months at Galveston.
“I trust the organization and the brilliant people we have working here,” Blackmon said, adding he doesn’t feel the need to make dramatic changes to the way the District operates.
Blackmon also touched on a couple of surveys circulating throughout the federal government enterprise: the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEV); and the Command Climate Survey.
Regarding the FEV, Blackmon stressed its importance to higher USACE headquarters as a way to gauge recruitment and retention efforts.
“We have to build our team and I can’t do that alone,” he said. “We have to make sure we’re growing the next generation of our organization.”
The District Commander highlighted the importance of the Command Climate Survey and assured that he and the rest of the District’s leadership will be paying close attention to the survey results.
“That survey is intended to help me understand the climate of the organization because it shows me how well we’re treating each other,” Blackmon said. “I will be reading every word of that.”
As September is Suicide Prevention Month, Blackmon also reiterated the new lifeline to contact for mental health, substance abuse, and suicide crises—988.
With the recent 2022 kickoff of the Combined Federal Campaign, Blackmon also made sure employees understood what the campaign was for and how to donate if they choose to.
Williams then took the stage to address the District’s progress in contract execution. So far, the District has completed 336 contract actions, with 21 remaining Williams said.
“We do plan to execute as early in [Fiscal Year 2023] as possible,” Williams said, naming off several projects that had to carry over into the new fiscal year, including the Sabine-Neches Waterway, Cedar Bayou, and Corpus Christi.
Williams then turned to his goal for the new fiscal year.
“I want to talk about the value of execution,” Williams said. “I want to challenge us.” The District’s mindset should be “how can we do this?” instead of “we can’t do this” before embarking on a new project.
“If we think it’s legal, ethical, or a benefit to the nation, let’s get innovative,” the Deputy District Engineer said, adding that innovation is the theme for the upcoming Stakeholder Partnering Forum. “We need to start thinking out-of-the-box on how to get things done.”
Williams left the audience with one question to think on.
“If we don’t award contracts, what value do we have to the nation?” he asked.
Blackmon then opened the floor to the audience and took questions on a variety of topics, to include Continuing Resolution, the District returning to the Jadwin Building for work, and potential hurricane response deployments.