Among the most pressing challenges in the waterways/navigation/dredging missions USACE fulfills are the multiple waterway deepening projects that are either under way or in planning up and down the East Coast. The outlook for each, particularly those still being studied/planned, varies depending on funding and approvals. How important is the effort to improve navigation for post-Panamax vessels at major ports such Charleston, S.C., Savannah, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., Philadelphia, Pa., and elsewhere?

Our deepening efforts are critical. Actually, I was talking about that at my confirmation hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s first question to me was why the Corps wasn’t doing the things it should be doing. And again, there are a lot of things we should be doing, but with $60 billion worth of authorizations and very little funding to pay for those authorizations there are naturally a lot of folks frustrated with how long it’s taking to finish projects in their local areas. The senator said, “Gen. Bostick, with all of these challenges, do you really want this job?”

I laughed and said, “Sure, I’m looking forward to it, and I’m humbled by the opportunity.” But Sen. Graham went on to say that the problem was really “us.” And he looked at his fellow members of the Senate. He said, “We’ve got to figure out what the priorities are. We’ve got to give the Corps the resources to execute those priorities.” Then he started talking about ports. He talked about the fact that he had worked with the Corps and members of the administration to do a port study. We shared that port study with the White House and Congress.

I don’t know all of the facts that led to the “We Can’t Wait” strategy that the president announced in July 2012, but it included the need to move more rapidly on projects in ports like Charleston, Jacksonville, Savannah, Miami, New York, and New Jersey. We’re moving out as best we can with the funding we have.

Again, we’re in a critical financial situation where there’s only so much we can do with the funds we have. From a macro-level, what I would like people to understand is that we have 59 high-use ports that we’re working on. These are projects involving ports that accommodate more than 10 million tons per year. These 59 ports account for 90 percent of the cargo moved on harbors and channels in the U.S. Despite the massive economic contribution of these ports handling all of this cargo for our nation – we’re funded only enough to dredge these ports to less than their authorized width and their full authorized depth just one-third of the time.

We put a large percentage of our money into those ports but not all of it. We take care of some of the moderate-use ports and low-use ports as well. Priorities for these ports are very important. We received priorities under the “We Can’t Wait” strategy from the task force working that for the president. That’s the kind of guidance from the White House and Congress that is very helpful for the Corps and Ms. Darcy and her office to properly allocate funds.

 

What is the status and how has progress been made regarding USACE support to the warfighter?

Supporting the warfighter is a priority for the chief of staff of the Army and the secretary of the Army. It’s also a priority for the Corps of Engineers and when people think about the warfighter they naturally think of Afghanistan. That’s the No. 1 fight we have going and we must win that. We’re putting every bit of resource and leadership the Corps can muster to support the fight there.

These 59 ports account for 90 percent of the cargo moved on harbors and channels in the U.S. Despite the massive economic contribution of these ports handling all of this cargo for our nation – we’re funded only enough to dredge these ports to less than their authorized width and their full authorized depth just one-third of the time.

But supporting the warfighter is broader in my mind for the Corps. The warfighter also includes all of the CCMDs. The work that we’re doing in AFRICOM, PACOM, SOUTHCOM [Southern Command], and NORTHCOM [Northern Command], and all of the combatant commands is critical. Our LNOs are working closely with the combatant commanders to ensure what we do is making a difference.

We’re in countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The chief of staff of the Army asked me to speak at an event in Uganda in May 2010. The African chiefs of staff from several armies were all together there. The theme of the conference had to do with raising and maintaining an army and retaining people. As the G-1 of the Army at the time, it was a natural fit for me to represent the chief.

While I was there, I was introduced as the next chief of engineers and as I went into the bilateral meetings most of the questions were on my role as the chief of engineers. In fact, the Angolan army chief of staff told me that he wanted to create a corps of engineers and asked how he could do that.

I recently shared a two-page summary of how USACE was created with Gen. David Rodriguez, the AFRICOM commander. He had requested it because the nations he was working with were asking the same question the Angolans had asked of me in 2010. The Corps of Engineers has a great reputation across the world. It’s an institution for good. There are things we can do at very little cost at a small project level, which have huge implications for people globally. In addition, we do a lot with training and engagement, particularly in terms of water resource management.

We’re doing a lot in Brazil, we’re partnering with China, and we’re working in Pakistan and many places around the world and supporting our combatant commanders through military-to-military or civilian-to-civilian engagement. So you have the war fight in Afghanistan, the alignment of our divisions with the CCMDs and the support of our military installations globally. There are also the schools we’re working with the Department of Defense Education Activity to improve the curriculum for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the environmental work we’re doing on our installations and the net zero work we’re trying to be the leader on across the nation.

The Corps of Engineers has a great reputation across the world. It’s an institution for good. There are things we can do at very little cost at a small project level, which have huge implications for people globally.

Also, our support for the interagency – the USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] or the Department of Energy and the Department of Veterans Affairs – all of that work is in some way supporting the warfighter and CCMDs. It’s a significant responsibility and we’re working very hard on it without a lot of money but our contributions are huge. A lot of our civil works employees are included in those 11,000 civilians deployments from the Corps. Their water expertise is very significant in places like Afghanistan and Iraq where we still have work ongoing.