U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division

According to the National Women’s History Alliance, in 1973, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.” The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. It was a culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York. The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality.   Beth Coffey (pictured), NWD Director of Programs and a member of the Senior Executive Service, is a coach and mentor for women in our organization. Coffey also retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve. Women have a history of service to the country through the US Army even if they weren’t recognized for it, as their fight for equality is still ongoing. For instance, it wasn’t even until 2016 that women earned the equal right to choose any military occupational specialty, including ground combat units, that were previously unauthorized.   As a recognition of Women’s Equality Day, Coffey will be on a Women’s Forum Panel for Northwestern Division and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Division staff.

Tomorrow is National Hydropower Day, which typically generates a lot of interest in our organization (see what we did there😉)! #DYK hydropower allows for grid stability? It quickly delivers power after an outage, addresses peak demands and maintains proper voltage levels and frequencies across the grid. Hydro also helps sustain and integrate other renewables (wind and solar for instance) into the system. Hydropower can make sure power supplies stay constant — even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Check out this BEA – UTIFUL image of The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon (with Mt. Hood in the background). Portland District operates and maintains The Dalles, which has 22 generators with a generating capacity of 2,100 megawatts. That’s enough to power 1,672,356 homes (the Northwest Power & Conservation Council estimates, “one average megawatt is enough to power 796.36 Northwest homes for a year”). Learn more about The Dalles Dam by visiting: https://lnkd.in/dgEdgeTG.

📷: Col. Andy Niewohner (right), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District commander and district engineer, Robin Perusich (center), lead project engineer, and Lt. Col. Doug Brownhill (left), deputy commander, were on the Missouri River for an overview of the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Program, Aug. 9, 2024. The program is not only a monumental undertaking but crucial for the Heartland. It maintains a 9' by 300' navigation channel spanning over 730 miles from Sioux City, Iowa, to near St. Louis, Missouri. The program protects communities by stabilizing riverbanks, safeguarding property and infrastructure from erosion, and helping to prevent flooding. It ensures safe navigation for commercial shipping, supporting the transport of 5.7M tons of cargo annually--$60B in local agricultural exports).

Lt. Col. Collin Jones, Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Field Office commander, recently recognized Tracy Bell for her contributions to support the recovery efforts following the wildfires Aug. 8, 2023. The US Army Corps of Engineers is actively supporting the FEMA, state of Hawaii and the county of Maui. USACE efforts have included providing temporary power, building a temporary elementary school, planning temporary housing and removing debris from impacted areas in Kula and Lahaina. Tracy is a retired annuitant who used to work for Portland District and Northwestern Division. #MauiFires #BuildingStrong #USACE

How's it hanging? This was William Pyper's (Portland District Engineer-in-Training) first climb 🤯. Portland District's rope access team recently inspected a few of the spillway gates at Chief Joseph Dam, the second-largest hydropower dam in the country, located on the Columbia River in north central Washington. Seattle District operates and maintains Chief Joseph Dam. Portland's specially trained six-person rope team is one of only a few climbing inspection teams across the US Army Corps of Engineers’ 42 districts. They inspect the hydraulic steel structures (spillway gates, lock gates, bulkheads, stoplogs, etc.) at dams and locks across our district and others. They also inspect bridges. And sometimes turbines.

Interested talking to Amber Tilton, Portland District’s talent manager? You’re in luck since she will be at a diversity and employment day career fair in Portland, Aug. 21. Amber will have a booth and be able to talk about working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, how to apply through USA.jobs, etc. More info about the event can be found here: https://lnkd.in/g8evCT6R (the event is free and this is not an endorsement of the specific event). And if you’re the type of person who likes to prep before talking to employers, visit https://lnkd.in/gfPqH_cW to learn more.

Today is national tell a joke day: Why should you never talk to pi? Because they’ll just go on forever. FOR-EV-VER

#DKY: Forbes selected Omaha, Nebraska as the “#1 Best City to Move to in 2024” based on housing costs, cost of living, crime rates, air quality, quality of education, median income, employment rates, weather, entertainment establishments, average commute time and net migration.

Allen Chestnut, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District dam safety program manager, and other district staff perform a periodic inspection of Long Branch Dam in Missouri on July 16, 2024. In addition to being a professional engineer (P.E.), he's pointing with his left-hand*, which makes this a great post for today because it's International Left Handers Day!   International Left Handers Day is a day to celebrate the uniqueness and differences of left-handed individuals.   *We do not know if Chestnut is actually left-handed or just happens to be pointing with his left hand. What we do know is that he takes dam safety seriously.

Director of Programs recognized for extraordinary achievements by career executives in Federal service. #Leadership