Photo By Patrick Moes | Karl Schmitz, a Corps of Engineers quality assurance representative, writes down the...... read more read more
MINOT, N.D. - He grew up in Austin, Minn., playing hockey and eating SPAM.
Graduating high school early, Karl Schmitz joined the U.S. Army in 1980 for six years as a field artillery surveyor. Nearly 30 years later, he continues to serve as a dredging coordinator with the Rock Island District.
Schmitz said working for the Corps affords him unique opportunities that he wouldn’t get anywhere else.
“Not every day is the same, he said with a smile. “I get to work around some really big equipment, too.”
While the equipment changes, depending on the task, Schmitz’ current job finds him as a quality assurance representative, or QA, supporting the St. Paul District’s spring flood fight in North Dakota – for the third consecutive year.
“I like coming up here,” said the SPAM fanatic who enjoys discussing how he makes “SPAMtastic” chili. “I like doing this kind of duty, and the people are really good up here.” He added that people in North Dakota often ask him what they can do to help him, and they go well beyond his expectations.
This willingness to go above and beyond is nothing new to Schmitz. He has volunteered to do the hard work multiple times.
“I can’t sit around and do nothing,” he said. “I need to be busy and doing something.”
Some of the more interesting assignments Schmitz has had with the Corps were while helping survivors in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and deploying to Iraq in 2004. The avid duck hunter also serves on Rock Island District’s dive team.
He learned to dive while he was a surveyor in the Army. “Living in Panama with all the water and beaches was great,” he said. “I just always wanted to dive.” He now uses those diving skills to complete inspections and carry out routine maintenance for Corps projects. One of the biggest challenges he deals with as a diver is having little to no vision. “It’s all black water diving,” said Schmitz. “You have to feel your way around.”
While under water, Schmitz uses his sense of touch to go from one place to the next. In North Dakota, he uses his truck to navigate countless miles of prairies. He stated this spring’s flood fight in the east side of the state where served as a quality assurance specialist in Harwood, N.D. He now finds himself near Minot, N.D., as a QA. He recently completed a temporary emergency levee job in Sawyer, N.D.
In addition to his QA work in the Souris River Basin, Schmitz is also assisting the district’s reconnaissance team shoot high water marks since he has his surveying equipment in his truck at all times.
“It’s a handy tool to have,” he said. “It always seems to help out in situations like this.” He jokingly added, “It’s part of the reason why they bring me up here.”
“He’s been a tremendous help to the Corps,” said Roland Hamborg, Souris River Basin flood area engineer. “He can do QA work extremely well, and he saves the government a lot of money by doing survey work.”
Hamborg said that Schmitz doing survey work allows for instant spot checks during construction of temporary levees without the need for the local community or the Corps to hire a contractor to do the surveying work.
With the surveying work nearing completion, Schmitz said he plans to be home soon so he can get back to the Mississippi River and start the dredging work that needs to be done. But before he returns to Rock Islands, Ill., he said he needs to do one last thing.
“I need to stop by the SPAM museum and get a new T-shirt. The old one I have is worn out.”
| Date Taken: | 04.17.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.17.2011 10:32 |
| Story ID: | 68879 |
| Location: | MINOT, ND, US |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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