Fort Worth District environmental planner gets an education shadowing Army Corps of Engineers’ commanding general for a day

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental planner Danny Allen – shown here in the red tie seated against the far wall – spent Thursday shadowing Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commanding general and chief of engineers. The Fort Worth District wildlife biologist attended this strategy session between the Corps and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration leaders in Silver Spring, Md. It’s part of a four-week D.C. module of the 2015 Planning Associates Class to learn how things work from the inside. (U.S. Army photo credit: Lisa Reyn Mann)  

FORT WORTH, TX, UNITED STATES

03.12.2015

Story by James Frisinger 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District

FORT WORTH, Texas - Getting to know how things work from the inside is what the four-week D.C. module is all about for members of the 2015 Planning Associates Class at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Thursday, for Danny Allen, a Fort Worth District wildlife biologist and environmental planner, meant shadowing Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commanding general and chief of engineers.

“He gave me his view of what it takes to be a leader, and what leadership involves,” said Allen immediately after the work day ended. “He obviously commands a lot of respect.”

The day enabled Allen to meet a lot of the Headquarters leadership. It began with a 20-minute office call with Bostick, where Allen said he learned the lieutenant general’s back story. They then attended a Headquarters meeting to get a “resilience update” on how the Corps will adapt to changing climate conditions. Lunch was a quick one (sloppy joes) at Headquarters, which Allen shared with Maj. Lisa Reyn Mann, who is Bostick’s aide-de-camp.

In the afternoon Allen, Bostick and the rest of a Corps Headquarters leadership team traveled out to Silver Spring, Maryland, for a high-level strategy meeting with a dozen top leaders of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The itinerary fit well into the D.C. experience module, which also includes meeting staff at the Office of Management and Budget and at the two Congressional committees that USACE works with. They even meet lobbyists.

As part of the curriculum, each participant has to write a “think piece.” Allen said he wants to write about some element of preparing for the impacts of climate change. To his surprise, it’s a hot topic in Washington that comes up again and again.

Allen described Bostick as nice, measured, but also easy to talk to.

“He’s sharp. Takes a lot of notes. And remembers a lot of things,” said Allen. “I didn’t see him on his BlackBerry once.”

• Date Taken: 03.12.2015
• Date Posted: 03.12.2015 20:13
• Story ID: 156862
• Location: FORT WORTH, TX, US