Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ershwyn Thibou | Clayton Harrison (back row, second from right), project manager in the Alaska...... read more read more
By Clayton Harrison, project manager
USACE Alaska District
After practicing architecture in Alaska for nearly a decade, a wise friend encouraged me to accept an opportunity to join the ranks of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District in Anchorage.
My adviser described grandiose ideals of civil service that appealed to my desire for a more rewarding career. He highlighted the satisfaction and challenges of working on diverse projects that range from construction on military installations within the state to overseas activities that support national interests and build lasting relationships with America’s allies.
His enthusiastic endorsement of the Corps presented a stark and alluring contrast to my mental image of government employees as paper-pushing bureaucrats that had me feeling like my private-sector job was comparable to playing for a professional sports team.
Despite some reservations, I decided to take a leap of faith and follow my intrigue of the ideals noted by my friend and was hired in November 2015. The Corps seemed to offer significant improvement over my monotonous work routine in the institutional design and construction industry.
My first few months as an architect with the Corps were far from glamorous, consisting of a daily online training regimen dotted with queries about building codes and design practices for projects in places I did not know existed.
Like the slow rise of a tidal wave, however, my steadily increasing workload soon became entwined in the design and construction of facilities to support the stationing of F-35A fighter aircraft in Alaska and Japan. By October 2017, I was assigned to the district’s Asia Office as a project manager. It was staffed with the small team that had been asking those odd questions about buildings in places I never knew existed.
Since 2009, the Asia Office program’s staff of project managers and engineers has teamed with the U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Department of State’s Global Peace Operations Initiative in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The missions fall under the strategic plan to improve the capacity of our partners by providing critical infrastructure for international peacekeeping, food security, humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
Typical construction projects include schools, clinics and disaster shelters; but occasionally we are asked to assist with unique projects such as agricultural roads, water resource development and repatriation.
Only months after joining the team, I was shielding my eyes from the downwash of spinning rotor blades as a well-worn Russian helicopter approached a small village in Laos.
With some trepidation, I boarded the aging aircraft accompanied by a diverse group of travelers that included representatives of the DoD POW/MIA Accounting Agency as well as the Lao defense attaché and officials for the ministry of foreign affairs. Meanwhile, the helicopter was staffed with a flight crew of retired Lao military personnel.
We flew east and noticed mountains rising sharply as we approached the Vietnam boarder. I was part of a mission to scope humanitarian assistance projects in areas were U.S. pilots and crews were lost during bombing runs and other sorties during the Vietnam War era.
The aircrew members expertly guided our helicopter to a landing zone in a dry abandoned field as though they had been there a thousand times before. We quickly departed on a trek into the mountain jungle to evaluate existing infrastructure and devise a way to bring a new source of clean water to both the accounting agency’s team working in the area and, more importantly, the villagers supporting its efforts.
We followed a guide through the dense jungle for several kilometers, carefully tracing a trail designated as a safety corridor to avoid vast numbers of lethal unexploded ordinance in the region. Eventually, we found a crystal-clear, ground-fed spring that was perfect for development, then noted the surrounding contours, distances and GPS points along the path to find it again.
Months later at my desk in Alaska, project photos steadily trickled across my computer screen. The Corps and its local contractor successfully completed the development of a precious water resource. Now I could see the return on investment by viewing images of Lao families filling jugs of clean water or dancing in the cool fountain on a hot day.
My typical day of work at the Alaska District does not include a helicopter ride in Laos or a jungle hike in Vietnam, but I know my daily efforts are making a positive difference in the lives of people in partner nations and contributing to the security of the United States.
I don’t feel the burden of deadlines and due-outs anymore. Instead, there is a sense of pride and ownership that comes with being part of an organization that delivers engineering solutions that build communities to make my state, my country and the world a better place.
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2020 16:48 |
| Story ID: | 361136 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 223 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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