Photo By Jennifer Garcia | Task Force Virgin Islands Puerto Rico (TF-VIPR) successfully hosted the Second Quarter...... read more read more
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Task Force Virgin Islands Puerto Rico (TF-VIPR) successfully hosted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) South Atlantic Division (SAD) Second Quarter Regional Governance Meeting (RGM) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The meeting reunited commanders and civilian leaders from SAD to discuss workforce topics and the newly created TF-VIPR. Leaders also had the opportunity to visit some of the main projects on the island.
“We are honored to host the RGM as a brand-new task force. This is an opportunity to showcase our projects and all the challenges we face here in Puerto Rico,” said Col. Charles Decker, Commander, USACE TF-VIPR. “It also gives us the opportunity to get input from the rest of the enterprise and learn from the experiences they had with similar problems and how they went about solving them. Having our regional leadership here to discuss TF-VIPR, our issues and our future has been invaluable.” added.
Col. Decker used the opportunity of this encounter to recognize the Tiger Team. This group of professionals was tasked by Brigadier General Daniel Hibner, Commander, USACE SAD, to improve the execution of the mission within the division. They recommended the creation of a standalone organization to provide leadership, oversight, and support to USACE Civil Works and Construction programs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Later, they led the creation of TF-VIPR. Col. Decker praised their efforts and recognized them with TF-VIPR first coins.
The four-day meeting included discussions on the priorities of SAD lines of efforts such as people, workload, workforce trends, challenges, and solutions. Each District Command team had the opportunity to review their workload and workforce assessment looking at Fiscal Years 2024 - 2026.
Brig. Gen. Hibner emphasized the importance of RGM meetings in order to make sure the South Atlantic Division is moving in the right direction. “This meeting is about making sure the Division and the region is moving in the right direction and we do that here, as its governing body.”, mentioned Hibner. About his hopes in the future the SAD Commander mentioned that he expects that “all the good conversations that we had and some of the conclusions that were drawn are going into execution in the near future and if not, then move into the next level of planning so that we do get to the execution.”
As part of the RGM, commanders and civilian leaders had the opportunity to visit several key projects including Río Puerto Nuevo and Río de la Plata Flood Risk Management projects, Caño Martín Peña Ecosystem Restoration project and San Juan Harbor Improvements project. The Savannah District team led the visit of the Task Force Power Stabilization mission at the Palo Seco facility.
USACE SAD Programs Director, Dr. Larry D. McCallister, expressed his satisfaction with the meeting. “This whole week was great. TF-VIPR did a great job hosting this RGM.” Dr. McCallister highlighted how beneficial this meeting is for traveling districts as “it helps get a better understanding and exchange of ideas at the division level.”
About the discussed topics Dr. McCallister mentioned “the conversations we have are very much involved in the strategic planning of what we have been asked to do by USACE Headquarters and what we are planning to do in the future. Workload in the workforce is very important, the future of Task Force VIPR is very important.”
Lastly, Jacqueline Keiser, Deputy for Programs and Project Management, USACE TF-VIPR, expressed her satisfaction with the outcome of this meeting. “I think the RGM was a huge success. It was a pleasure receiving our SAD leadership in TF-VIPR for the first time to see what we have been able to accomplish this past year and to get an appreciation of the magnitude of our projects. It will be easier for other districts to support us in the future now that they have a better understanding of our projects,” stated.
Keiser also took a moment to thank TF-VIPR team for the support provided during the week. “What I took away is that the VIPR Team really came together as a whole to make this happen. There were so many tasks to organize a meeting of this magnitude and we did outstanding,” concluded.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.29.2024 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 462652 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Army Corps of Engineers
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