Courtesy Photo | Michael Cyrul (center), a University of Notre Dame Reserve Officer Training Corps...... read more read more
A University of Notre Dame student and Army Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet completed an internship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Aug. 16.
Michael Cyrul, a mechanical engineering major and sophomore, from East Lansing, Mich., travelled to the “Sooner State” to gain firsthand experience USACE through the Engineering Internship Program.
One of three cadets the Tulsa District hosted, Cyrul said he joined Army ROTC because of his brother’s example.
“My brother did Naval ROTC about seven earlier,” said Cyrul. “It allowed me to have the freedom to financially go to my dream school, and to get important life skills of leadership and discipline that I could use to help me throughout my life.”
The EIP is sponsored and funded by USACE and geared toward students enrolled in engineering programs. Cadets perform an internship at one of 41 USACE districts inside or outside the Continental United States.
The aim of EIP is to raise awareness of USACE’s unique missions.
“The Corps of Engineers has a lot larger scale than I could have possibly imagined,” said Cyrul. “I thought they helped with a couple Army buildings and that was about as far as I knew. Seeing all the different aspects of their mission through emergency response, recreation, shipping channels, and many other benefits to everyday citizens is cool.”
Among the USACE projects Cyrul visited were Keystone Dam and Robert S. Kerr Lock and Dam 15, which are two of Tulsa District’s 38 civil works projects. Both Dams and reservoirs are located on the Arkansas River in Oklahoma and generate hydroelectric power.
Tours and interactions were set up to provide cadets with opportunities to learn from engineers and staff who work in various missions.
“My main goals for the cadets were for them to learn what USACE is and does, so they could gain an idea of what to expect as an Army Engineer Officer, and to see what roles an active-duty engineer officer can fulfill in USACE,” said Capt. Sumin Hong, engineer officer, Tulsa District, USACE, who sponsored the cadets during their internship. “I think their biggest takeaways as engineering students were seeing the hydroelectric dams and shadowing licensed engineers.”
At the Robert S. Kerr Powerhouse and Lock and Dam 15 in Sallisaw, Okla Cyrul observed two Tulsa District mission sets: hydropower and navigation.
The powerhouse’s four turbines can each produce up to 36.8 megawatts of electricity, and the lock and dam enables riverine shipping via the McClellen-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, a 445-mile marine highway consisting of 18 locks and dams maintained by the Tulsa District and Little Rock District and allow riverine transport of goods between Oklahoma and the Mississippi River.
“Most ROTC cadets, and most Army officers, don’t know about USACE and what we do,” said Hong. “I focused their time on visiting projects, learning about USACE’s different functions and learning what to expect as a lieutenant in the United States Army.”
Cadets met with program and project managers from the Tulsa District’s Emergency Management Office, the Programs and Project Management Division, which manages civil works and military construction projects for tribal nations, municipalities, military agencies and federal partner agencies.
“One thing that I’ve learned while here, is the many different aspects that go into making a goal come to fruition specifically through project management,” Cyrul said. “Each person had a role to play in getting it done and specifically as a leader I saw the importance of not only delegating tasks but also in monitoring on those tasks as they go through the entire process start to finish.”
| Date Taken: | 08.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.25.2025 09:47 |
| Story ID: | 546377 |
| Location: | OKLAHOMA, US |
| Hometown: | LAUREL, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
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This work, Corps experiences: Notre Dame Army ROTC cadet sees USACE missions, by Brannen Parrish, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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