USACE chief says farewell to engineers in Afghanistan

Photo By Mark Abueg | Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr., right, the chief of engineers and commanding general for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, speaks with the 579th Engineer Detachment during his recent visit to Afghanistan. This was Van Antwerp’s final visit as the chief as he will be retiring after 39 years of service in the U.S. Army.  

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN

02.11.2011

Story by Mark Abueg 

579th Engineer Detachment (FEST-M)

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – “Is there anyone that’s older than 61,” asked the gentlemen dressed in an Army camouflage uniform.

“Oh, there. Hey, I’m in good company here,” he said looking at hands raised throughout the audience as he reflected on the fact that he had just turned 61 years of age.

The Army officer proceeded to tell about how Arthur Fonzarelli, from the TV show, Happy Days, used to look in the mirror and take a comb from his pocket and square himself away.

He too looked in the mirror and fixed himself up in the same manner as “The Fonz” as he was getting ready for a military ball.

After checking himself over, he turned to his wife for an intimate quip between the two.

“Well, I just turned 61, babe,” he said. “Do I look it?”

With a grin, the salt and pepper haired officer let the audience know how she affectionately replied.

“You used to,” she said.

And with that tale told, the crowd of over 200 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers roared with a gentle laughter to the approval of the 52nd Chief of Engineers and commanding general of USACE.

Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, or “General Van,” as he is affectionately known throughout the Corps, visited Afghanistan for the last time yesterday as the Army’s top engineer after 39 years of service.

Members of the 579th Engineer Detachment (Forward Engineer Support Team - Main) and Afghanistan Engineer District – South hung on Van Antwerp’s words as he discussed the state of the Corps of Engineers and the strides it has made, especially in Afghanistan.

Van Antwerp serves as the senior military officer overseeing most of the America’s civil works infrastructure and military construction.

But it wasn’t about the work in the United States that Van Antwerp wanted to talk about. It was about the mission being accomplished overseas in Afghanistan.

“We’re an economic engine for this country,” he said. “And the truth is that a lot of the jobs created in this country are created by the contractors that the Corps of Engineers hires … and we’ve created a lot of jobs.”

Van Antwerp reminded the FEST-M that the Corps has three big functional areas.

“We have the Military Programs, Civil Works, and then we have the Research and Development,” he said. “This year it’ll be about $41 billion in those three programs.”

Overseeing activities and providing direction to the Corps is the U.S. assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, who accompanied Van Antwerp on the trip. She was impressed not only with the Corps work but also with the individuals, who have deployed in support of overseas contingency operations.

“I think the fact that you are all here because you volunteered to come just shows me something that I think is irreplaceable any place else,” Darcy said.

But the day belonged to Van Antwerp as he praised the Corps’ accomplishments.

“One other milestone we passed in 2010 was the 10,000th deployment by a civilian in the Corps of Engineers to the theater of operations,” he said. “10,000 – that is a big number.”

An even bigger number was the one involving the amount of work completed by the Corps. USACE had 39,500 people working on $12 billion worth of projects in 1992. Compare that to 2010 year end’s number that saw 37,000 Corps employees completing $41 billion of development, which includes the work in Afghanistan.

“That is amazing, and that’s what this country needs,” he said. “So you’re supporting that, and you’re supporting it through your local nationals that you’re building a bench for the future, and I think it’s going to have an impact you don’t even know about.

“Generating jobs and doing great things for the infrastructure of this country. Pretty amazing.”

For all of Van Antwerp’s own accomplishments, he is proud of the success of the Corps of Engineers.

“I’ll tell you today that when I walk into the Pentagon, there is no question where the U.S. Army is in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” he said. “Cause they see you over here. They see you deliver.”

• Date Taken: 02.11.2011
• Date Posted: 02.26.2011 12:16
• Story ID: 66139
• Location: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF