History of the South Atlantic Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers, 1945-2011
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HISTORY OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC DIVISION OF THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, 1945-2011 Distributed By US Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division 2012 PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS SPONSOR US Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division CONTRACTING AGENCY US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District AUTHORS Ralph Bailey, Jr., Dr. Paul E. Brockington, Charles F. Philips, Jr., and F. Patricia Stallings Brockington and Associates, Inc. DESIGN AND EDITING Callie McLean and Alicia Sullivan Brockington and Associates, Inc. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors and the project team would like to thank several people who worked with us to make this history possible. General Michael Walsh, Division Engineer (2004-2006), initiated this project, which was championed for completion under one of his successors, General Todd Semonite. Rob Holland worked tirelessly to turn General Walsh’s ideas into reality. Rob spent many hours discussing ideas with us to help develop the themes necessary to organize and understand the missions and operations of the South Atlantic Division. We also want to acknowledge the tremendous help we received from current and retired Corps officials, both military and civilian. We interviewed Generals and Colonels, and senior civilian officials from SAD as well as from the districts. All of these individuals were unfailingly generous with their time and helpful in explaining many of the complex programs administered by the agency. Their recorded and transcribed interviews are now part of the historical record of SAD. iii iv PERSONS INTERVIEWED FOR THIS WORK Division Engineers Gen. Philip Anderson Gen. Robert Bunker Gen. Ernest Edgar Gen. Carroll LeTellier Gen. Ralph Locurcio Gen. Peter Madsen Gen. John Sobke Gen. Michael J. Walsh Gen. Todd Semonite Other Division Officials Col. William A. Miller-District Engineer for project office MEAPO Robert Holland- Public Affairs Officer Roland Blanding –Equal Employment Officer John Rushing-Environmental, Planning, Project Management Chief William Osborne-Financing and Appropriations Officer Geoff Chatfield-Regional Business Manager Dewey Harris – Emergency Operations Manager Fleming James – Public Affairs Contributor Gil Kim –Regional Business Manager Mike Magley – Everglades Restoration Program Susan Whittington – Operations and Maintenance Mike Montone – Chief, Regulatory Division Bob Prince – Chief, Operations and Regulatory Neil Purcell – Chief Counsel Chris Smith – Chief, Engineering and Construction Susie Vohlken – Engineering Division Tor Brunso – Chief, Military Programs District Officials Tina Hadden-Charleston District-Regulatory Chief Sharon Haggott-Wilmington District-Project Manager-Wilmington Harbor Project Wayne Bissette-Wilmington District- Project Manager-Beach Erosion and also knowledge of Wilmington Harbor Project Charles Harbin-Charleston District-Project Manager for Savannah River Site James Hadden-Charleston District-Project Manager-Regulatory Special Projects David Hubbard-Charleston District-Project Manager- Cooper River Rediversion Canal Lincoln Blake-Charleston District-Project Manager-Chas Harbor Projects Col. C. Hilton Dunn-Mobile District-District Engineer Doug Nestor-Mobile District-DTOS Director of Operations v vi TabLE OF CONTENTS PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS ............................................................................................II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. III PERSONS INTERVIEWED FOR THIS WORK ............................................................V FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................... XI CHAPTER 1 - THE BIG PICTURE ....................................................................................1 OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND SAD ......................................................................... 2 PREVIOUS HISTORIES OF SAD ....................................................................... 4 METHODS .............................................................................................................. 5 ThEMES FOR THIS HISTORY ........................................................................... 5 NEED FOR FUTURE WORK ...............................................................................8 CHAPTER 2 - BEGINNINGS: SOUTH ATLANTIC DIVISION PRIOR TO 1945 ......................................................................................................11 ThE SOUTHEAst Division 1888–1929 ................................................... 12 1929-1945: THE SOUTH ATLANTIC DIVISION IS FORMED, FaCES THE DEPRESSION AND SUPPORTS THE WaR EFFORT.................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 3 - THE WaR IS OVER! NEW MISSIONS, NEW APPROACHES ..23 NEW MISSIONS ARE DEFINED ......................................................................23 SAD’s MANAGEMENT APPROACHES .........................................................24 BALANCING THE WORK, BALANCING THE DISTRICTS .....................26 CHAPTER 4 - SAD SUPPORTS THE COLD WaR MILITARY .............................33 SAD KOREAN WaR CONSTRUCTION .......................................................34 ThE 1950S .............................................................................................................36 ThE 1960S AND THE VIETNAM WaR .........................................................37 CHAPTER 5 - SAD AND THE RACE FOR SPACE ...................................................43 ARNOLD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT CENTER ...............................43 REDSTONE/MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER ..................................46 ThE MISSISSIPPI TEST FaCILITY ..................................................................48 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER AND CAPE CANAVERAL AIR STATION 51 SUPPORTING MILITARY SPACE ....................................................................54 CHAPTER 6 - THE END OF THE COLD WaR AND OPERATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: MILITARY CONSTRUCTION IN SAD SINCE 1973 .....59 SaVANNAH AND MOBILE DISTRICT WORK IN THE MODERN ARMY PERIOD ..................................................................................................... 60 vii SAD WORK IN CENTRAL AMERICA IN THE 1980S ................................62 PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND THE J-6 LARGE ROCKET TEST FaCILITY AT TULLAHOMA ..............................................................65 MEAPO AND CONSTRUCTION FOR AMERICA’s ArAB ALLIES ....... 68 MaKING WaY FOR THE MODERN MILITARY: BRAC AND MILCON TRANSFORMATION .........................................................74 TRAINING CENTERS ..........................................................................................77 HEALTH CARE FaCILITIES ...............................................................................78 AIR FORCE WORK ..............................................................................................79 CHAPTER 7 - HARBOR AND NAVIGATION PROJECTS IN THE POST WaR PERIOD ......................................................................................................85 ThE CROSS FLORIda BARGE CANAL ........................................................ 86 ThE TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WaTERWAY .............................................92 ThE COOPER RIVER REDIVERSION CANAL ............................................97 UNDOING WHAT IT ONCE DID? ................................................................ 99 PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK: SAD PROJECTS BENEFIT FROM THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT .. 100 CHAPTER 8 - THE BIG DAM ERA ............................................................................107 ThE SAVANNAH RIVER DEVELOPMENT .................................................107 CLARKS HILL (J. STROM THURMOND) DAM AND LAKE ................ 109 HARTWELL DAM AND LAKE ........................................................................ 112 TROTTERS SHOALS (RICHARD B. RUSSELL DAM AND RESERVOIR) ........................................................................................ 113 WaTER WOES AND WaTER WaRS ............................................................116 ThE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIda PROJECT ......................... 121 RIVER SYSTEMS IN NORTH CAROLINA .................................................125 ThE LAST DAM PROJECT: PORTUGUES DAM, PUERTO RICO ........129 CHAPTER 9 - INTERAGENCY AND INTERNATIONAL SERVICES ................135 SUPPORT FOR OTHERS GROWS ..............................................................137 HISTORIC PROPERTIES PROTECTION ...................................................138 HAZARDOUS, TOXIC, AND RADIOACTIVE WaSTE REMOVAL WORK ....................................................................................................139 MOBILE DISTRICT HANDLES THE PaNAMA CANAL TREATY IMPLEMENTATION. .........................................................................142 ThE WaR ON DRUGS ....................................................................................146 WORK FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY .........................................147 CHAPTER 10 - READINESS AND OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY DIVISION: A NEW APPROACH ..............................................................................................153 EaRLY ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE DISASTER RELIEF .............................153 HURRICANES ....................................................................................................154 DTOS RESPONDS TO 9/11