Programs and Project Management Deputy District Engineers (DPM) from across the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, gathered in Charleston, South Carolina, for a two-day Deputy Forum on April 26.
Twice a year, all 43 USACE DPMs meet in person to tackle challenges, share best practices, and seek opportunities to develop forward moving strategies for the organization.
Several USACE Headquarters’ Representatives, including the Army’s 55th Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, kicked off the event and spoke to the group about USACE’s record level workload across the nation, recruiting initiatives, acquisition strategies, and other topics of interest.
Edward Belk SES, director of Civil Works, Tab Brown SES, chief of Program Integration Division, as well as Programs Integration Division (PID) deputy, Jeff Anderson, and Military Programs Integration Division Chief Stacey Hirata SES, all participated in the event.
During the meeting, the DPMs focused their discussions on five core areas: Workload/Workforce, Project Delivery Business Process, Affordability, Technology Challenges, and Employee Retention. A sixth area, ‘Things We No Longer Need to Do’ was also added at the forum.
Each subgroup synthesized the discussions and information into summary documents. These documents will be shared across the group shortly after being finalized by the DPM Forum Co-Chairs and Memphis District DPM, Donny Davidson, and Interim Nashville District DPM, Lindsay Harbour.
This information will also be presented to Gen. Spellmon for his use at upcoming senior leader meetings, to include civilians and military leaders where high-level decisions about the organization’s future will be made.
The DPMs will continue quarterly virtual meetings between now and the next DPM Forum, scheduled to be held in San Antonio in late fall.
“The recent DPM meeting in Charleston was very productive,” said Wilmington District DPM Chris Brayman. “The facility, the SAC staff, and the beautiful city itself led to an outstanding meeting.”
“These meetings always recharge my batteries, get me thinking about new ways to solve SAW challenges and strengthen my peer relationships,” he added. “It is something I look forward to and this meeting did not disappoint.”
Memphis DPM and DPM Forum Co-Chair Donny Davidson shared, “The DPM Forum was founded in 2015 and is growing stronger each year through active involvement and outstanding support from our HQ core group. The overwhelming attendance and lively participation at the DPM Forum in Charleston ensured we made significant headway on our STRATEGY FORWARD! It is imperative as we strive to shape enterprise-wide improvements to Project Delivery and Partnering.”
This executive meeting is key to the enterprise successfully delivering vital engineering solutions for the nation’s toughest engineering challenges. USACE thanks these civilian leaders for making positive contributions about critically important missions USACE executes for the nation.