7 Jul 2023

Holy Cow! Kansas City District’s Agricultural Leasing Program Provides Benefits Far Beyond Land Management

It’s not uncommon to see cattle grazing in open pastures when driving through the Midwest. In fact, in Kansas, cows outnumber humans two to one. So, while it’s not surprising to see cattle in the Kansas City District’s area of responsibility, it might be surprising to know that some of these herds are grazing on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’-owned land. This is possible through the Kansas City District’s agricultural leasing program. The district is responsible for managing the lands at its projects, which span four states, primarily Kansas and Missouri, but also include parts of Iowa and Nebraska. The district’s agricultural leasing program is a natural resource management tool and a component of the district’s integrated pest management program to control invasive weeds on lands at civil works projects, lake projects and military installations.

5 Jul 2023

Training for Success and Safety

The U.S. Army is known for the rigorous basic combat training its military members go through, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also has training for its civilian men and women in uniform, park rangers. This weeklong training, Visitor Assistance Training, commonly known as VA Training, is conducted in Huntsville, Alabama for all permanent rangers to receive indefinite citation authority. Each district also provides VA Training to seasonal rangers, ranger trainees and permanent rangers who were unable to attend the training in Huntsville as the classes fill up quickly. These permanent rangers then receive temporary citation authority until they can attend the training in Huntsville. This June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District held its VA Training at Smithville Lake, in Smithville, Missouri. USACE employees from the Kansas City District, Tulsa District and Omaha District attended the training.

5 Jul 2023

The first of its kind: Kansas City District partners with USNORTHCOM and Mexican government to build disaster response training facility in Mexico City

Mexico is located along a hot spot of seismic activity known as “the Ring of Fire,” which makes the country uniquely prone to certain natural disasters, like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The last major earthquake in Mexico was documented near Mexico City in September 2017. Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention is in Mexico City and is always on alert and prepared to respond to the next disaster. To continue evolving their disaster response program, the Mexican government has partnered with the U.S. government to build Mexico’s new National School for Civil Protection.

23 Jun 2023

River training structure repairs progressing on Missouri River: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law pivotal

The flood of 2019 made apparent the need for extensive repairs on the Missouri River training devices – dikes and revetments – that direct the downstream flow into the navigation channel to keep it deep enough for boat traffic and generally clear of debris. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $248 million to repair those devices that are on the lower stretch of the Missouri River.

14 Jun 2023

Training with Industry: Teaching the next generation of leadership what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has to offer

Progress in a profession is often the result of an innovator identifying an issue, proposing a solution and working to accomplish that solution. That is just what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District did in 2012 when they collaborated with the Command and General Staff College, also known as the CGSC, hosted at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to develop a new educational program. CGSC is a joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational College, and was the perfect place for a program to teach more about USACE. At the time, the Kansas City District identified a need for greater recruitment of officers into USACE, as well as a need for increased understanding across the U.S. Army of what USACE could provide to the nation. The solution they proposed, spearheaded by then district commander Col. Anthony Hofmann, was Training with Industry, or TWI, an educational program administered by the Kansas City District. The program is now an annual elective in the CGSC curriculum. The first few years of the program, the class averaged about 10 to 15 students. This year, 31 students participated in TWI, including international students from partner nations. The 2023 course started on April 6 and ran through May 31. Although the need to recruit officers into USACE is still ongoing, the benefits from the program have not gone unnoticed.