16 Nov 2020

Rast named USACE Silver Jackets Coordinator for 2019

The Silver Jackets Coordinator of the Year Award recognizes outstanding individual USACE efforts and contributions to a Silver Jackets team. The award recipient for 2019 is Mr. Brian Rast, of the Kansas City District. Mr. Rast serves as the USACE Silver Jackets Coordinator for the Kansas and Missouri Silver Jackets teams and has made significant contributions to meeting the states’ priorities for flood risk management in these roles. Mr. Rast has utilized the State Silver Jackets teams’ webpages to effectively communicate the teams’ partnership and interagency efforts and to keep past work readily accessible for reference. He has focused on building relationships between federal agencies to support the state teams, including co-facilitating a USACE-FEMA Partnering Meeting and establishing a Federal Partners Mitigation Workgroup. Mr. Rast readily shares his knowledge and expertise by conducting training sessions with partners on floodplain management plans and nonstructural flood risk management approaches.

26 Nov 2019

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Smithville Lake celebrates 30th managed deer hunt

Nearly 150 people filled a maintenance facility with excitement at Smithville Lake around 4 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. They were all there for one reason, to get out into the wild and seek a big buck this weekend. For the 30th year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Smithville Lake hosted what’s known as the world’s largest managed deer hunt for mobility-impaired hunters. During this two-day event, 60 hunting blinds are set up across 3,800 acres of prime ground, not available for public hunting. Along with a volunteer, these hunters seek out the best spot near daybreak and wait out their target.