Repair Fleet Chief Awarded Meritorious Civilian Service Medal
Brady Beckman, chief of the Regional Rivers Repair Fleet (R3F) of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Engineer Division, has been awarded the second highest award for individual achievement that can be received by a civilian by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Beckman was surprised with the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, signed by the Secretary of the Army, during a division-level Senior Leaders Conference August 6.
“Personally and professionally, it’s very special,” he said. “I was extremely humbled by it. They don’t just give these out to anybody.”
Beckman managed the execution of the Fiscal Year ’19 Major Maintenance and Repair Schedule despite unseasonably high water during most of the repair season, according to the Huntington Engineer District, which has command and control of the fleet. He was recognized for recommending and carrying out changes to the schedule to maximize effectiveness of crews while ensuring project budgets were maintained. As a result, the fleet’s FY 19 execution came in under budget, saving the region more than $398,000 in operations and maintenance funds.
This year, Beckman submitted the first Exception to Policy (ETP) for the Department of Defense Stop Move Order associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The ETP was critical to ensuring the continuation of maintenance activities on the Ohio River and resulted in uninterrupted national commerce, according to the Huntington Engineer District. It is believed to be the first Department of the Army ETP approved and potentially the first in the Department of Defense.
To ensure his team’s safety, Beckman also led the development of the R3F Health Hazard Control Plan for COVID-19, the first such plan within the district, and put in place controls despite being given limited guidance. The plan was eventually widely distributed as an example for others.
The district also praised Beckman’s leadership presence within the fleet, noting that he travels extensively to ensure all R3F fleets and Repair Station assets and safety plans are maintained and followed, reducing risk to fleet personnel and helping to ensure the safeguarding of government resources.
“His personal leadership at R3F project planning meetings, IPRs and AARs ensure that lessons learned are shared across the fleet and within the region’s operations community,” the district said in a news release.
Beckman was also recognized for contributions outside his normal job duties. He served as senior implementation adviser on the LRC Mission Realignment PDT, due to his experience integrating four fleets into one cohesive team. The Regional Rivers Repair Fleet was created in May 2015 to provide the capability to execute major maintenance and repair efforts along the 2,225 miles of the Allegheny, Clinch, Cumberland, Green, Kanawha, Monongahela, Tennessee and Ohio rivers, on 56 navigation locks and dams, four hydroelectric power plants and 74 flood risk management dams across Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, according to the Corps of Engineers.
Beckman also spent significant time traveling and participated in all PDT meetings, providing guidance and recommendations to the LRC mission realignment champion and LRC district commander.
“He has balanced a lack of predictable workload for the fleet extremely capably,” the district said. “While maintaining his focus on the region’s maintenance needs as his priority, he and his team have found opportunities within the enterprise to work across division boundaries to support SAD, NWD, NAD and others during gaps within the schedule due to high waters on the Ohio. These projects have resulted in superior reviews from district and division commanders outside of the region. To balance the workload with temporary workforce needs, Brady and his team have used labor from O&M, the Great Lakes fleets, MVD’s fleet, and temporary workers. Under Brady’s leadership, the R3F are constant innovators who contribute to maintaining the nation’s infrastructure to the best of their ability.”
Beckman said he could not have achieved the award without support both at home and in the office.
“It has been a trying year for sure, but we’ve got a great team, a lot of outstanding professionals who work with me with the Regional Rivers Repair Fleet, and that makes this job easier, even under the most arduous conditions,” he said, thanking them for their hard work as well.
Beckman, of Milton, W.Va., grew up on the Illinois River, just outside Peoria, Ill., and he joined the Navy after the 9/11 attacks. Following his time in the service, he worked for the Corps of Engineers in multiple districts, including both St. Louis and Rock Island. He was tasked with taking four individually controlled and commanded fleets and combining them into one regional fleet as the Regional Rivers Repair Fleet, with resources from the Nashville, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Huntington districts.
Beckman said in his role as chief of the regional fleet he has enjoyed the opportunity to bring consistency to the way the Corps of Engineers accomplishes fleet repairs. Additionally, he said, with R3F now in its fourth full year of operation, he was proud that the fleet’s accident rate has dropped by 90 percent over four years.
“To be the one to lead that effort and make it happen has been extremely satisfying for me,” Beckman said.
