Vicksburg Engineer District Marks 150 Years Of Service
On August 18, 1873, Capt. William Henry Harrison Benyaurd, an 1863 graduate of West Point and a decorated Union Army veteran of the Civil War, opened an office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Monroe, La., marking what’s considered the founding of the Corps’ Vicksburg Engineer District. The new office was primarily focused on surveying and clearing wrecks and other hazards from the Yazoo River in Mississippi and the Ouachita River in north Louisiana.
By 1884, Capt. Eric Bergland opened the first permanent Corps of Engineers office in Vicksburg, Miss.
Over the years, the Vicksburg Engineer District has fallen within several different Corps divisions, and with various missions. Following the Great Flood of 1927 and the Flood Control Act of 1928, the Vicksburg District took a leading role in developing a flood control program for the Mississippi River Valley.
The Vicksburg District now falls within the Mississippi Valley Division, which is also headquartered in Vicksburg.
To mark its 150th anniversary, the Vicksburg District hosted a formal celebration at its headquarters on August 23. Guests included Sam Andrews, present on behalf of Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. and a host of others representing state and national legislators.
Carl Young Jr., a winchman aboard the district’s Mat Sinking Unit, offered an opening invocation for the ceremony, which also featured an a capella rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner by the Vicksburg High School Madrigal Choir.
The event featured the reading of a signed proclamation by Reeves and remarks from Hosemann and Flaggs. Vicksburg District Commander Col. Christopher Klein presented Gene Higginbotham, longtime congressional staff member, with the Commander’s Award for Public Service medal.
Klein also recognized distinguished employees of the district. Two retirees from the district, Barbara Petersen, former Programs Management Branch chief, and Alfred Dulaney, former visual information specialist, were inducted into the Gallery of Distinguished Civilian Employees.
Civilian Service Achievement medals went to Lanny Barfield, James Cumberland, Dalton Hanley, Dakota Kolb, Barrett Lewis, Brian Oliver, Dereck Redwine, Melinda Sisco and Cory Winders, all members of the Arkabutla Lake dam safety emergency team.
Dam Safety Manager Mason Jarabica received a Civilian Service Commendation medal.
Jimmie Elliott received the Hydrologic Modeling and Statistics and Risk Hydrology, Hydraulics and Coastal Community of Practice Annual Award for his work to improve the Mississippi Valley Division’s “technical strength.”
Anita Griffin received the Modeling, Mapping and Consequences Center Award of Excellence for her work addressing labor and funding needs.
Graduates of the Vicksburg District Leadership Program (VLDP), a year-long leadership development course, included Cody Barfield, Laura Barlow, Jamie Lynn Barnes, Jennifer Brown, Mabry Dye, Resa Holmes, Judy Huell, Richard Jones, Lakenya Thomas-Coleman and Jon Munz.
This year’s VLDP class put together a time capsule to mark the district’s 150th anniversary. The time capsule includes an original rivet from the dredge Jadwin, a vintage planimeter, the past year’s issues of The Current, the district’s employee newsletter, and a letter from the VLDP class of 2023 to the future class of 2048. The time capsule will be kept at the Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum in downtown Vicksburg.
From its early days focused on surveying the Yazoo and Ouachita rivers, the Vicksburg Engineer District now covers 68,000 square miles spread across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. Nine major river basins fall within the Vicksburg District, as does about 460 miles of mainline levees along the Mississippi River.
To accomplish its mission, the Vicksburg District employs about 1,100 personnel.
