Page 18: of Marine News Magazine (September 2016)

17 19

COLUMN OP/ED “A Few Good Men”

Thanks for the Leadership!

By Michael J. Toohey, President & CEO of Waterways Council, Inc.

Change is inevitable, especially in District Engineer of the Little Rock District, and Com-

Washington, DC, and particularly mander of the 54th Engineer Battalion (Mechanized) for within the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- Operation Iraqi Freedom among many impressive com- neers. Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) mand assignments. is a strong partner with the Corps, as In speaking to WCI’s Board of Directors and 2016 navigation is a critical business line Washington Meeting attendees last March, General Jack- within its Civil Works’ mission. son said that he was committed to delivering on Corps’

Over the last year, we have seen some commitments, to strategic engagement, to continuing of the Corps’ best and brightest of? cers the Corps’ Civil Works Transformation, and to managing

Toohey and civilians retire after decades of ser- transitions, noting, “The nation’s security depends on its vice to the Army, to the Corps of Engineers, to the in- economic strength, and its economic strength depends on land navigation industry and of course, to the nation. And its infrastructure.” while they have been succeeded by a new crop of dedicat- Last May, Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick retired ed, seasoned leaders who will continue to serve as reliable as the Corps’ Chief of Engineers after serving the U.S. partners, WCI will miss what these stalwarts brought to Army for 38 years. In this role, he served as the senior mili- the collective table to maintain and modernize our inland tary of? cer overseeing most of the nation’s civil works in- waterways system. frastructure and military construction, and was responsible

Last August (2015), Major General John W. Peabody, for more than 37,000 civilian employees and 600 military

Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency personnel who provided project management and con-

Operations, retired after a career that spanned more than struction support to 250 Army and Air Force installations 35 years in numerous leadership positions including the in more than 100 countries around the world. Prior to his

Corps’ Paci? c Ocean Division, Great Lakes and Ohio Riv- work with the Corps, LTG Bostick served as Deputy Chief er Division, and the Mississippi Valley Division, and as of Staff, G-1, Personnel, U.S. Army, responsible for devel-

Executive Director of the Inland Waterways Users Board. oping, managing, and executing manpower and personnel

In an article in WCI’s newsletter Capitol Currents writ- plans, programs, and policies for the Army. General Bostick ten just after his retirement, General Peabody noted that also served in a variety of command and staff assignments within the Corps, “the most notable area of improvement both in the Continental United States and overseas. is in Planning, where we have nearly tripled our rate of Proud of many things during his career with the Corps, study completion over the last three years. In the naviga- upon retirement, General Bostick noted that “Our efforts tion program unscheduled lock outages have been declin- to educate stakeholders, including Congress and the Of- ing in number and duration for the last few years, due in ? ce of Management and Budget (OMB), are paying off. part to a more focused risk reduction performance metric President Obama, Vice President Biden and members of instituted in 2013.” Congress are now talking more about our infrastructure

General Peabody was succeeded by MG Ed Jackson, PE, due to our efforts to educate leaders about our pressing who came to Corps’ headquarters after serving in a vari- water resources needs.” ety of command assignments that included Commanding General Bostick was succeeded by LTG Todd Semonite

General (Forward) of the Corps of Engineers’ Transatlantic as the 54th Chief of Engineers of the Corps of Engineers.

Division in Kabul, Afghanistan for Operation Enduring General Semonite had last served as Deputy Command-

Freedom. He was also Commanding General of the Corps’ ing General, Combined Security Transition Command in

South Atlantic Division in Atlanta, the Commander and Afghanistan. Before that, he was Deputy Commanding

September 2016

MN 18

MN Sept16 Layout 18-31.indd 18 8/22/2016 10:02:31 AM