Lieutenant Colonel Eder C. Ramirez is the fifth Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Expeditionary District. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East District, which is responsible for providing engineering, construction, and related services in the Middle East, Central Asia, and other areas as required.

Ramirez has held a variety of command and staff assignments including Assistant Adjutant, Route Clearance Platoon Leader, and Battalion Maintenance Officer in the 1st Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, Fort Riley, Kansas, during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009-2010. Brigade Adjutant, Brigade Assistant Operations Officer for the 18th Engineer Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany, during Operation Enduring Freedom 2012; 42nd Clearance Company Commander, 54th Engineer Battalion, 18th Engineer Brigade, Bamberg, Germany. The 42nd Clearance Company got re-stationed to Fort Knox, Kentucky in 2012 to be part of the 19th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade; Project Manager and Liaison Officer, USACE Jacksonville District, Antilles Area Office, Puerto Rico.

Upon reassignment to Fort Bliss, Texas in 2018, he served as the 1st Armored Division DIVENG Planning Officer, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team Engineer and Chief of Plans; and 2nd Brigade Engineer Battalion Operations Officer where he deployed in support of a regional aligned force rotation to South Korea in 2019. His final assignment at Fort Bliss, Texas was as the 5th Armored Brigade Operations Officer which provided force generation training in direct support to the only active Mobilization Force Generation
Installation.

In 2003 he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a combat medic. Followed by a four-year enlistment Ramirez commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. He is a graduate of Air Assault School and the resident U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biochemistry from Idaho State University, a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Science and Technology and a Master’s of Engineering in Engineering Management from University of Colorado Boulder.

His awards and decorations include Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (Three Awards), Army Commendation Medal (Five Awards), Army Achievement Medal (Two Awards) and the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal. 

U.S. Army Major Joseph E. “Joe” Marut III recently assumed duties as the Deputy Commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Expeditionary District headquartered at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Previously, he was assigned as the Middle East District Program Manager – Forward, at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar with oversight of programs within Bahrain, UAE, and Qatar. 

Marut departed Fort Cavazos in May 2024 where he served as the Executive Officer, 1-395th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 120th Infantry (Multi-Functional Training) Brigade under First Army, Division West for 23 months. During that time, he oversaw the restructuring of the Viper Battalion’s rotational forces training mission. The battalion managed 38 various-level FTNs deploying to four combatant commands, including the NATO Kosovo Security Force and Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) staff.

From May 2021 through May 2022, Marut served as the Chief of Operations for the 36th Engineer Brigade, where he oversaw near-term training and operations including support to Resolute Castle 21, Operation Allies Welcome, Defender Europe 22, and the Defense CBRN Response Force. 

Prior to his assignment to the 36th Engineer Brigade, Marut served as the CJTF-OIR Chief of Engineer Plans from February through September 2020, then returned to the III Corps Engineer Section as a Plans Officer until May 2021. While deployed in the Planner role, Marut oversaw the transfer of seven major coalition bases and six other locations to the Government of Iraq, as well as the CJTF headquarters restructure during OIR’s transition into Phase IV operations. 

Marut holds a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and a master’s in Engineering Management from Missouri University of Science and Technology. Upon his undergraduate graduation, he completed an additional year of education at Penn State University (Abington Campus) concentrating in biology and chemistry. From May 2004 through September 2007, MAJ Marut was employed as an Environmental Engineer by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection where he worked in the Land Use Regulation Program reviewing water quality, storm water management, and flood hazard control projects.

He entered active service in 2007 after completion of Basic Combat Training and Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.  His first duty assignment was with the 57th Sapper Company (Rough Terrain), 27th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 2010, he deployed as a Platoon Leader with the Tiger Battalion to Afghanistan, conducting route clearance missions throughout Regional Command East.  He returned from Afghanistan to serve as the Executive Officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 20th Engineer Brigade and later, the Brigade Medical Officer. After completing the Engineer Captains Career Course, MAJ Marut was assigned as an instructor with the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning. From mid-June 2014 through November 2015, Marut commanded, and later inactivated, the 63rd Engineer Company (Horizontal), 11th Engineer Battalion at Fort Benning. Marut reported to the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (ERDC – CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire in December 2015 as a Project Engineer. From CRREL, he deployed to San Juan, Puerto Rico in support of Hurricane Maria recovery operations during October and November 2017, followed by another deployment as the Headquarters Detachment Commander for Task Force Essayons, the USACE Transatlantic Division’s contingency district, headquartered at Camp Taji, Iraq. 

Marut’s military education includes Officer Candidate School (Distinguished Military Graduate), the Basic Officer Leader Course II, Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, Ranger Course, Airborne School, Engineer Captains Career Course, Stryker Leader Course, Joint Engineer Operations Course, Counter Explosive Hazards Planner Course, and the Cavalry Leaders Course; he is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College.  MAJ Marut’s awards and decorations include the Combat Action Badge, Ranger Tab, and Parachutist Badge; the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Joint Service Commendation Medal,  the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Commendation with one oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with campaign star), Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (with two campaign stars), the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and the NATO-ISAF Medal.  He has also been awarded the Bronze German Parachutist Badge and the Army Engineer Association Bronze deFleury Medal.

Marut is a licensed Engineer-in-Training, as well as a certified EMT and PADI Certified Rescue SCUBA diver. He is originally from Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

Bryton S. Johnson currently serves as the Deputy District Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Expeditionary District in Kuwait. The Expeditionary District is USACE’s only forward deployed district in direct support of Department of Defense ongoing named operations in the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility.

When not forward deployed, Johnson serves as the Deputy for Interagency and International Services for the USACE Transatlantic Division.  He is responsible for oversight of the multi-billion-dollar Foreign Military Sales construction program throughout the USCENTCOM region as well as support to other U.S. agencies in the region.

Johnson began his career with USACE in 1997 at the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) in Davis, California, working “Superfund” remediation projects at HEC and USACE’s Sacramento District for five years. He later spent several years at USACE’s Europe District serving in multiple areas, most significantly standing up a USACE liaison officer (LNO) position at U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and developing Europe District’s portfolio in the former Soviet states and Africa. Prior to his current position, Mr. Johnson managed USCENTCOM’s $3 Billion Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program at the Transatlantic Division in Winchester, Virginia.

Johnson has deployed several times with USACE, with two 13-month tours in Iraq, most recently in 2008 as the Program Manager for the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) construction program in northern Iraq. His first Afghanistan deployment was a 24-month tour in 2013 where his duties increased from overseeing the Military Construction (MILCON) program to overseeing the entire USACE portfolio in Afghanistan, while concurrently continuing his support of the FMS program.  Mr. Johnson was the Deputy District Engineer for the Afghanistan District during his most recent deployment which ended in November of 2022.

Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University, Chico, and a Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Chico, Davis. He earned his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2007. Johnson co-authored an article on the fate and transport of subsurface contaminants and contributed to an EPA evaluation on the same topic while working at USACE’s Sacramento District.

His awards include the Superior Civilian Service Medal, the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and several Superior Civilian Service Awards and Commander’s Awards.

Sergeant Major Alan E. Thomas, Jr. is the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Expeditionary District. He is a native of Fishers, Indiana. He joined the U.S. Army in June of 2001 receiving his one station unit training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, to become and Army Combat Engineer.

Thomas attended both the 138^th Regional Training Institute (2007) to become an Army Infantryman and the 147^th Regional Training Institute (2012) to become an Army Horizontal
Construction Engineer.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership from Purdue University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude (4.0 GPA) and was elected to five academic honor societies.

Some of SGM Thomas’ previous assignments include: Command Sgt. Maj. 81st Troop Command (Direct Reporting Units Battalion and Military Police Battalion and G3 Operations SGM); Regimental Operations NCO 138th Regiment; First Sergeant, HHC 113th EN BN; Task Force Senior Operations NCO, Task Force Ironman C2CRE-B; Battalion Operations NCOIC, Slovak Shield 2016, Bratislava; Battalion Operations NCO, HHC 113th EN BN.

He's also held several assignments in the CENTCOM area of responsibility to include; Battalion Operations NCO, 528 EN BN, Kuwait; Readiness NCO, 1313th EN CO, Kuwait; Platoon Sergeant 1st PLT, A Co 2-151 INF, Afghanistan; Squad Leader IED Security Team, Iraq; Q-West Airfield Detention Center NCOIC and Iraqi Drill Sergeant for Basic Training and PLDC, 113th Engineer BN, Iraq.

Highlights of his military education include Sergeants Major Academy; Maneuver Tactics Foundation Course; Anti-Terrorism Officer Basic Couse; DoD Defense Support of Civil Authorities Level II/III; Physical Security Officer; Battle Staff NCO Course; Environmental Officer Course; Operations Security Level II Course.

Thomas was recognized by Stars and Stripes as the 2024 National Black Engineer of the Year (Senior Enlisted) and in 2017 was named the American Legion Department Indiana Military Person of the Year (State Winner).

Some of his career awards and decorations include: Meritorious Service Medal (2 OLC), Army Commendation Medal (1 OLC),  Army Achievement Medal (2 OLC), Army Good Conduct Medal (1 Silver Loop), Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (1 OLC), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal (w/ 2 Campaign Stars), Iraqi Campaign Medal (w/ 2 Campaign Stars), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, GWOT Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (W/ “M” Device & Silver Hour Glass), NCO Professional Development Ribbon (5), Valorous Unit Award, Army Superior Unit Award, Combat Action Badge, 2016 Bronze de Fleury Medal.