WINCHESTER, Va. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division Program Manager Brandon Chance was named the Division headquarters Employee of the Quarter for the July through September time period. Col. (P) Mark C. Quander, Commander, presented the award during a meeting with employees Nov. 29, 2018.
“I sincerely appreciate the great work you have done as a program manager in the Program Integration Division,” Quander said, citing two complex programs that Chance has managed since he joined the Division in April 2018. Chance was assigned as the TAD Headquarters Mosul Dam program manager and as program manager for the integration of all programs that the USACE Enterprise manages for the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Chance’s work in Iraq included dealing with multiple internal and external senior level officials from USACE, Department of State, and the Government of Iraq during a time-sensitive period when actions were being taken to extend the emergency grouting contracts. His coordination efforts “played a key role in aligning our partners to extend the contracts for a second year,” according to Scott Sawyer, chief, Programs Integration Division. The Transatlantic Division, through the Mosul Dam Task Force, is providing the Government of Iraq with engineering expertise for its contract to repair and stabilize Mosul Dam.
At nearly the same time the Mosul Dam contract continuation negotiations were occurring, Chance was also assigned to an emerging mission for the Division – the “One Door to the Corps” solution for the U.S. Special Operations Command.
“Brandon led a multi-disciplined team to take the direction from our higher headquarters and integrate it with the customer’s expectations as a major client of the USACE Enterprise,” Sawyer said. “Through his leadership, the team was able to draft an operations order that integrated the customer’s requirements with a revolutionary approach to doing business with a worldwide customer.”
With the assignment to support USSOCOM, the Division needed to develop a solution that would work for a global command already receiving engineering services from other USACE divisions and their districts.
“With most of the geographic combatant commands, their boundaries align with USACE major subordinate command boundaries,” Chance said. [The Transatlantic Division is an example, providing engineering and construction services to the U.S. Central Command area of operations.]
“Our team formulated a concept of operations where the Transatlantic Division fulfills functions that are part Headquarters USACE-level coordination, part Division portfolio management, part Center of Standardization, part traveling roadshow, and part telephone switchboard operator in nature,” Chance said.
Sawyer said that Chance quickly inserted himself in the Division’s programs and has become a well-respected program manager.
“Brandon’s organizational skills bring him to the top echelon of program managers in USACE,” Sawyer said. “He clearly articulates information in a concise manner. People seek him out for his assistance – both our internal stakeholders as well as our customers. When issues arise and Brandon has the action, I breathe a sigh of relief because he is a true fire-and-forget weapon.”
Chance said that he was flattered and grateful to be considered for this recognition. “What we’ve developed and accomplished to date results from extracting the good ideas of many and shaping them into a coherent plan,” he said. “In many ways, this award is reflection of the quality of the TAD staff and leadership, as my work would have been, and will continue to be, unsuccessful without them.”
Before his assignment at TAD, Chance was with the Middle East District, holding various project manager positions since 2009.
The Transatlantic Division provides design, construction execution, and related engineering services directly supporting U.S. Central Command and other activities within the USCENTCOM area of responsibility to establish the conditions for regional security and stability. The Division oversees construction programs exceeding $8 billion through the Middle East District, Transatlantic Afghanistan District, Task Force Essayons in Kuwait and Iraq, and Mosul Dam Task Force in Iraq.