Purple is the new Engineer red

By Mike A. Glasch, USACE Transatlantic Afghanistan DistrictDecember 14, 2015

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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN -- In elementary school art class children learn the primary colors; red, yellow and blue. They also learn mixing two primary colors creates a secondary color. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is learning a similar lesson; infusing engineer red with Navy blue creates a purple expeditionary workforce.

It is a lesson the senior NCO for USACE Transatlantic Division (TAD), which oversees all USACE contingency operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, said is long overdue.

"We do recruit for civilian talent primarily from within the USACE ranks," Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Johnson said. "What I have learned is that if we get the word out, and we communicate the need for experienced professionals to serve with USACE overseas in the contingency environment, we'll be able to cast a wider net. We've got to get beyond from recruiting from just within USACE."

One of those already caught in the net is Eric Cheesic, director, Operations and Maintenance Division, USACE Transatlantic-Afghanistan District (TAA). Cheesic is an electrical engineer who has worked with the Naval Systems Supply Command - Weapons System Support, Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, since 2006. He is on his third deployment to Afghanistan -- all with the Army Corps of Engineers.

In 2009, Cheesic deployed for seven months as a project engineer/resident engineer to Helmand Province working on Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and Afghan Border Police construction projects.

"I loved it," Cheesic said. "I enjoyed it so much that when I returned home I started looking for opportunities to deploy again, but for whatever reason it didn't work out for quite some time."

It would be a little more than four years before Cheesic's next chance to deploy. During the Christmas holidays in 2013, he was offered the chance to return to Afghanistan the following May with the Forward Engineer Support Team (FEST) out of the Fort Worth, Texas, District. He refers to the opportunity as his "Christmas present from the Corps."

"I loved the FEST team. It was the most challenging job I ever had and it was the most rewarding," he said. "The work we were doing was a lot of civil works projects which impacted the average Afghan. At the project engineer/resident engineer level you don't see that because you're mainly dealing with military or police projects, so it was very nice to actually get out there amongst the Afghan population. We were bringing electricity to schools, drilling wells for communities, it was very rewarding."

Before he returned home from his second tour in January, Cheesic knew he would be coming back for a third deployment. While he was at the Bagram passenger terminal waiting on his flight home, the TAA commander, Col. Pete Helmlinger, showed up and asked Eric if he would be interested in coming back.

"He just showed exceptional talent during that time (with the FEST), both his technical talent and leadership ability, he's the exact type of person that we want to recruit here in TAA; somebody who is motivated, adventurous and a huge team player," Helmlinger said. "Eric is someone who will take on any problem regardless of if it's in their lane or not and will work with the team to find solutions."

It was an easy decision for Cheesic. Four months later he returned to tackle his current assignment.

"I love deploying," he said. "I miss my family, I miss them very much. I miss my friends. I miss my bed, oh I miss my bed! But as I tell a lot of my interns, 'this is a job bigger than you. You have to understand that it's going to be hard, but it's worth it.'"

When he was back in Virginia after his second tour, Cheesic took every opportunity to encourage his fellow Navy coworkers to seek deployment opportunities.

"Everybody's curious. They keep asking, 'what's it like? What's it like?' I tell them to come check it out," Cheesic said. "There's a process in place for the Corps to get people from across the branches. You don't have to go for years on end. You can start with a four-month tour, extend it out to six months, to nine months or a year. It's all about getting over here and experiencing it for yourself, because it's like no other job I've ever had."

"Eric is the perfect example of the type of employee we want to reach out to," Johnson said. "Every service with the Department of Defense has engineers and has capable staffs in the support functions, so if we can capitalize on that experience, cast a wider net, we can increase the pool of available, qualified engineers and support staff to deploy with USACE to accomplish our mission."

Helmlinger added that looking outside of the USACE family for future employees brings a wider diversity of life experiences to the Corps to draw upon now and into the future.

"I think it's important for the diversity of this organization because it gives us a broader perspective," he said. "If we recruit simply from the Army, or from within USACE, we tend to have a more narrow focus on solving new problems. It's that different perspective that helps us problem solve. When we bring in the best of all these different organizations we're able to take those processes and solutions that they have been successful within the past and harvest that here."

Job satisfaction is not the only reason Cheesic has kept coming back.

"I love the Corps of Engineers! They've been very hospitable to me, very gracious," he said. "I think they love me, they keep asking me to come back. It's been a good mutual relationship.

"Here we have the comradery of we're in this together. We're here to do a mission, but just as importantly we're here to take care of each other," Cheesic added. "We have this close group of guys; we working together, living together, literally doing everything together. We know each other on a much higher level. We're a family here. You don't get that stateside."

As to which branch his allegiance lies with, when asked which team he will be rooting for in the Army/Navy game, Cheesic just chuckled saying, "I just like to remind everyone that the last time Army beat Navy, Facebook didn't even exist. Go Navy!"

To find out about deployment opportunities with USACE, as well as to learn about the benefits and deployment process, visit the new USACE TAD contingency deployment website at www.tad.usace.army.mil/careers/deployments.aspx.

Related Links:

USACE Contingency Deployment Website

Video: USACE-TAA wants you!

Video: CSM Ronald Johnson urges past deployees to share their story