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  • September

    Col. Kim Colloton visits the VA Long Beach project. The $300 million VA Long Beach project consists of five phases. The first phase includes a behavioral/mental health facility and a 40 bed inpatient facility. Colloton was briefed by Project Manager Monica Eichler.

    South Pacific Division Commander visits District projects, people

    Col. Kim Colloton, South Pacific Division commander, went on a whirlwind tour of several Los Angeles District projects during a visit to the area Sept. 4-7.

  • August

    Autin assumes command of Task Force Recovery

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Task Force Recovery, held a change of command Aug. 29 where Maj. Scotty Autin assumed command of the Task Force from Lt. Col. John D. Cunningham.
  • Steve Winkleblech, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District realty specialist, discusses properties and parcels included in the upcoming remedial investigation and feasibility study at a former ground-to-ground gunnery range here Aug. 20. The site includes about 284 residential properties and parcels, located on Tommie Drive, East Packard, Lass, East Snavely, East Thompson, East Lum, East Ryan, East Hearne, East Devlin, East Shaeffer, East John L and Northfield avenues.

    Corps hosts open house on former range

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District hosted an open house Aug. 20 to discuss an upcoming remedial investigation and feasibility study of a former ground-to-ground gunnery range.
  • Gary Lee Moore, Los Angeles city engineer, second from left, talks to students and instructors with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Associates Program about plans for ecosystem restoration along the Los Angeles River during the group's July 25 bus tour of Los Angeles County watersheds.

    Planning Associates group learns about California watersheds

    Seven members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Associates program traveled to Los Angeles July 23 to 27 to learn about water resource planning. The program develops emerging leaders in the planning community of practice. In its second year at the South Pacific Division, the Integrated Water Resources Management-Watershed course is an advanced training opportunity in water resources planning. The goal of the program is to broaden planners’ competencies in solving complex water resource challenges and to strengthen their leadership talents.

  • July

    Col. Aaron Barta, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander, speaks to the audience after becoming the 62nd District commander during a July 19 Change of Command ceremony at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California.

    New LA District commander brings broad range of experience to position

    As Col. Aaron Barta begins to settle into his new position as the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, he considers himself lucky. “Coming to the Los Angeles District is a dream come true, both professionally and personally,” he said. “I am proud to pass on that every leader I've encountered (has told me) I am walking into a world-class organization filled with the Corps’ best.”
  • Col. Aaron Barta, incoming U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander, speaks during a July 19 change of command ceremony at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California.

    Barta becomes 62nd LA District commander

    After three years as the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, Col. Kirk Gibbs relinquished duties to Col. Aaron Barta during a July 19 change of command ceremony. Barta, a native of Texas, became the 62nd commander of the LA District, during the event at Fort MacArthur’s Community Center in San Pedro.
  • Col. Kirk Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles commander, presents Barron Arakawa, Emergency Management specialist, with a commander’s coin for his participation in Bring a Child to Work Day April 26 at the District headquarters.

    Gibbs reflects on time as leader of the Corps’ Los Angeles District

    If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility. As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
  • Dr. Emily Allen, dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, California State University, Los Angeles, and Col. Kirk Gibbs, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, sign a partnering agreement July 5 in Los Angeles, California, to foster collaboration in a relationship that stresses the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics as officials from the university and the Corps look on. The agreement also provides a road map to employment with the Corps through various programs, including the Pathways internship program.

    Corps, Cal State LA agree to partner for STEM education and careers

    The U.S Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District signed a partnering agreement with the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles July 5. The agreement promises to enhance opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, education and career paths.

  • June

    Joe Goldstein, Dam Safety program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, center, works with representatives from Los Angeles County on how the team would respond during a flood-risk tabletop exercise June 21 at the LA County Department of Public Works.

    Corps of Engineers, LA County, state join forces for flood-risk exercise

    El Nino has returned with a vengeance. Over the last week, back-to-back storm systems have hit southern California. The National Weather Service is predicting a third storm in the area, describing it as the “biggest storm of the season.” The already saturated conditions, along with the additional forecasted rainfall, indicate Los Angeles River channels will be flowing at full capacity and may overtop.
  • Travis Bone (right), archeologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District speaks with a delegation from the Colorado River Indian Tribes May 31. The Corps hosted scoping meetings to solicit stakeholder and public comment on changes to the Alamo Dam Water Control Plan.

    Corps hosts scoping meeting for proposed update to water control plan

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District hosted scoping meetings on May 31 to solicit stakeholder and public comment on changes to the Alamo Dam Water Control Plan.

  • May

    Maj. Scotty Autin, deputy district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District and Lt. Col. Peter Stambersky, Los Angeles District contracting officergroup of LA D joined district team members and their families assembled for the two-mile parade route May 19 as participants in the 59th annual City of Torrance Armed Forces Day parade.

    District participates in the City of Torrance Armed Forces Day parade

    The City of Torrance honored the five branches of the military during the Torrance Armed Forces Day Celebration May 18 to 20. This year the honored service was the United States Marine Corps.
  • Eileen Takata, landscape architect, lead water resources planner and public involvement specialist with the LA District’s Planning Division, right, and her son, Seth, left, prepare a native plant during a community tree-planting event May 12 in Norco.

    Community rallies around Corps’ ecosystem restoration project in Norco

    About 120 volunteers came together to help restore an area around the Santa Ana River to its natural habitat. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, along with its contractor, UltraSystems Environmental, partnered with the City of Norco to host a restoration-planting event May 12 on more than one acre of the Corps’ land near the Santa Ana River. About 520 plants and 200 plant cuttings, including California buckwheat, Chemise, Mexican elderberry and arroyo willow were planted.
  • Ed De Mesa, chief of the Planning Division for the LA District, talks about growing up as a child in the Philippines, immigrating to the U.S. as a young adult and joining the U.S. Air Force during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month Observance May 22 at the District headquarters in downtown LA.

    LA District planning chief, former immigrant grateful for opportunities

    One thing that life has taught Ed De Mesa from growing up with 11 siblings in the Philippines to immigrating to the U.S. as a young adult is servitude with gratitude.
  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District inducted two retired employees into its Gallery of Distinguished Civilian Employees in a ceremony May 15 at the District headquarters in Los Angeles. Former Executive Assistant Patsy Delgado and former Executive Secretary Jeanne Imamura were this year’s inductees. The induction was in conjunction with the District's annual Retiree Recognition Day. More than three dozen retirees participated in the day's activities, which included a breakfast social, commander's update and catered lunch.

    District inducts two into distinguished employee cadre

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District inducted two former employees into its Gallery of Distinguished Civilian Employees in a ceremony May 15 at the District headquarters. The two retirees had a combined total of 96 years of federal service, all with the Los Angeles District.
  • Maj. Scotty Autin, deputy commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, briefs the media about the Corps’ Santa Barbara Debris Removal Mission May 11 in Ventura, California. Autin was one of several speakers who gave an update about the debris removal efforts in southern California, following the Thomas Wildfire in December and the Jan. 9 mudslide in Montecito, California.

    Corps of Engineers completes debris removal from Santa Barbara basins following devastating mudslide

    It was a dark, cold night in February in Santa Barbara County – in the low 30s – and freezing outside, as far as Mary Carmona was concerned. As she worked alongside a contractor during a 12-hour night shift at the Cold Springs Creek Basin in Montecito, she pondered why she was there. She missed her family and just wanted to go home and sleep in the comfort of her own bed. But going home wasn’t an option for Carmona – at least not for the next 20-some days, as she and about 60 other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees set up temporary residence in the county to help clear vehicle-sized boulders, several feet of mud, trees and other debris from the community’s basins. It was a daunting task in less-than-ideal conditions, but these weren’t even less than ideal; they were catastrophic.

  • April

    Keith Kelson, engineering geologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District, provides an example to other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers geologists of how clues from pre-historic and historic floods can help predict future flooding events during an exercise March 15 at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area near Las Vegas.

    Geologists learn studying past holds keys to future during visit to Red Rock Canyon

    Spread out across more than 195,000 acres of the Mojave Desert, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a geologist’s playground. With its picturesque canyons displaying an array of colors, rock formations and unique features molded over more than 600 million years, to preserved archeological discoveries, like pictographs and petroglyphs etched and drawn on canyon walls from cultures long ago, the secrets Red Rock Canyon holds can tell scientists a story that may save lives in the future.

  • March

    Supervisory Biologist Sallie Diebolt, Arizona-Nevada Area Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, explains the Corps Regulatory Program to a prospective contractor at the Business Opportunities Open House March 22 at GateWay Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. More than 150 business representatives attended the event to learn of the Corps' business lines and upcoming contracting opportunities.

    Corps opens house for business opportunities

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District hosted its annual Business Opportunities Open House March 22 at GateWay Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. More than 150 business representatives attended the event to learn of the Corps' business lines and upcoming contracting opportunities.

  • February

    A high school student at John Muir High School in Pasadena, California, tries on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hardhat during the school’s Engineering and Environmental Science Academy School Exploration Showcase Feb. 14 in Pasadena.

    Corps’ representatives spread love of engineering to Pasadena high school students on Valentine’s Day

    Some people spread their love on Valentine’s Day with cards, flowers and candy. Three representatives with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District spread a different kind of love Feb. 14 – a love of engineering.

  • January

    Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, discusses the national perspective of the Corps’ civil works program, among other topics, during the Jan. 18 California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference in San Pedro, California.

    Chief of engineers speaks at conference, advocates for change, innovation

    SAN PEDRO, California – During a recent trip to California, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, told stakeholders he envisions the Corps as “champions for change.”
  • From left to right, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Col. Kirk Gibbs, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District; Gary Lee Moore, Los Angeles city engineer; and Carol Armstrong, executive officer to the Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of City Services, pose for a picture Jan. 19 after Corps of Engineers leaders presented a signed design agreement with the city to move forward with the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration project.

    Corps signs design agreement with city for LA River Ecosystem Restoration project

    LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District signed a design agreement to move forward with the LA River Ecosystem Restoration project at a recent meeting with city officials.