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Students participating in the Teens Engineer BHM program at the Woodlawn Branch Library learned how to design houses.
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.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
The 6th Engineer BN. Airborne Transformation and the 240th Engineer Detachment Activation Ceremony. 14 October 2010 Joint Base Richardson/Elmendorf
Three civil engineers (me included) examine the wear on the track and hypothesize why its making the terrible sounds.
Engineers and emergency management specialists with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Team - Nevada, along with local and state officials, were in Reno, Nevada, April 6 to conduct assessments of potential sites for alternate care facilities in response to #COVID19.
The site assessments are some of several planned in support of a #FEMA mission assigned to the Corps’ Headquarters. The Corps is assisting the state and FEMA’s efforts with initial site assessments at several Nevada locations.
During emergencies, the Corps is the federal government's lead public works and engineering support agency. The organization is working with the White House, DOD and other federal, state and local partners in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
More than 15,000 personnel engaged, across our enterprise, in our response effort who are providing support both on site and virtually. Of the USACE personnel engaged, more than 1,800 personnel are deployed.
(Photos by Brooks O. Hubbard IV, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District)
Michigan National Guard's 1431st Engineer Company (Sappers) is in Germany conducting joint training exercises with our State Partnership Program counterpart, Latvia.
Michigan National Guard's 1431st Engineer Company (Sappers) is in Germany conducting joint training exercises with our State Partnership Program counterpart, Latvia.
Pvt. Christopher Bidwell, 42nd Clearance Company, 54th Eng. Bn. and a native of Port Orange, Fla., and Sgt. Terrance Barton, 370th Sapper Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, and a native of Houston, pose for a photo after being awarded Army Commendation medals. Bidwell and Barton are the Fiscal Year 2011 18th Engineer Brigade Warrior and Warrior Leader of the Year winners and will represent their brigade at the 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s competition. (Photo by Spc. Aislinn Amig, 18th Eng. Bde. Public Affairs)
Engineers will be engineers...
"We're a real faculty" written in front of the UBC Forestry building...
Necropolis, Glasgow, Scotland
The Glasgow Necropolis (literally in Greek 'City of the Dead') is a Victorian cemetery on a prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral. It was opened in 1832 for the middle classes by the Merchants House of Glasgow, a guild of Glasgow businessmen, thus predating by twenty years most of Britain's municipal cemeteries. Scottish puritanism and suspicion of anything ritualistic meant that the vast majority of memorials are classical in style rather than Gothic. There are approximately 3500 memorials. You can read more on the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis website.
Slideshow Here: flickr.com/photos/whitebeard/sets/72157613402503136/show/
Another important individual to the colony was the King's Engineer. He acted as a surveyor and construction supervisor and enforced the rules that governed the physical development of the settlement.
This well equipped kitchen bespeaks his rank.
I recommend viewing the large size to view all the details:
www.flickr.com/photos/whitebeard/3347468312/sizes/o/in/ph...
This is one of the pages from a book dating back to 1915 I have just acquired. "Fowlers Mechanical Engineers Pocket book.....
I have scanned the first 50 odd pages and posted them at www.digitalrust.co.uk/literature.html
Engineers from the 29th Infantry Division serving in Kosovo conduct engineer demolition training July 31, 2007. (Photo by Maj. Cotton Puryear, Multi-National Task Force (East) Public Affairs)
Students participating in the Teens Engineer BHM program at the Woodlawn Branch Library learned how to design houses.
The engines were the stars of the show. But, without the numerous museum volunteers like this one, the Diesel Parade wouldn't have happened. Thanks Guys and Gals!
Engineers from the 29th Infantry Division serving in Kosovo conduct engineer demolition training July 31, 2007. (Photo by Maj. Cotton Puryear, Multi-National Task Force (East) Public Affairs)
During an "Engineer's Challenge" class in the Jocelyn H. Lee Innovation Lab, makers were able to construct simple audio speakers from foam plates, permanent magnets, and DIY voice coils wound with the help of a drill motor. The speakers may not have met the fidelity standards of audiophiles, but we were able to dance to the music.
Photo Credit: James Mahon
U.S. Army Reserve combat engineer Soldiers from the 374th Engineer Company (Sapper), headquartered in Concord, Calif., performed a helicopter casting into Lopez Lake, Calif., during a two-week field exercise known as a Sapper Leader Course Prerequisite Training at Camp San Luis Obispo Military Installation, Calif. The unit is grading its Soldiers on various events to determine which ones will earn a spot on a "merit list" to attend the Sapper Leader Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret)
Mar. 14, 2020 in Orlando, Fla.
(U.S. Army Reserve photos by
Spc. Kat Del Rio, 196th Transportation Company)
BEACON, NY -- Spc. Osse Jean-Pierre, 1156th Engineer Company, New York Army National Guard, replaces a railing on the Mount Beacon fire observation tower, September 7, 2012. The 1156th has stayed busy over the last year providing both military and community support ranging from aid to civilian authories during Tropical Storm Irene and Tropical Storm Lee to cleaning up the old Erie Canal.