Lt. Col. Michael C. Derosier assumes command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, at a local ceremony this week.
This time-honored traditional Change of Command ceremony will be held at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial in Grosse Point Farms at 11 a.m., Friday, July 23.
As District Engineer, Derosier, along with the District’s more than 400 employees, oversees an $80 million program. “We accept with pride our role in protecting, maintaining and improving one of our Nation’s most precious natural resources – the Great Lakes.”
The district’s area of responsibility includes all of Michigan and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana – a total area of 82,000 square miles of land with 3,200 miles of Great Lakes shoreline.
Approximately 14 million people live within the District’s boundaries. The District maintains 611 miles of channels, 91 harbors and 95 projects on Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and part of Lake Erie. Much of this work is carried out through four area offices located in Detroit, Grand Haven and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and Duluth, Minn. The Detroit District, established in 1841, investigates, plans, designs, constructs, operates and maintains congressionally authorized water resource projects related to navigation, flood control, hydropower production and recreation. The district also provides support to other government agencies.
As a steward of the environment, the District exercises regulatory authority over wetlands adjacent to navigable waterways. In addition, it remains poised to provide emergency management and disaster response services in times of crisis.
Derosier has recently returned from Iraq where he served with the 555th Engineer Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash.
Derosier replaces Lt. Col. James B. Davis who served the district well for the last two years.
[mappress]
Source: USACE ARMY, July 21, 2010