Pacific Ocean Division News

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers engineer elected to National Academy of Construction

Published Oct. 24, 2017

By U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Pacific Ocean Division Public Affairs

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii—The U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is pleased to announce that Eugene M. Ban, Director of Programs for the Corps’ Pacific Ocean Division has been elected to the National Academy of Construction (NAC).

The organization of construction industry leaders will induct Ban as part of its 2017 class of new members Oct. 26 in D.C. The Academy considered 300 leaders for membership and ultimately selected 29 for membership.

Ban received a congratulatory letter from Hugh Rice, president of NAC, which read in part, “With the induction of your class, there will be 258 academy members, an impressive figure considering the potential membership pool of approximately tens of thousands from all sectors.”

As one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer, selection for membership in the NAC honors individuals’ outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education.

“I am honored to be elected to the National Academy of Construction,” said Ban, who is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES)—executive management of the Government of the United States. “As part of USACE, I have been able to use engineering to address some of the Nation’s toughest infrastructure, water and environmental challenges. I now look forward to sharing the knowledge from these experiences with the industry and academia, as well as to learning from others to meet our Nation’s engineering challenges.”

“Mr. Ban’s steadfast dedication to the Nation has contributed greatly to our national security in the Pacific, and makes him truly worthy of this pinnacle achievement,” said Col. Thomas J. Tickner, Pacific Ocean Division Commander and Division Engineer. “I congratulate him on this well-deserved honor.”

Selected for SES in September 2003, Ban assumed his current position as the senior civilian leader overseeing and supervising the Nation’s civil works infrastructure, military and host nation construction, environmental protection projects, and international and interagency programs throughout the vast Indo-Asia-Pacific region. He is responsible for a $22 billion planning, design and construction program that is delivering engineering solutions and projects in Hawaii, Alaska, Japan, Korea, U.S. Territories, Pacific Nations and Asia.

Ban oversees three of the four largest military construction programs since the end of the Cold War. He works strategically with the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Host Nation governments of Japan and Korea to lead the Department of Defense Military Construction and Host Nation programs to include the $10.7 billion Korea Transformation Program, which is funded by South Korea. When completed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will have overseen the construction of 655 new and renovated facilities—enabling the strategic relocation of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul.

In Japan, Ban oversees the Host Nation construction program that supports the stationing of nearly 50,000 U.S. service members and advanced assets such as the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. These projects strengthen the U.S.-Japan Alliance and represents a shared bilateral commitment to sustain the U.S. military presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.

Ban also oversees the division’s civil works program, including development of deep water commercial ports, small boat harbors and harbors of refuge, construction of flood control structures, and projects to prevent shoreline erosion. In the Pacific, the Corps has jurisdiction of more than 273,500 square miles of land and wetlands, about 7,000 miles of coastlines, and over 80 small boat harbors. The professional management of these resources has resulted in no serious environmental incidents or loss of aquatic habitat for 25 years. In a region that is highly dependent on commercial and subsistence navigation, Pacific Ocean Division maintains 84 harbors to ensure safe and efficient operations, enabling more than 65 million tons of cargo to pass annually through these harbors.

In addition to his election to the NAC, Ban has been honored numerous times throughout his career, including the Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Army Engineer Association Bronz deFleury Medal, the Association of the Army Federal Manager of the Year, the Federal Asian Pacific American Outstanding Leadership Award, and others. Ban is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Hawaii.

About Pacific Ocean Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
The Pacific Ocean Division, U.S Army Corps of Engineers has approximately 1,600 dedicated Soldiers, civilians and host-nation engineers, scientists and technical experts delivering vital public and military engineering services in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region in peace and war to strengthen our Nation’s security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters. We invite you to discover more at www.pod.usace.army.mil or follow us on Facebook.
https://www.army.mil/article/195792/


Release no. 17-035