USACE North Atlantic Division Gets New Commanding General

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Milhorn assumed command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ North Atlantic Division from out-going commander Maj. Gen. William H. Graham during a ceremony at Fort Hamilton on July 20. 

The U.S. Army’s 54th Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, officiated and performed the symbolic transfer of the division colors from Graham to Milhorn representing the latter’s assumption of command authority.

“This is one of the largest, most complicated divisions in the Corps of Engineers,” Semonite said, describing the organization Graham led for 40 months. “This is one of our absolute best. Continue to watch this general officer; he’s done a great job here with the North Atlantic Division.

In recent years, the division, an organization of about 3,500 military and civilian employees, led Corps of Engineers Hurricane Sandy recovery work in the mid-Atlantic states. It has been overseeing a large number of projects designed to reduce the region’s vulnerability to future coastal storms.

Sandy coastal storm risk management projects completed during Graham’s tenure include: Seagate in Brooklyn, New York; Absecon Inlet seawall in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, Virginia.

Other major projects completed during Graham’s command include:

• Baltimore District’s oyster restoration projects in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay and a lab for U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense at Fort Detrick, Maryland;
• New York District’s decades-long New York-New Jersey harbor 50-foot deepening and Davis Barracks for United States Military Academy cadets;
• Philadelphia District’s restoration of marshes and dunes at the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware and several emergency deployments of medium hopper dredge McFarland to address shoaling in the mouth of the Mississippi River, Gulf Coast and North Carolina;
• New England District’s first phase of the Muddy River flood control enhancement project in Boston and a new middle school for Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts;
• Norfolk District’s coastal storm risk management study for their host city and Cape Cod Canal repairs following Hurricane Matthew in 2016.