Change of Command for Mississippi Valley Division

Published Sept. 6, 2017

Maj. Gen. Michael C. Wehr will transfer command of the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to Maj. Gen. Richard G. Kaiser in a formal change of command ceremony Sept. 7. The ceremony will be officiated by the Corps' Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite and will take place at 10 a.m. in the Information Technology Laboratory at the Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg.

Wehr, division commander and president of the Mississippi River Commission since August 2014, has been assigned as the deputy commanding general for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C. 

Kaiser comes to Vicksburg from Afghanistan where he served as director of the Joint Engineering Directorate for the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, and commander of the Transatlantic Division (Forward), Afghanistan.

As MVD’s 39th commander, Kaiser will be responsible for the Corps water resources programs in a 370,000-square-mile area that includes portions of 12 states; its boundary extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.  District offices are headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota; Rock Island, Illinois; St. Louis; Memphis, Tennessee; Vicksburg and New Orleans.

In addition, Kaiser will be president-designee of the Mississippi River Commission, the presidentially appointed agency that oversees the comprehensive Mississippi River and Tributaries flood control and navigation project, as well as the entire Mississippi River and its tributaries.


Contact
Reagan Lauritzen
601-634-5760
reagan.b.lauritzen@usace.army.mil
or
Pam Vedros
601-634-7783
pam.vedros@usace.army.mil

Release no. 17-006