Vicksburg, Miss… The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District has promoted Joe P. Parker to the position of Assistant Chief of the Mat Sinking Unit (MSU) of the Operations Division’s Revetment Operations Branch. Parker will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations for revetment work and overseeing maintenance of the MSU. He previously served as the Quarter Boat Utility Lead Foreman on the MSU. He first began working for the Corps in 1979 on the Mat Loading Unit and transferred to the MSU in 2001. He has just completed his 36th season. Parker is a native of Oak Grove, Louisiana, and is married to Rhonda Parker, also of Oak Grove. He has a son and a daughter. The MSU performs one of the most important jobs in the Corps’ river stabilization program, which works to distribute articulated concrete mat squares on the river banks. It employs approximately 60 full time employees and 240 seasonal and temporary employees who reside in several states. With the program executing between $20 million to $60 million of work annually, various economies benefit from their employment.