Vicksburg, Miss., September 3, 2013 – Al Lee, Director of Regional Business for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division, recently returned from deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan, in support of overseas contingency operations.
While deployed, he worked as the Director for the Joint Program Integration Office (JPIO), which is part of U.S. Forces Afghanistan Joint Engineers where he oversaw the program management and operations for water and infrastructure, military construction, environmental, real estate and operational energy divisions. The JPIO provides technical engineering and program management expertise in the areas of military construction, real estate, environmental, operational energy and water and infrastructure as part of the Joint Engineers for U.S. Forces - Afghanistan (USFOR-A), its subordinate commands and all regional commands to support the International Security Assistance Force Campaign Plan in Afghanistan.
Mr. Lee is also a member of the federal government's Senior Executive Service. The Senior Executive Service is comprised of the men and women charged with leading the continuing transformation of government.
As Regional Business Director, Mr. Lee serves as the principal advisor to the Mississippi Valley Division commander and the Mississippi River Commission president, on directing and managing the engineering, construction, operations and real estate activities for flood control, navigation, water supply and environmental restoration projects in the Mississippi Valley Division.
Mr. Lee is a distinguished military graduate of Georgia Southern University and holds a master’s degree in engineering management from St. Martins University. His military schooling includes the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. Mr. Lee served as a fellow in the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows Program, assigned to Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, Ill.
The Corps supports the U. S. Army by deploying members of its civilian workforce who volunteer to support the Army’s mission worldwide. Since 2003, the Mississippi Valley Division has deployed 41 MVD headquarters and 568 division-wide (headquarters + six districts) civilians to Iraq and Afghanistan – total of 1,182 deployments (some individuals go on more than one deployment). This civilian workforce provides a unique expertise to the fighting forces, including a reach-back capability that taps the expertise of the Corps of Engineers as a whole. The Corps continues to play a key role in defense operations as well as responding to natural disasters, both at home and abroad.
The Mississippi Valley Division is responsible for water resources engineering solutions in a 370,000-square-mile area, extending from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and encompassing portions of 12 states. Work is carried out by district offices located in St. Paul, Minn.; Rock Island, Ill.; St. Louis, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; Vicksburg, Miss.; and New Orleans, La.