The United States Army Corps of Engineers Essay

The United States Army Corps of Engineers - Essay Example The agency is mainly concerned with public projects as concerns environmental protection, disaster management such as hurricanes control, military technology design, recreational facilities and corporation with other government agencies to ensure a sustainable technology and national security. Besides running and managing most of the nation’s Hydro Electric Power Dams, it is conversely the arm of the federal government acting to support the locals in case of a natural disaster. Every year, the agency responds to more than 30 natural disasters both in the USA and elsewhere, with flooding being the most common disaster faced. One of the main activities the USACE is involved with is the reconstruction of infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan. The history of the Corps dates back to the origins of the nation in the early 18th century, mostly during the revolutionary war .It came about as a desire to combat the several challenges facing the forces in terms of technical capabilities and skilled labor. Later in the 19th Century, the Corps resolved to inculcate civilians in to its mission to serve in areas with highly specialized labor as well as to quiet political demands of the locals. Today, the USACE is a large Federal Agency with branches all over and serving more than 130 countries worldwide. Regardless of the noble tasks associated with the Army Corps, coupled with its great success in most of its projects, the USACE has been criticized for mismanagement of funds and environmental risks in the projects allocated to it. Its projects have often subsidized personal interests at the cost of taxpayers’ money. Besides, the Agency has a dark history of blurring its costs so as to justify its projects. One of its projects, the design and construction of levees to curb Hurricane Flooding in New Orleans, was described by the American Society of Civil Engineers as the greatest civil engineering catastrophe in history (Bernhardt & Walsh, 2003). This was after hurricane Katrina cracked the levees and flooded the larger area of New Orleans, destroying property and lives. With other several and similar examples, it is clear that the Agency is failing to manage effectively its projects, as well as costing citizens lots of millions. This paper scrutinizes the Agency’s Data Management System, which is core towards an effective system, paying special regard to the causes of the systems lack of integrity. The author will also examine examples where the system has been described as a total failure. The conclusion section will entail recommendations towards implementing a more honest system and how to avoid future failures of the system. In 1802, the Congress created an Army Corps of Engineers to focus on supporting Military activities. With the progress of the century, the Corps became involved with civilian activities mainly flood control and river direction. With the growing demand for humanitarian activities, more and more missions outs ide the military circle crept in, and today’s Corps has faced 200 years of mission creep (Edward, 2012). The expansion go-aheads passed by the Congress since the 18th Century has not been taking clear considerations on the management of the Agency. Rather, the focus was on eradicating the threats posed by natural disasters. Such a process allows for large possibilities of over budgeting. In one instance in 1836, the House Ways and Means Committee discovered that more than a quarter of the Agency’s projects were over budget. Another expansion mishap was seen in the 1930s where flood control projects were seen as a job creation strategy (Edward, 2012). Many government agencies, including USACE worked to drain many wetlands all over the nation. With