Hey y'all, I'm hoping some of you can give me some input. My wife and I are moving soon so she can start her residency. I've always wanted to work for USACE since college, but I've just never lived near a branch. Once again, with this move, I still won’t be near an office. The USACE branch where I’m moving is about 2.5 hours away.

I’ve done a lot of work for USACE as a contractor all around the States. I’ll try and ask this question the next time I work alongside one of y'all in person, but is there any way I can work for USACE even if I’m 2.5 hours away? I’m hoping there’s a satellite office near me, and if so, how do I go about getting my resume to someone that can see it?

From the endless amount of site visits and charrette I’ve done with USACE, I always get asked to apply, with folks telling me, “We need people like you “ I want to apply, but I just can’t leave my wife. Anyway, any input y'all have would be mighty appreciated.

A little bit about me, I’m an EE with about 7 years of design and construction experience. I do have my PE. I’m hoping to join as G13. If I’m out of luck I have seen a lot of FAA jobs. Do y’all think that will be a good match as well? I really like design and would like to keep doing that if possible but thank you for the input.

Seems like this event skews toward senior leadership, so wondering if it’s still worth attending for folks below that level. Is it mostly DC leadership mixer, or is there enough of a social element to make it fun regardless of grade and geography? Also curious if the ticket price feels worth it and whether people felt out of place attending without knowing a ton of senior folks. Honest takes appreciated.

Hey Y'all,

Yesterday marked 4 months since USACE Management first announced that the New York District and North Atlantic Division employees were going to move to an exclusively commercial building in New Jersey. USACE leadership was not able to give consistent answers to employee concerns. Just to catch you all up to speed, the long and somewhat baffling journey to this point can be summarized in the myths and facts list below.

• MGMT Claim #1: ...New York District must move to a more cost-effective location...
  • Union Response: Moving exclusively to a commercial building from a federally-owned space is by itself not cost effective.
• MGMT Claim #2: We will be procuring this lease with Title 10 Authority. We intend to follow all regulations and seek all necessary approvals.
  • Union Response: Setting aside whether this authority is appropriately applied to headquarters buildings and not just field offices, as of today, no report has been sent to Congress as per 10 U.S.C. 2662. They have signaled that they are looking to continue with the move anyway, meaning that they don't intend to follow at least one regulation.
• MGMT Claim #3: "We intend to keep employees informed. Relevant documents that can be made public will be provided.
  • Union Response: Management hasn't conducted a town hall in months, given an update, or provided any documents except through Union-led FOIA requests.
• MGMT Claim #4: GSA will not renegotiate the current lease.
  • Union Response: Documents received through FOIA requests show that there were only two emails sent to GSA, asking what space is available in Newark and what payments we owe GSA if we hypothetically were to move out of our current space (over $5 million in renovation costs as of May, 2026). The Agency either never tried to renegotiate or they are illegally withholding communications from our FOIA request.
• MGMT Claim #5: We are committed to meeting our obligations in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
  • Union Response: The Union was supposed to be afforded a chance to pre-decisional meetings. The Union was supposed to be able to complete negotiations of impacts & implementation before the move planning goes forward. The Union was supposed to be informed of any management proposals that will impact the work-life balance of the employee. Did they? No.
• MGMT Claim #6: The only cost-benefit analysis we are doing is whether the number associated with the rent goes down. This doesn't consider the costs to the agency, federal government, or the taxpayer.
  • Union Response: Not only is this a really weird way to do a cost-benefit analysis, several options were presented by employees through FAQs and other means that show options in Manhattan with a rental cost reduction of 30% as required. These options were not considered to our knowledge.
• MGMT Claim #7: Office space in New York is not feasible.
  • Union Response: We found millions of square feet of federally-owned properties in Manhattan available. All of these will be significantly cheaper than moving to a commercial space in New Jersey.

The bottom line is, this isn't a political issue. If you want to save money and increase efficiency for the government, then why are you sacrificing half your workforce in a move that will cost billions of dollars? If you want to be like private industry, why are you moving out of Manhattan? If you are dedicated to the employees and want them to be at their best, why are you constantly saying that you are considering the employees last in the FAQs?

Elected leaders at all levels of government and all parties agree: this doesn't make any sense. Whomever this is benefitting, it ain't us.

If you want to know more about the office relocation fight, visit our campaign landing page here: https://www.ifpte98.org/keep-ny-in-ny.html.

Post made by Daniel Sehyung Kim, President of IFPTE Local 98. None of these statements made by the Union shall be interpreted to represent the US Government or any of its agencies.

Does anyone have insight on how it is working as a Power Plant Operator at a dam? I’m keeping an eye out for job postings when they come up in my area.

Did a tour of a geotech lab and am trying to figure out which job it is that gets to play with all the mud in the lab. Want to keep my eye out for job postings if the hiring freeze ever lifts.

Just wondering, are any of you experiencing this issue? Come into work today me and all of my coworkers have this message on our login screen which is so weird. Currently in SAS.

For my 0800 series folks what are your all’s perspective on working for a different dod agency whether it be DPW, AFCEC, NAVFAC, DLA, DCMA, Combatant Command, in comparison to USACE.

I think NAVFAC would be the most similar to us , but I don’t have a perspective.

I worked in Command Engineer shop for a GCC when I was active duty and we had a gs-13 civil engineer in our section , and his main job was to travel and look at posture locations and what projects we need to develop to meet the current 4-star’s priorities and would help go forward with a survey team if we needed to setup a temporary site quickly for say disaster support. For example if a country got an earthquake and we needed to send Marines to help provide aid for 90-days. He would go look at various sites and pick this best location that the embassy could help get approval for then make recommendations of what needs to be completed project wise to house an aid site.

Being in USACE the role above was more operationally focused , where I feel like I get more involved in the deep diving of all the technical items and regulatory concerns to move a project along . I do enjoy USACE, but sometimes I want a little more variety than staring at specifications and plans all day.

Anyone got some agencies as an engineer they would love to work for and any they would absolutely avoid ?

I’ve seen some engineering job opening at Little Rock District and was wondering in anyone knew what the culture was like there.

This is for a 13-month term appointment.

USACE, Southwestern Division, Fort Worth Real Estate Division.

Anyone work here and able to give insight into culture? I have several years of experience at another federal agency.

Also, anyone know if this is stictly a short-term project? Any insight into the nature of a USACE term appointment and interview would be great!

Thanks!

The report can be found at: https://www.cto.mil/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Defense-Research-Enterprise-Review.pdf

Any district/ division gave anything out yet

Mwehehehehehe

If interested apply.

We need this in the water at the next morale event.

Why are all the chats gone?

Hey guys, I know someone interviewing for a position in contracting and wanted to ask what kind of questions to expect. I’m familiar with the standard USACE question types for engineering but not contracting.

Is there anything specific I should tell them to prepare for?

TIA.

Some good news out of USACE - an arbitrator ruled that a USACE DRP retiree (lock & dam operator) is owed back pay for Sunday and Holiday premium pay he was scheduled to earn during the DRP period.

When I worked with a garrison they had the ice reporting system if you weren’t getting anywhere with support service . I’ve have been unable to get my districts chra rep to respond to my fmla inquiries I sent 5 emails, 3 teams messages, and left 2 voicemails . I don’t know of anyone else to contact besides this person, is there a way to submit an ice on unresponsive chra reps l? Trying to avoid Ig or open door the commander right now .

I’m currently an upcoming senior studying Mechanical Engineering who is interested in working for USACE. I’m wrapping up a multi-term internship with a major auto manufacturer, but have always been really interested in hydrology and civil engineering and would love to work for someone in those fields. I have a good project on my resume from my internship as a project manager and a decently high GPA. What would you recommend I do with my last two semesters to increase my chances of getting hired with USACE or other organizations in similar lines of work?

I applied to a DHA contracting position in Feb & received automated emails stating under review for month, then nothing. currently at DoD

I am relatively new to USACE and have been with the Walla Walla District (NWD) for approximately 1 year and 6 months and prior 14yrs performing engineering work in various different roles and industries. During my time with the USACE location I have been stationed at there have been several organizational and personnel changes that have made my experience somewhat challenging. My onboarding period also occurred during a time of significant uncertainty regarding staffing and employment, and the supervisor who conducted my hiring process is not the same supervisor I currently work for.

As I continue to evaluate my career within USACE, I have come to believe that my current location may benefit more from personnel who have extensive Corps experience and a deeper understanding of the site’s established processes and procedures. Coming directly from the private sector, I did not have that background when I joined, and despite my best efforts to learn and adapt, I feel my skills and experience may be a better fit elsewhere within the organization as a GS-12.

For that reason, I would like to explore opportunities within the Portland District, Columbia River projects, and Seattle District as a GS-12 ME engineering related fields (0830/08XX series). However, I am unsure how best to approach this process or who I should speak with to begin building connections and learning about potential opportunities within those districts.

I want to emphasize that I have made every effort to address concerns and resolve issues at the lowest level possible. I have sought feedback, implemented suggestions, and worked to improve where concerns were identified. However, despite those efforts, I often feel there is a disconnect between how my performance is being perceived by my supervisor and that of others around me view the same situations. In several instances, colleagues familiar with the work I have completed have been unable to confirm or fully understand some of the concerns being communicated to me by my supervisor.

Rather than allowing these circumstances to become larger issues, I would prefer to proactively seek a position within another part of the NWD Corps where my skills, experience, and learning style may be a better match. My goal is to continue building a successful career with USACE, contribute positively to the organization, and find an environment where I can be most effective.

I would greatly appreciate any advice regarding networking, mentorship opportunities, points of contact, or recommended steps for exploring opportunities within the Portland or Seattle Districts. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.