COE Thinks Systems

I attended the 2010 Water Resources Initiative Workshop in Arlington, Texas last week. The event was sponsored by the Dallas and Fort Worth Posts of the Society of American Military Engineers. One of the speakers was Gary Loew, Chief Programs Division Directorate of Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The primary focus and message of Mr. Loew's presentation was the fiscal year 2011 budget, a projection of out year budgets, and Mr. Loew's alternative views on the civil works mission and budgeting process. The civil works component of the Corps has basically two fundamental missions - - navigation and flood control.

The Corps budgeting process is under pressure from two significant forces and trends. The first is external. External budget pressures from entitlement programs and servicing of the the national debt will be problematic in the context of adequately funding the civil works mission. To compound this problem, the cost of recapitalizing critical infrastructure has increased. This is due primarily to improved inspection techniques, compliance with modern design standards, and the cost of meeting new environmental regulations and legal requirements. Because of increasing global demand in the developing world, the cost of construction items (i.e., fuel, steel, and concrete) is increasing faster than the overall CPI. All of these combined forces puts the COE civil works budgeting process under tremendous pressure.

The Corps budgeting issues are compounded by what Loew refers to as the "Civil Works Mission Problem." The civil works problem, like many other elements under the national infrastructure umbrella, is essentially a strategic planning problem. There really is no national strategic plan for critical national infrastructure. Too many political views. No shared common vision. No sense of national purpose. Too political and not enough strategic. The mission breaks down into nothing more than a list of projects spread as wide geographically as possible - - the longer and wider the project lists - - the better.

The limited money era is going to require a smarter and more competitive Corps - - and Loew has identified what he considers are the key issues and ideas. Loew wants a more strategic focus - - have a view of the entire system with specific system goals and priorities. Define the systems - - develop system priorities - - be able to defend the system funding needs. Create a network of creative, proactive, and focused system stakeholders. This is an important idea - - the engineer operating in the limited money era must be able to have a system focus - - system thinking, system analysis, and system design. You also need to fully understand the other systems that interface with your system of interest - - be it economic, financial, cultural, social and political.

The future is systems thinking - - especially in the limited money era.