USACE Vicksburg District announces new Chief of Operations Division

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District has selected Cody Eckhardt as Chief of the Operations Division.

The Mission of the Operations Division is to provide quality engineering and other professional services for Flood Damage Reduction, Navigation, Hydropower Production, Recreation Management, Water Supply, Natural Resource Stewardship, Environmental Compliance, Emergency Operations and Support for Others. All programs are managed to ensure consistent and thorough implementation of policy, guidance, procedures and programs as directed by higher headquarters in such a manner that meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Eckhardt comes to the Vicksburg District from the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD), where he served as the Deputy Chief of Operations and Regulatory Division and the MVD Navigation Business Line Manager. Prior to this assignment, he was the MVD Lock and Dam Subject Matter Expert. Before coming to MVD, Eckhardt was at the Vicksburg District, where he served in the River Operations Branch as the Acting Chief of the Mat Sinking Unit, Chief of the Dredging Unit, Acting Chief of the Navigation Unit, and General Engineer in the Navigation Unit. He recently completed a 120-day detail as the Chief of Operations in the St. Paul District and has also served details as the HQ USACE Inland and Coastal Navigation Program Manager.

He is a graduate of the inaugural class of ERDC University and the MVD Emerging Leaders Program. He has been with USACE since 2003, when he began his career at the Vicksburg District in the Water Control Section. 

Eckhardt is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Mississippi.

A resident of Vicksburg, Eckhardt is married to Kristi, and they have two grown children.

The USACE Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds nine major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The Vicksburg District is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.