ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. Major General (MG) Richard L. Stevens, Deputy Chief of Engineers/Deputy Commanding General (DCG) of the USACE, visited the National Capital Region office of the Institute for Water Resources (IWR) on January 2017 as part of his installation tour in the region. During his visit, he received an overview brief of IWR’s water resources programs and capabilities from Director Bob Pietrowsky, met with IWR employees, and participated in an award ceremony which honored teams and individuals from across the Institute.
However, the focus of his dialog at IWR centered on the topic of leadership and importance of mentoring. He emphasized that the USACE leadership is committed to ensuring that people with the ability and interest in advancing to leadership levels within the agency are equipped with the right kind of skills and practical knowledge in order to navigate the structured career system.
As such, the DCG’s visit was an excellent opportunity for him to learn about IWR’s mentoring program which was established the previous year as a result of employee feedback in the 2016 Federal Employee Viewpoint (FEVS) and discussions with new hires.
Director Pietrowsky indicated that he “is delighted by the passion and active participation by both mentors and mentees in the program – which began organically with interest driven by new hires who helped shape the program. Currently approximately thirty employees at IWR are participating in the organized mentoring program and are learning techniques to develop mutually beneficial mentoring relationships”.
Major General Stevens became the Deputy Chief of Engineers/Deputy Commanding General in September 2014. In this role, he is second in command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has over 33,000 Civilian employees, and 700 Military personnel who provide project management and construction support to 250 Army and Air Force installations in more than 100 countries around the world.
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For more information, www.iwr.usace.army.mil
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IWR Mentoring Program POCs: Forrest B. Vanderbilt, and Emily A. Vuxton.