First in this series is the Emergency Management Division, which is led by Chief of Staff Robert Paluch. The Emergency Management Division is responsible for making sure that the Chicago District is not only prepared and ready to respond to a variety of emergencies within Chicago, but also across the nation. They maintain response teams and ensure that these teams are trained and able to fulfill their duties succinctly. In addition, the Emergency Management Division is consistently monitoring what is happening locally and nationally in order to stay updated. In general, this division primarily responds to natural disasters like hurricanes or tornados, however, they also respond to man-made disasters that heavily affect infrastructure.
During the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the Emergency Management Division had a crucial role in the development and expansion of alternative care facilities within Chicago. Not only was this Division tasked with getting these facilities up and running, but they also made a large impact by sending engineers and scientists to survey the production and supply of vaccines.
The Emergency Management Division impacts the rest of the Corps with their dependability when responding to disasters, as they have the ability and capability to pull help from anywhere within the Corps. They bring in these resources and get them where they need to go, and support and sponsor Corps employees in their overseas operations (that in turn support the Army and other Military units abroad). The Corps of Engineers have a vast array of engineering resources that the Emergency Management Division can supply, but their duty is always to supplement what the government is doing, not to eclipse their operations or decisions.
Stay tuned as we cover the Construction Branch in our next article. If you have comments or questions or just want to know more about the Chicago District, check out or Social Media pages and website listed below. ESSAYONS!