The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division, carries out a wide range of missions across 13 states in the Northeast, as well as in Europe, Africa and other locations around the world. The primary objective of the division is to provide essential engineering solutions, in collaboration with partners, that ensure the security of the nation, stimulate economic growth and mitigate the risk of disasters.

With about 3,600 employees, the North Atlantic Division supports about 23% of the U.S. population and provides support to three combatant commands. In fiscal 2023, the division executed a nearly $6 billion program across its diverse portfolio.

In the contemporary landscape of military strategy, the concept of lethality stands at the forefront of priorities for the U.S. Army. As the dynamics of global security evolve, ensuring the Army’s capability to respond swiftly and effectively to emerging threats becomes increasingly paramount. Amid this imperative, the North Atlantic Division emerges as a critical force, orchestrating initiatives aimed at bolstering Army lethality on multiple fronts.

Readiness Role

At the heart of the Army’s lethality lies its readiness to deploy and engage in diverse operational environments. The North Atlantic Division plays a pivotal role in fortifying this readiness by spearheading critical infrastructure projects across its area of responsibility. From constructing state-of-the-art training facilities to modernizing military installations, the Corps ensures that the Army’s operational platforms remain primed for peak performance.

The North Atlantic Division has experience and technical competence in subjects from planning and design to construction. Even real estate acquisition falls under the division’s responsibilities. The division’s real estate mission manages over 1,269  facilities, including U.S. General Services Administration spaces and all armed forces recruiting offices within the division’s area of responsibility. The real estate mission also includes hotel lodging facilities on approximately 41 military installations, and about 88,000 homes across 51 installations.

On military installations, the division’s missions also help ensure secure design and safe construction of buildings such as training facilities and storage warehouses.

These are just a few capabilities allowing North Atlantic Division teams to engineer the best solutions to support a capable and resilient force that dominates the field.

Enabling Deployment

In an era characterized by the need for agile and responsive military forces, the ability to deploy swiftly and effectively assumes unparalleled significance. The North Atlantic Division facilitates this imperative by enhancing strategic mobility infrastructure vital to rapid troop deployment. Through construction and maintenance of ports, airfields and transportation networks, the Corps of Engineers enables seamless movement of personnel and equipment, thereby augmenting the Army’s lethality by ensuring swift response capabilities.

The North Atlantic Division’s projects comprise a quarter of the military construction workload executed by the Corps of Engineers—the largest across the enterprise. The division executes a military construction and a Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization annual workload valued at around $2.7 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. From housing cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to providing schools for military children in Wiesbaden, Germany, the North Atlantic Division supports warfighters and their families. The division also supports wider defense operations by partnering with DoD and other government agencies for construction of operational facilities and administrative buildings.

The division supports mission requirements at 42 Army installations, 13 Air Force bases and 16 DoD and host-nation partner installations. This support helps ensure that warfighters and their families have their needs met at home and abroad in the most innovative and sustainable facilities available, so they can work and live in secure, modern environments.

Strategic Channels

In the Northeast region alone, there are nearly 2,700 miles of navigation channels maintained by the Corps of Engineers. These include harbors, rivers and coastal waterways, all of which are vital to facilitating transportation of commercial goods, military supplies and people across the region. DoD facilities rely on these navigation channels for fuel supply, equipment delivery and support for shipyards.

For example, the division’s Ready Reserve Dredge McFarland, based out of Philadelphia, plays a key role in ensuring channels throughout the region are navigable. By using dredged waterways, such as those in Norfolk Harbor, Virginia, aircraft carriers, destroyers and other naval vessels can move through the harbor to deploy across the world on military missions. The division’s maintenance of two strategic defense ports at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Philadelphia also ensures that warfighters are always ready to join the fight, and that needed resources are there from the start.

The commercial and strategic impact of maintaining these waterways can’t be discounted. Approximately a third of waterborne tonnage in the U.S. is processed through the division’s five major ports: Boston, New York and New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk. Additionally, the ability to project predominately naval military power from U.S. ports is critical to protecting the nation’s economy and ensuring sea lanes remain open for trade.

Emergency Response

In many emergencies across the globe, the Corps plays a key role in response operations. Responsible for maintenance of crucial waterways, dams, levees and military construction projects, the North Atlantic Division’s mission is critical to both economic stability and national security.

The catastrophe of the March 26 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge demonstrates how vital waterways—and the ports connected to them—are to the nation’s economy. This disaster also emphasized the impact of the division’s emergency response work. During this mission, the division has worked as a unified command with the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, and other partners in industry and all levels of government to provide expertise and the most innovative technology and research available to ensure the safety and efficiency of response teams.

In disasters such as the Key Bridge collapse, the North Atlantic Division deploys experts in debris removal, diving, surveying, dredging and many disciplines to provide support for emergency operations. The division works closely with partners like the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support missions related to national security, clearing navigational hazards and port reconstitution after natural or man-made disasters.

The division also provides critical harbors of refuge for adequate port spacing to allow Coast Guard search-and-rescue operations to meet mandated minimum response times. These efforts allow the U.S. to remain ready to provide rapid-deployment capabilities when needed.

Central to the notion of lethality is pursuit of combat superiority through technological innovation and advancement. The North Atlantic Division contributes to this pursuit by leveraging cutting-edge engineering solutions to enhance military capabilities. Whether through development of advanced fortifications, implementation of energy-efficient technologies or integration of cyberdefense mechanisms, the Corps remains at the vanguard of innovation, continually enhancing the Army’s lethality in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Command Support

The division also provides direct support to U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command.

In Europe, the division advances infrastructure capacity development and partner-nation projection through several lines of activity. The Europe District’s portfolio accounts for roughly 75% of military construction in the theater. The North Atlantic Division supports construction projects that ensure secure storage of combat supplies and vehicles, and the well-being of military personnel abroad.

Examples of these projects include the Long-Term Equipment Storage and Maintenance Complex in Poland and the Rhine Ordnance Barracks Medical Center, which will replace the current Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in 2027, in Germany. The division’s projects in the theater support both U.S. defense posture and allies, such as those in NATO, in their strategic defense against regional adversaries.

In Africa, the North Atlantic Division also works to advance regional security and strengthen partnerships. Infrastructure projects include construction of facilities that support partner capacity, humanitarian assistance, Foreign Military Sales, science and technology, and water security.

Coordinating with allies and partners, the North Atlantic Division supports these combatant commands as they enable global operations and counter transnational threats to defend the homeland forward, and promote security and stability in the region.

Mission-Ready Support

In the realm of modern warfare, resilience stands as a cornerstone of effective military operations. The North Atlantic Division plays a pivotal role in fortifying this by bolstering critical infrastructure resilience measures. Through construction of resilient facilities, the implementation of flood protection systems and development of sustainable energy solutions, the Corps ensures that Army installations remain operational and mission-ready, even in the face of adversity.

Abroad, the division also provides expertise to the theater operational plan and has directly supported warfighters through deployment of Field Force Engineering Teams as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve rotations to Europe since 2015. The division has two Forward Engineer Support Teams-Advance composed of both civilian and military personnel with expertise in various engineering specialties. They provide direct engineering planning and design support and infrastructure assessments to enhance the resiliency of allied forces and communities across the globe.

The culmination of the Corps’ efforts are warfighters and units well-prepared to attain dominance anywhere in the world that U.S. service members are called upon, directly supporting the Army’s four priorities: warfighting, delivering ready combat formations, continuous transformation and strengthening the Army profession.

As the Army continues to navigate the complexities of contemporary security challenges to meet these priorities, the imperative of lethality remains steadfast. Through its unwavering dedication and steadfast commitment to excellence, the North Atlantic Division stands as a linchpin in realizing this imperative.

By engineering readiness foundations, enabling rapid deployment capabilities, fostering innovation and strengthening resilience, the Corps of Engineers ensures that the Army remains poised to confront and overcome emerging threats with unparalleled effectiveness.

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Brig. Gen. John Lloyd is the commander and division engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division, Fort Hamilton, New York. Previously, he was chief of staff, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has served in a variety of command positions during his military career. He has a master’s in joint campaign and strategic planning from the National Defense University.