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Vicksburg District Holds Blessing of the Fleet Ceremony, Begins Revetment Season

Published Sept. 6, 2019
VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season.

The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season. The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season.

The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season. The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season.

The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season. The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season.

The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season. The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season.

The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season. The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work.

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District held a “Blessing of the Fleet” ceremony Sept. 4 to commemorate the deployment of the district’s Mat Sinking Unit and the official start of revetment season.

The ceremony was held at the Vicksburg District Harbor and included blessings from USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann, Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church and Rev. Carl Young, a crew member on the Mat Sinking Unit. Members of the Memphis District revetment team and representatives of the Mississippi Valley Division were also in attendance. District leadership, including Commander Col. Robert Hilliard and Chief of Operations Julie Vignes, spoke at the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the unit’s work. 

The unit has embarked on “yet another challenging yet vital season dedicated to delivering safe and reliable navigation up and down the Mighty Mississippi,” said Hilliard. “To the crew members departing today, we owe you our thanks and our gratitude. I wish you safety, and I wish you a successful season.”

The Mat Sinking Unit places hundreds of thousands of articulated concrete mats, also known as revetment, along the Mississippi River to protect flood control works, prevent riverbank erosion and provide navigable waterways for commercial transportation. The unit’s work spans the jurisdictions of the Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans districts and more than 1,500 river miles. 

District technical experts anticipate that the unit will lay approximately 256,000 mats this season and complete its mission in late February. During last year’s revetment season, which lasted from late July to early January, the unit placed more than 230,000 mats.

Unparalleled across the world, the Mat Sinking Unit is a feat of skilled labor and technological innovation. A mat sinking barge, a mat supply barge, quarter barges, spar barges, gantry cranes, bulldozers and motor vessels are among the equipment used by the unit to help maintain the Mississippi River’s stabilization and navigation. During revetment season, the unit acts as a floating city, providing lodging and dining for its nearly 300 crew members. This dedicated crew works 10-hour shifts and 12-consecutive-day work periods to execute the mission.

The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline levees. The district is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.

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Photos: (All photos taken by Jared Eastman, ACE-IT)

20190904-A-HE363-1002 - USACE Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann addressing the crowd.

20190904-A-HE363-1005 – Vicksburg District, Chief of Operations, Julie Vignes addressing the crowd.

20190904-A-HE363-1007 – Vicksburg District, Commander Col. Robert Hilliard addressing the crowd.

20190904-A-HE363-1055 - Rev. Sam Godfrey of Christ Episcopal Church blessing a Vicksburg District vessel.

20190904-A-HE363-1091 - Sergeant first class Helazquez and Chaplain Col. Bradford Baumann join in a prayer for the safety of the Vicksburg District Fleet.

 


Contact
Jessica Dulaney
601-631-5818
jessica.l.dulaney@usace.army.mil

Release no. 19-026