Vicksburg, Miss……Pat Chambers, Supervisory Engineer with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District, recently returned from a 16-month deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan, in support of Overseas Contingency Operations.
During his first nine-month tour, Chambers served in several capacities. As the lead civil engineer with Operations Division, Chambers was responsible for reviewing construction submittals for constructability and feasibility. He also served as project manager for 15 projects valued at over $12,000,000 and served as lead project manager and facility engineer for all construction, repairs, communication infrastructure, force protection construction, and base camp master planning to relocate the Engineer District to an alternate forward operating base in concert with the drawdown of forces.
Chambers was selected to return for a second tour to assume the duties as operations branch chief and was responsible for management of services contracts valued at $875,000,000. These services provided operations and maintenance services to Afghan National Army and police bases throughout Afghanistan.
"I enjoyed the opportunities this deployment has provided, but it will be good to be home with family. Having served in Iraq in 2006 on active duty, these past 16 months close the loop for me, as I have now served in both theaters, once as a soldier and now as a civilian,” Chambers said.
Chambers will resume his roles as chief of the Navigation Section and assistant chief of River Operations Branch in the Operations Division at the Vicksburg District.
He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. He retired as a major in the U. S. Army Reserves in 2010.
A native of Monroe, Louisiana, he and his wife, the former Jennifer Barras of Houma, Louisiana, are the parents of three children. His parents, Merrell and Mike Chambers, reside in Monroe.
The Corps supports the U. S. Army by deploying members of its civilian workforce who volunteer to support the Army’s mission worldwide. Since 2002, the Vicksburg District has deployed over 180 civilians to Iraq and Afghanistan. This civilian workforce provides a unique expertise to the fighting forces, including a reach-back capability that taps the expertise of the Corps of Engineers as a whole. The Corps continues to play a key role in defense operations as well as responding to natural disasters, both at home and abroad.
Release no. 14-038