USACE Vicksburg District holds Change of Command Ceremony

VICKSBURG, Miss. – Col. Christopher D. Klein transferred command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District to Col. Jeremiah A. Gipson in a formal change of command ceremony today at district headquarters in Vicksburg, Mississippi. USACE Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) Commander and Mississippi River Commission (MRC) President Brig. Gen. Kimberly Peeples was the reviewing officer of the ceremony.

Gipson’s most recent assignment was as the Deputy Commander of the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) and as the Secretary of the Mississippi River Commission (MRC).

Gipson received his commission from the United States Military Academy in 2002. His previous assignments include Commander, 4th Engineer Battalion; Executive Assistant to the USINDOPACOM J3 Director for Operations; Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and environment; Operations Officer for the 130^th Engineer Brigade and 84^th Engineer Battalion; District J3, USACE Afghanistan Transatlantic – North; Project Manager, USACE Honolulu District; Commander, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment; Chief of Tactics, U.S. Army Engineer School; and he also deployed twice to Iraq with the 54^th Engineer Battalion.

He was a U.S. Army War College Fellow for the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from West Point, and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri. He is a graduate of the Joint and Combined Warfighting School; U.S. Army War College Defense Strategy Course; U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and the U.S. Army Engineer Officer Advanced and Basic Courses. He is also a registered Project Management Professional.

His awards include the Presidential Unit Citation; Joint Unit Meritorious Award; Navy Unit Commendation; Army Superior Unit Award; Bronze Star Medal; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal; Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals; Sapper Tab; Air Assault Badge; German Armed Forces Efficiency Badge; and the Army Staff Badge.

The USACE Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana that holds nine major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The Vicksburg District is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.