Colonel Alvin B. “Al” Lee

Commander, New Orleans District
US Army Corps of Engineers

Col. Alvin B. “Al” Lee, the New Orleans District’s 60th commander and district engineer, took command on July 20, 2007. As district engineer, Lee is responsible for a district which, in tandem with the Hurricane Protection Office, is working on appropriations exceeding $7 billion for hurricane
restoration.

The New Orleans District’s jurisdiction includes 2,800 miles of navigable waterways, 1,300 miles of levees and floodwalls, eleven navigation locks, six major flood control structures, and other projects to create and protect coastal wetlands. Lee also serves as chairman of the federal-state Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, which oversees a $60 million annual program to protect and restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.

Lee’s previous assignment was as a fellow in the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows Program, assigned to Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, Ill. He comes with district-command experience, as his assignment previous to Caterpillar was as the commander and district engineer of the Charleston District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in Charleston, S.C.

Colonel Lee is a distinguished military graduate of Georgia Southern University and holds a masters degree in Engineering Management from St. Martins University. His military schooling includes the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College.

Other assignments include Operations Officer for 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment; 36th Engineer Group Assistant Operations Officer and Ranger Support Element Operations Officer; Instructor/Writer at the U.S. Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Ga.; Deputy Resident Engineer, Alaska District, Corps of Engineers, and Deputy Commander Forward, Rocky Mountain Area Office in Colorado Springs, Col., of the Omaha District, Corps of Engineers.

Other key command and staff positions include: Company Commander, 317th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized); Commander, Alaska Projects Office, Cold Regions Research Laboratory; Battalion Executive Officer of the 10th Engineer Battalion, and the Engineer Brigade Operations Officer, Third Infantry Division (Mechanized). Lee also served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom as the Deputy Commander for the Afghanistan Engineer District.

His military awards include the Legion of Merit; the Bronze Star Medal; the Meritorious Service Medal, with three oak-leaf clusters; the Army Commendation Medal, with five oak-leaf clusters; and the Army Achievement Medal, with two oak-leaf clusters. He is a recipient of the Bronze de Fleury medal, and earned the Parachutist’s Badge.