Posted on July 5, 2021
NORFOLK, Va. – Col. Brian P. Hallberg will assume command of the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in a change of command ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. July 8 at the city’s Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center.
The public may view the ceremony live on the District’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Col. Hallberg, who graduated in 1999 from U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he received his commission as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, succeeds Col. Patrick V. Kinsman, who has commanded the district since 2018.
Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Tickner, commander and Division Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division, will preside over the ceremony. The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition that serves to ensure a unit and its personnel are never without official leadership.
As commander of Norfolk District, Hallberg will manage USACE’s water resources development and navigable waterways operations for the Rappahannock, York, James and Chowan river basins, and the Chesapeake Bay coastal basin. Hallberg will also be responsible for the Corps’ military design and construction projects for Army, Army Reserve and Air Force military installations throughout Virginia. He also will manage regulatory, environmental restoration, flood risk reduction (including hurricane and storm damage reduction) and disaster response activities.
Hallberg, a native of San Jacinto, Calif., has a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a Master of Science Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Texas A&M University. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where he earned a master’s degree in Strategic Studies.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first established a permanent presence in Virginia on July 1, 1879, when Capt. Charles B. Phillips opened the U.S. Engineers Office in the Norfolk Custom House. The Army designated the Norfolk U.S. Engineers Office a “District” in 1908 and, in 1918, assigned its geographic boundaries. In 1923, the 27 employees of the Norfolk District moved into Fort Norfolk, an historic star fort built in 1795 to guard the Elizabeth River approach to the city.
Today, Norfolk District is comprised of about 400 Department of the Army civilians and a small staff of Army officers who work together at the district’s Fort Norfolk headquarters and at numerous field offices throughout Virginia.
