BECOMING ERDC

Military spending and priorities changed significantly during the early 1990s following the end of the Cold War. Reductions in funding prompted the DOD to streamline, with new strategies focused on rapid deployment and a reconfigured command structure.

In 1996, Lt. Gen. Ballard set a goal of consolidating USACE’s eight research laboratories and restructuring the organization’s civil works districts.

The plan aimed to share support functions, reduce overhead, make the laboratories more efficient, and enhance multidisciplinary teaming, critical in the fastmoving environment. Reports indicated competition among laboratories was confusing to customers and sometimes resulted in lost business.

Led by USACE Director of Research and Development Dr. Lewis E. “Ed” Link, the laboratories’ directors worked together to develop a plan for consolidation under a unified command.

On Oct. 1, 1998, orders were issued creating the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).

One of the first decisions in the consolidation plan was where the organization’s headquarters would be located. Consideration was given to Fort Belvoir’s Humphreys Engineering Center, already home to TEC, due to its proximity to the U.S. Capitol and USACE headquarters. Ultimately, leaders chose Vicksburg’s WES campus, the largest existing research and development site in terms of laboratories, personnel and acreage.

ERDC’s initial iteration had eight laboratories. The number became seven in October 2000 when the Structures Laboratory merged with the Geotechnical Laboratory to become Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL). The combined laboratory had 360 personnel, with two major divisions and six technical support centers focused on airfields, concrete, materials, soil mechanics, centrifuge research and TeleEngineering. Dr. Michael O’Connor helped guide the merger and was the laboratory’s first director.

A key element of consolidating USACE research and development laboratories under a single organization involved combining support functions under one commander. In April 1998, Lt. Gen. Ballard selected newly appointed WES Commander Col. Robin R. Cababa as ERDC’s first commander. Col. Cababa was also given the chief financial officer responsibility for all business, site and financial operations to create a streamlined organizational structure.

As USACE leaders searched for the right person to serve as ERDC’s first civilian director, USACE Director of Research and Development Dr. Ed Link filled in on an acting basis. By March 2000, Link persuaded Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) Director Dr. James Houston to assume the directorship

Houston’s leadership steered ERDC through its early growing pains, bringing greater stability and a more cohesive culture.

By 2009, ERDC’s budget had grown to nearly three times what it had been when Houston became director.

Under the leadership of Houston and new Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Director Dr. Jeffery Holland, a new vision emerged to move ITL beyond providing services to becoming a partner in solving engineering problems using technology. This effort was enhanced by USACE’s decision to create the Army Corps of Engineers Information Technology (ACE-IT). When ACE-IT was launched in 2007, it took over technical services, enabling ITL to become more research-focused

The orders establishing the new R&D organization called for consolidating its laboratories under a new technical program by Oct. 1, 1999, one year after ERDC’s official establishment. A hallmark of the plan called for technical directors who would work across multiple laboratories focused on a single problem, customer or solution set. Although business lines evolved in the early years, by 2003 there were four consolidated business areas: Battlespace Environment (renamed Geospatial Research and Engineering in 2007), Environmental Quality/ Installations, Military Engineering and Civil Works.