Almost wherever it looks–from Afghanistan's rugged terrain to the Mississippi's rolling waters–the Army Corps of Engineers is under fire. In Central Asia, Corps personnel with high-tech tools are on the ground, supporting the military campaign against Al Queda. The Sept. 11 attacks also thrust the Corps deeper into homeland security, with a role in the World Trade Center cleanup and steps to tighten protection at Corps locks and dams.
On another domestic front, the Corps is fighting a war of words, numbers and perceptions. For more than two years, the agency has faced ferocious criticism from environmental and other groups who charge it advances projects that are short on environmental protection or based on bad economics.