Updated: Army Announces Changes in Senior Corps of Engineers Positions

Maj. Gen. William H. (Butch) Graham Jr. has been named the Army’s deputy chief of engineers and the Corps’ deputy commanding general.
*Photo Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers*

The U.S. Army has announced a batch of promotions and new assignments among its senior ranks, including several changes in leadership positions at the Corps of Engineers, at its headquarters and in key divisions.

The new Corps personnel moves are among more than 30 that the Army announced on Deb.18. Such announcements are typical for the Army, including the Corps. The officers will begin their new assignments later this year at change-of-command ceremonies.

The most-senior change at the Corps is the appointment of Maj. Gen. William H. (Butch) Graham Jr., to be the Army’s deputy chief of engineers and the Corps’ deputy commanding general—the No. 2 position at the Corps.

Graham has been the Corps' deputy commanding general of civil and emergency operations since 2020.

He will succeed Maj. Gen. Richard Heitkamp, who has been the deputy chief since February 2021. There has been no formal announcement about Heitkamp's next assignment, a Corps spokesman told ENR via email.

Succeeding Graham in the civil and emergency operations position is Maj. Gen David C. Hill, who has been commandant of the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., since September 2021.

The Army's Chief of Engineers and Corps commanding general, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, remains in his positions. Corps chiefs typically serve terms of about four years. Spellmon has been chief since September 2020.

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Among other new changes, Brig. Gen. Kimberly A. Peeples was named commanding general of the high-profile Mississippi Valley Division, headquartered in Vicksburg, Miss. Peeples has led the Great Lakes and Ohio River Div. since June 2021.

She succeeds Maj. Gen. Diana M. Holland, who has led the Mississippi Valley Div. since June 2020. Holland will relinquish command of the division in July and retire from the Army after 33 years of active duty service, the Corps spokesman says.

Brig. Gen Mark C. Quander will move from his position as commandant of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to be commanding general of the Corps’ Great Lakes and Ohio River Div., succeeding Peeples.

Maj. Gen. Kimberly M. Colloton will remain deputy commanding general for military operations, a post she assumed last August.

Story updated on 2/24/23 with information about Maj. Gen. Holland's plans and about Maj. Gen. Heitkamp.

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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