CONCORD, Mass. -- CONCORD, Mass. – In a change of command ceremony today at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, District Commander Col. Justin R. Pabis, PE, passed the command flag, signifying change of command authority of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New England, to the new District Commander Col. Charles W. Comfort, Jr.
Brig. Gen. Jesse T. Curry, Commander and Division Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division headquartered in New York City presided over the ceremony.
Comfort’s previous two assignments were the the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he earned a Master of Strategic Studies, and the 5th Battalion, 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade, where he supported the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.
See Comfort's bio for more details on Comfort’s career.
As District Engineer since July 28, 2023, Col. Pabis had many noteworthy accomplishments while managing Corps of Engineers responsibilities in the six-state New England region, overseeing civil works activities as well as engineering, construction, and real estate work for Army, Air Force and other DoD activities in the area.
Col. Pabis retired from the military earlier in the day during a brief ceremony preceding the change of command ceremony.
The custom of acknowledging a change in commanding officers of a military unit is a formal ceremony and dates back to Roman times, although its true origin is lost in prehistory. The ceremony emphasizes the continuity of leadership and unit identity, despite changes in individual authority, and also symbolizes the transfer of command responsibility from one individual to another. This transfer is physically represented by passing the Command Flag, the tangible symbol of the unit, from the outgoing commander to the next senior commander to the new commander.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ role in New England dates back to the country’s founding. An engineer force first proved its value in a military operation on American soil here in New England in June 1775 when Col. Richard Gridley, at the direction of Gen. George Washington, designed and built fortifications on Breed’s Hill for a confrontation that became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. Since then, Army engineers have been a sustaining forces in the field and have accomplished peacetime civil works missions that have helped develop a nation.
The New England District is responsible for managing USACE's Civil Works responsibilities in a 66,000-square-mile region encompassing the six New England states east of the Lake Champlain drainage basin.
The region has 6,100 miles of coastline, 13 deep draft commercial waterways, 13 major river basins, and thousands of rivers and streams. Within this area of operations, USACE has completed hundreds of Civil Works projects that benefit the New England community.
The missions of the New England District are many and varied. They include environmental remediation; flood risk management; natural resource management; streambank and shoreline protection; navigation improvements and maintenance; disaster and emergency assistance; regulatory administration; and engineering and construction management support to other agencies.
Current USACE water resource programs in the region deal primarily with flood control; navigation; water supply; operation and maintenance of completed projects, including the Cape Cod Canal; and the regulation of activities affecting U.S. waters and wetlands. Headquartered in Concord, Mass., the New England District is also involved in a myriad of environmental restoration programs, hurricane and shoreline protection, and studies concerning water supply and quality, dredge material disposal, low flow augmentation, and comprehensive studies of New England river basins. It also accomplishes a large and diverse program of work for other federal agencies, primarily in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program.
In accomplishing its basic missions, the New England District contributes to the region’s well-being in such areas as harbor improvement and maintenance, industrial and municipal water supply, irrigation, flood damage reduction, recreation, hydroelectric power generation, water quality, and conservation and natural resources. For more information about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District and the new District Commander Col. Charles Comfort check the USACE New England District website at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil.