Maj. Gen. Robert F. Whittle, Jr. took command of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, during a ceremony presided over by Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, 54th Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in Cincinnati. Whittle, who previously served as Commandant for the U.S. Army Engineer School located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, pinned on his second star moments prior to assuming command from Maj. Gen. Mark R. Toy. Toy is set to take command of USACE, Mississippi Valley Division, located in Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 23.
As the new LRD commander, Whittle is responsible for directing federal water resource development in the Great Lakes and Ohio River basins with infrastructure valued at over $80 billion through seven engineer districts totaling over 4,200 people operating through a seventeen-state area.
Maj. Gen. Whittle has held a number of staff and command positions. His first duty assignment was in the 40th Engineer Battalion, Baumholder, Germany where he served as both Platoon leader and Company Executive Officer. As a captain, Maj. Gen. Whittle served as a Company Commander in 2nd Engineer Battalion in Camp Castle, Korea. He then worked as a Project Manager in the Philadelphia District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and as the Executive Officer to the Commanding General of the North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Following his graduation from the Command and General Staff College and School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he served as a plans officer in the 1st Infantry Division and the Battalion S3 of the 9th Engineer Battalion, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later served as the Executive Officer of the 9th Engineer Battalion and the Commander of Task Force Guardian in Schweinfurt, Germany.