Retiring Civilian Engineer Receives Bronze De Fleury Medal

The St. Louis Engineer District honored Brian Markert at a September retirement ceremony in St. Louis. The district expressed thanks for Markert’s dedication, leadership and commitment to serving the public mission, noting his lasting impact on projects and communities throughout the area.

Markert’s 32-year career as a civilian member of the Corps started in 1993 at Mark Twain Lake in northeast Missouri. He later moved to the Rivers Project Office in West Alton, Mo., working in natural resource and facilities management.

In 2001, he moved to the district’s Project Management office in St. Louis. Markert retired as the St. Louis District’s program manager for the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UPRR) Program (formerly the Environmental Management Program), a position he held for more than 20 years. In that position, he led a team of project managers with a portfolio of public water resource projects valued at more than $300 million in planning, design and construction throughout Illinois and Missouri.

Through the UMRR Program, Markert coordinated regionally with agency counterparts and partners in the Rock Island and St. Paul districts as well as the Mississippi Valley Division in Vicksburg, Miss. His public service career also included flood emergency response along the Illinois River, managing military construction projects in Japan and an assignment at Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Markert was presented with the Bronze De Fleury Medal from Lt. Gen. William “Butch” Graham, chief of engineers and commanding general of the Corps, a Meritorious Civilian Service Medal from Maj. Gen. Kimberly Peeples, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, and a certificate of appreciation from Col. Andy Pannier, commander of the St. Louis District.

The De Fleury Medal is the highest award for professional excellence and significant contributions to Army engineering, named after a French engineer in the Continental Army who was praised for his valor in battle in 1779 by the authors of the Declaration of Independence.

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Feature photo caption: Brian Markert (middle), program manager with the St. Louis Engineer District, receives the Bronze De Fleury Medal from Greg Kohler (left), chief of the district’s project management division, and John Peukert, deputy district engineer and chief civilian with the district. (Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Engineer District)