The Army’s top research and development facility changed commanders here Thursday, with its incoming top officer already a Vicksburg resident and its outgoing chief to remain here as a civilian.

The chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, presided as Col. James Rowan passed command of the Engineer Research and Development Center to Col. Richard Jenkins.

Jenkins accepted the command the week after he relinquished command of a Corps district in Iraq. His previous U.S. assignment was in Vicksburg, as deputy commander of the Mississippi Valley Division headquarters on Walnut Street.

Rowan has accepted a civilian job with the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory at ERDC on Halls Ferry Road and said he plans to begin work there in September.

At the ceremony Strock received ERDC’s Corps flag from Rowan and passed it to Jenkins, symbolizing Jenkins’ new command.

ERDC was formed in 1998 and has seven laboratories employing about 2,000 engineers, scientists and support personnel with an annual research program approaching $700 million. Four labs and the organization’s overall headquarters are based at Waterways Experiment Station, founded in 1928. The other three ERDC venues are in Champaign, Ill.; Hanover, N.H.; and Alexandria, Va.

A standing-room-only crowd of nearly 300 people attended Thursday’s ceremony in the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory building. More at ERDC’s other lab sites were connected by video.

ERDC has a commander who is a military officer and a director who is a civilian. The Army changes its military commander every two or three years.

Rowan’s retirement ended a 27-year career as an Army officer that began with his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1979. He noted that also in the WES audience Thursday were four other members of that class, at least one of whom had traveled several hundred miles to attend.

Dr. James Houston has been the ERDC director since 2000. In a recent organizational change at the Corps, Houston was given an additional job as the director of research and development for the entire Corps.

Jenkins said he’d spoken about the nature of such ceremonies the previous week at the Gulf Region Division’s North District headquarters in Tikrit, Iraq.

&#8220When I made those remarks I noted that ceremonies like this really aren’t about the outgoing and the incoming commander,” Jenkins said. &#8220They’re about the unit, the organizational colors, about the challenges and successes and celebrating the continuity of the organization.

&#8220Today I think it’s right to shine the spotlight a little bit brighter on Jim Rowan because we celebrate his great career, his great family and his success here as commander at ERDC.”

Strock spoke first at the ceremony, recapping Rowan’s career.

&#8220Of all the many accomplishments under his command one of his most impressive is how he earned the loyalty and respect of his employees,” Strock said. &#8220He is known for being a model leader who lives the Army values and for truly caring about the soldiers and civilians under his command. He always placed their concerns first and was always looking for ways to improve morale, such as bringing people together through social and professional activities.”

Rowan and Jenkins, also a West Point graduate, have each served as professors at the academy and, both beginning in 2003, tours of duty in Iraq.

Rowan’s, as deputy theater engineer for the combined joint task force of Operation Iraqi Freedom, began just after he and his wife, Janell, and their family moved to Vicksburg in July 2003. Rowan was also deployed to Louisiana with the Corps’ Task Force Hope following Hurricane Katrina, which struck Aug. 29.

&#8220Both are unforgettable and career-defining assignments,” Rowan said.

Rowan’s assignment to ERDC was his first in the Corps of Engineers, a 37,000-employee organization of mainly civilians, and he called it a highlight of his career. He said he’ll begin work in September as a civilian employee of the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory at WES.

&#8220I thought it might be hard to get used to a workforce here at the ERDC given that it’s a predominantly civilian group,” Rowan said. &#8220But in fact it’s been easy and it’s been a great pleasure. All of the positive aspects that I’d enjoyed working with military personnel and living in military communities have been true here with this assignment as well. The civilian workforce I’ve come to know here is as hardworking, dedicated and devoted to duty as any military organization.”

Under Rowan’s command ERDC was named the 2005 Army Research Laboratory of the Year. Among the programs for which it was cited was its testing and demonstration of technology for detecting unexploded ordnance that is expected to save the military money cleaning up current and former installations.

&#8220I don’t think for many years we’ll really understand how important that effort has been to our effort in the Global War on Terrorism,” Strock said.

Strock said Jenkins, who with his wife, Clare, and family has lived in Vicksburg for several years, is &#8220the perfect person at the perfect time to take on this role.”

In addition to the year Jenkins spent as commander of the district based in Tikrit, he was deployed to Iraq in 2003 as deputy commander and chief of staff for Task Force Restore Iraqi Oil.

&#8220He has a wide range of experience and is a tremendous leader and officer,” Strock said of Jenkins. &#8220I have no doubt that he will continue to accomplish great things here.”

Jenkins also cited three examples he’d seen while working in Iraq of the impact of ERDC’s work. Among them was improved technology for the rapid construction of strategic airfields.

&#8220I’ve been on the receiving end of the great things that these seven labs have done for the last few years,” Jenkins said. &#8220And I’ve come to depend on and admire everyone in this command.”