I don’t think it’s lost on many of us how important it is that Vicksburg is home to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center, affectionately referred to as the ERDC, but I do think everything these amazing people accomplish is worth us all taking a moment every so often to stand up and really take notice.

I’m thinking about it after my Leadership Vicksburg class took a tour of part of the campus Wednesday. It wasn’t my first time on the 700-acre campus, nor was it my first guided tour, but it was still my first time inside several of the labs we saw on Wednesday. And that’s kind of my point.

There is just so much going on at the ERDC on any given day that it’s likely impossible for even the employees to really have a sense of everything that is happening, let alone the public. And that’s without even mentioning that some of the work going on there is classified and can’t be discussed anyway.

And I could go on and on about the things I learned yesterday, from aquatic work using remotely controlled underwater vehicles to the way ERDC uses one of the world’s largest centrifuges, which is buried under a hill right here in town. But, what I really wanted to touch on is just how lucky we are that these brilliant men and women are doing all of those things just down the road from most of us at any given moment.

Over the last couple of weeks, I imagine we’ve all been a little on edge as D.C. has sent directives out almost daily – and at times seeming to conflict with one another – with many concerning federal workers like those at the ERDC. Despite this, Wednesday’s tour was one extremely professional person after the other explaining with pride (and probably as dumbed down as they know how to do) how they accomplish the important missions they are tasked with. 

These missions can’t be easy under the best of circumstances, so I feel sure the recent added pressures only complicate matters. So, I thought it made sense to let them know we appreciate the hard work they put in and the way they help us keep this country we love running, even when it may seem like the country isn’t loving them back.

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.