Ms. Karen Durham-Aguilera is the Executive Director of Army National Military Cemeteries and Arlington National Cemetery, serving as the Principal Advisor to the Secretary of the Army on all matters related to Army cemeteries. Ms. Durham-Aguilera administers and oversees policies; doctrine, plans and standards with all stakeholders to include the Army staff, major commands, and the other services. She establishes and sustains gravesite accountability, provides technical guidance, training, staff assistance, and inspections; adjudicates burial exceptions, disinterment, expansion requests at nearly 40 Army Cemeteries across the nation. As Executive Director, she oversees the nation’s premier military cemetery: over 6500 burials, 4000 ceremonies and 3.5 million visitors each year, and manages a $70.8M annual budget, $130M in existing major constructions and expansions, and the planning for a new $350M expansion.
2011-2017: SES Director, Contingency Operations and Office of Homeland Security, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Responsible for USACE Homeland Security mission in support of the Departments of Homeland Security, the Army, and the Defense. Served as the Agency Principal for all USACE efforts to assist Federal, state and local emergency management and response to prepare, respond and recover to any emergency or disaster, natural or manmade. Ms. Durham-Aguilera led the federal engineer response (over 2000 military/civilian personnel, roughly a $3 Billion effort) to numerous events, including hurricanes, tropical events, ice storms, river flooding, tornadoes, and landslides. Her portfolio included leading USACE efforts in flood risk management and critical water resources infrastructure resilience, and supporting Combatant Commands with forward field engineering assets for overseas contingency operations.
2007-2011: SES Director, Task Force Hope, New Orleans, LA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Durham-Aguilera planned, led, and delivered the Corps’ $14.6 Billion hurricane storm damage reduction system in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She led over 5000 military/civilian personnel in collaboration with academia, industry, research and development, and stakeholders. She also served as Program Manager for nearly 400 construction contracts and employed acquisition techniques unprecedented for Civil Works. This system performed as designed when Hurricane Isaac made landfall, August 2012, preventing catastrophic flooding, and loss of life and property damages such as occurred during Hurricane Katrina. The keystone project of this system received the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2014 Civil Engineering Achievement Award, the first time for USACE in its 50+ year history.
2003-2007: SES Director, Programs, Northwestern Division, Portland, OR, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Durham-Aguilera managed and led over 100 engineers and scientists, and five subordinate engineering districts (over 3000 personnel), responsible for $3.5 Billion in civil works and military programs, covering about 25% of the United States. She led the successful issuance of the Missouri River Master Manual, resolving 14 years of litigation across eight states, tribal nations, and numerous other entities. The Master Manual was upheld by the Supreme Court and continues to guide the operations and environmental compliance of the Missouri River main-stem dams.
2005: SES Director of Reconstruction Programs, U.S. Army Project and Contracting Office (PCO), Baghdad, Iraq. Joint Armed Forces Position. Ms. Durham-Aguilera deployed and led a workforce from all branches of the armed forces, multi-national civilians and Iraqi professionals, to deliver nearly 3,200 construction projects throughout Iraq. She also developed mentor-mentee network for Iraqi women engineer-owned businesses.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY:
EDUCATION:
SIGNIFICANT TRAINING AND LICENSES:
SIGNIFICANT AWARDS AND HONORS:
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS: