District employee receives national award

Jacksonville District
Published Nov. 4, 2014
Pablo Vazquez-Ruiz receives the Construction Management Excellence award from district commander, Col. Alan Dodd. The award recognizes district personnel who exhibit excellence in construction management and contract administration activities.

Pablo Vazquez-Ruiz receives the Construction Management Excellence award from district commander, Col. Alan Dodd. The award recognizes district personnel who exhibit excellence in construction management and contract administration activities.

The Construction Management Excellence (CME) award was presented to Pablo Vazques-Ruiz, Jacksonville District’s south Puerto Rico resident engineer, during a special ceremony Sept. 7 at the Corps’ Antilles office in San Juan ,  Puerto Rico.

District commander Col. Alan Dodd presented Vazquez-Ruiz with the national award. Vazquez-Ruiz received an additional recognition on behalf of South Atlantic Division’s (SAD) Chris Smith, chief of Construction and Engineering, for his support to the Design and Construction and Evaluation team during the construction of the Portugues Dam.

“USACE remains an integral part of our nation’s Army, and the strength of USACE is our people,” said Dodd. “Working together, we are engineering solutions for the nation’s toughest challenges. I’m very proud of the work USACE is doing and thank you, individually and collectively, for what you do each day.”

The CME is an award presented annually that recognizes district construction personnel who exhibit excellence in construction management and contract administration activities. This merit-based award is open to all personnel in General Schedule 0800 occupational series positions in district construction organization and programs, including military programs, civil works, hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste or environmental and support for others.

“Pablo really deserves this recognition as 2014 Construction Management Excellence Award recipient,” said Edwin Cuebas, chief, Quality Assurance branch. “Not only for the success of the Portugues Dam but for his 30 years of excellent service and dedication to the Corps of Engineers.”  

A native of Ponce and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus, Vazquez-Ruiz joined the Corps in 1979 and has been the resident engineer for the Ponce resident office since April 2001. In 2011, he was elected Jacksonville District’s Engineer of the Year.

“This honor is certainly a reflection of Pablo’s exceptional individual performance as resident engineer,” said Steve Duba, chief of Jacksonville District’s Construction Division. “He would be the first to say that it is also a reflection of the performance of a whole host of people throughout the district who contributed to the successful completion of the Portugues Dam.”