ROCK ISLAND, Illinois. – Command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, will change hands Thursday, May 24, during a ceremony on Arsenal Island at the Clock Tower Building beginning at 10 a.m.
Col. Steve M. Sattinger will become the 49th Rock Island District commander, assuming command from Col. Craig S. Baumgartner who has served in the position since June 5, 2015. Maj. Gen. Richard G. Kaiser, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division commander, will officiate the ceremony.
Sattinger, an Army officer with 22 years of service, arrives at the Rock Island District after serving as director of the Maneuver Support Battle Lab, part of the Capability Development and Integration Directorate at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. As the new Commander, Sattinger takes responsibility of a District that encompasses 78,000 square miles in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. With headquarters in the Quad Cities on Arsenal Island, the Rock Island District administers federal water resource programs in the Upper Midwest with nearly 900 employees carrying out a variety of missions to include maintaining river navigation, flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, emergency management, regulatory functions and providing recreational opportunities.
Change of command ceremonies have been carried out for centuries. It is a military tradition steeped in heraldry and its purpose is to emphasize the continuity of leadership and unit identity despite changes in individual authority. The tradition is continued as the Rock Island District passes its command flag from the outgoing commander to the incoming commander.
Release no. 18-032