Jan. 1, 2011
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Washington, D.C. — Rhonda Taylor has been selected as director of the USACE Reachback Operations Center (UROC).
"The UROC is the central hub for conducting the USACE Field Force Engineering (FFE) technical engineer reach-back mission," said Taylor. "The best thing about leading an organization like this one is working with talented individuals who are all passionate about their work and supporting the Warfighter.
"Having the opportunity to pull these diverse technical backgrounds together and provide a solution to a problem for the Warfighter is very satisfying. Knowing that I lead a team of individuals with the same passion for providing the best technologies and solutions to the deployed personnel is very humbling."
As director, Taylor is charged with ensuring success of the overall operational support to the UROC mission and determining research and development needs to support FFE and the USACE all-hazards response missions. She will also execute UROC day-to-day operations and facilitate requests for information, training and hardware development, as well as working with budget constraints to provide long- and short-term resources.
Taylor began her ERDC career in 1985, as a physical scientist in GSL. After a brief stint with Hilton Systems, Inc., she returned to ERDC in 1989 as a research geologist in the Mobility Systems Division. Her work with tele-engineering began in 1998, when she accepted the position of deputy of the ERDC TeleEngineering Operations Center (TEOC). She served in that role for five years before being named director of the organization, where she remained until the TEOC became the UROC in early 2009.
After the creation of the UROC, Taylor was chosen to serve as deputy director, the position she held prior to being named director.
"I have a variety of goals in mind, but the one that stands out is continuing to ensure high quality, innovative science and technology solutions to support the Warfighter and disaster operations are pushed to the field as soon as possible," said Taylor. "The ERDC is on the cutting edge of technology and I want to ensure that we have avenues to push these technologies as quickly as we can to save lives."
Taylor earned a bachelor's in geology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Past awards and honors include 2009 ERDC Supervisor of the Year, the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal and the Herbert D. Vogel Award.