Topic: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (ASACW)

A number of Army activities traditionally have been referred to as Civil Functions of the Department of the Army . These include the Civil Works Program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Arlington and the Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemeteries; and the foreign activities of the Corps of Engineers not exclusively in support of military forces overseas. A variety of funding sources--for example, the annual Energy and Water Development Appropriations Acts in the case of the Civil Works Program--finance these activities.
In addition, several Congressional Committees--for example, the House Subcommittee on Compensation, Pension, Insurance and Memorial Affairs of the Committee on Veterans Affairs in the case of Arlington National Cemetery--provide legislative oversight. Despite these differences in financing and oversight from other Army programs, these civil functions are integral to the overall vision of the Army in the service it provides to the Nation.
Through specific statutory provisions enacted by Congress, General Orders from the Secretary of the Army and internal Department of the Army regulation, the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) is assigned responsibilities for these civil functions. Congress established the position of ASA (CW) in Section 211 of the Flood Control Act of 1970, PL 91-611. The position and its purpose were reaffirmed in Section 501 of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, PL 99-433 .The specific duties of ASA (CW) are enumerated in General Orders No. 1, . The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA (CW)) has as the principal responsibility overall supervision of the functions of the Department of the Army relating to all aspects of the civil works program. Among the specific responsibilities of the ASA (CW) are:
a. Managing the Department of the Army Civil Works program for conservation and development of the national water resources, including flood control, navigation, shore protection, and related purposes, including -
(1) Developing, defending, and executing the Army Civil Works legislative and financial program and budget.
(2) Administering of the Department of the Army regulatory programs to protect, restore, and maintain the waters of the United States in the interest of the environment, navigation, and national defense.
(3) Serving as Congressional liaison on civil works matters and as the Department of the Army point of contact for House and Senate Authorization and Appropriations Committees charged with oversight of the Department of the Army civil works program.
(4) Ensuring U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works program support for other Federal agencies.
b. Formulating the program and overseeing the budget of the Arlington National Cemetery and the Soldiers' and Airmen's home National Cemetery.
c. In coordination with the DCSOPS (SSR), directing the foreign activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, except those foreign activities that are exclusively in support of United States military forces overseas.