{"id":98564,"date":"2024-01-23T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=98564"},"modified":"2024-01-25T00:14:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T00:14:28","slug":"becoming-an-army-engineer-to-continue-a-life-of-service-all-over-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=98564","title":{"rendered":"Becoming an Army Engineer to continue a life of service all over the world"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Curious Gabonese school children look on as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Capt. Ben Ketchum conducts a final inspection of drainage improvements at the Mabanda Primary School in Gabon with a contractor February 23, 2023. Ketchum supports humanitarian assistance projects like this in several countries in Europe and Africa as an Army engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District. (U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Lisa C. Berg)
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\n A young Ben Ketchum plays with Beninese children in 2002 while his family was in the country with a hospital ship his father captained that was associated with the non-profit Mercy Ships organization. The ship and its crew provided surgical care to impoverished communities in developing countries all over the world. Growing up around that instilled a desire to serve others in Ketchum and he ultimately joined the U.S. Army as an engineer where he is now a captain with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and supporting humanitarian assistance and other projects in Benin and several other countries in Africa and Europe. ((Courte(Courtesy photo)
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\n U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Capt. Ben Ketchum and Staff Sgt. Ed Achana with the U.S. Libreville Embassy Office of Security Cooperation pose with local Gabonese school children at the recently renovated Mabanda Primary School February 23, 2023. Ketchum supports humanitarian assistance projects like this in several countries in Europe and Africa as an Army engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District and has said a large part of what drove him to join the Army was his desire to serve others and help communities all over the world. (Courtesy photo)
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\n The local Beninese construction site lead and the contractor site supervisor pose with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Chris De Pooter and Europe District Project Engineer Capt. Ben Ketchum after an inspection of the recently completed boat launch project in Cotonou, Benin September 29, 2022. Being in Benin was a return for Ketchum who had previously been in Benin as a child while traveling with his family aboard a hospital ship associated with the non-profit Mercy Ships organization. Growing up in that environment instilled a desire to serve others in Ketchum and he ultimately joined the U.S. Army as an engineer where he supports humanitarian assistance and other projects in Benin and several other countries in Africa and Europe. (Courtesy photo)
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WIESBADEN, Germany — When Capt. Ben Ketchum celebrated his 12th birthday at a hotel in the West African nation of Benin back in 2002, he would have never guessed that he\u2019d be back in that same hotel nearly 20 years later traveling as an engineer officer with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This most recent visit was to conduct inspections on a series of construction projects while his first visit took place while living with his family aboard a non-profit hospital ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a wonderfully fulfilling and somewhat surreal experience being back in Benin. The country has changed tremendously, but little things I remember as a kid are exactly the same\u2014the hotel even had the same pizza on the menu I remember from my 12th birthday,\u201d Ketchum said. \u201cBenin has really come a l long way since the last time I was there when my family was serving onboard the M\/V Anastasis in 2002.\u201d<\/p>\n

The M\/V Anastasis was part of the fleet of hospital ships associated with the non-profit Mercy Ships organization, which provides surgical care to impoverished communities in developing countries all over the world. Ketchum\u2019s father, now a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, was then the ship\u2019s captain. Ketchum\u2019s whole family lived aboard the ship continuously for three years, traveling and supporting their mission.<\/p>\n

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\n A young Ben Ketchum, lower right, is pictured here with his family aboard the hospital ship his father, Clem Ketchum, top left, captained that was associated with the non-profit Mercy Ships organization. Clem, now a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel; Ketchum\u2019s mother Jennifer, a retired U.S. Coast Guard captain; and Ketchum\u2019s brother Will, now a U.S. Army captain serving as a general surgeon, spent years traveling and providing medical care to impoverished communities around the world. Ben, now Capt. Ben Ketchum chose to continue his family\u2019s legacy of serving others as an engineer officer in the U.S. Army and now supports humanitarian assistance and other projects in several countries in Africa and Europe as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District. (Courtesy photo)
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\u201cMercy Ships is an incredible volunteer\/non-profit organization that operates and maintains multiple hospital ships crewed by hundreds of highly qualified volunteers, medical professionals, and their families,\u201d Ketchum said. \u201cI think the biggest take-away from that experience growing up was the tremendous potential for good that just a few people can have if they are properly organized and motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being a part of that organization and his family being dedicated to that kind of global service made a lasting impact on Ketchum. He knew he wanted to find a career that would allow him to continue the same kind of service to others all over the world. He saw the U.S. Army as that opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the Army and Mercy Ships are vastly different organizations in terms of mission-sets, there are a lot of parallels in terms of service and the capacity to do incredible things while supporting and being supported by a great community,\u201d Ketchum said.<\/p>\n

Ketchum started his uniformed service enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, but was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point through a special program to admit top enlisted personnel from the U.S. Army and other services.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy primary reason for joining was to give back to the country that has already given my family so much. I wanted to support and defend the core values of America and hopefully gain a few skills to help some people out along the way,\u201d Ketchum said. \u201cI originally enlisted in the Coast Guard Reserve prior to the Army and did a \u2018moonshot\u2019 college application to West Point that wound up accepting me. They told me later that I was actually the first member of the Coast Guard to ever be accepted into West Point which was really wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since graduating from West Point nearly 10 years ago he has had the opportunity to make an impact as a 12A engineer officer in the U.S. Army. This has included leading crews fighting wildfires in California to managing construction of security infrastructure in Iraq, and traveling to places all over the world like Australia, Korea and Guam to name a few.<\/p>\n

Those experiences were all before his current assignment as project engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District\u2019s Special Projects Resident Office. The SPRO manages construction of a wide range of projects in Europe and Africa in support of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command. These are mostly humanitarian assistance projects and projects designed to bolster the capabilities of partner nations.<\/p>\n

Europe District\u2019s Special Projects Resident Engineer Angela Tugaoen oversees the SPRO team, which oversees more than 60 projects spread across more than 25 countries. She said making an impact is part of what drives the whole team, which is why Ketchum fits right in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SPRO team delivers a lot of \u2018low-cost, high impact\u2019 humanitarian assistance projects like schools, medical facilities, and projects all over Europe and Africa delivered in close coordination with our Corps of Engineers teammates, local governments and U.S. Embassy partners,\u201d Tugaoen said. \u201cOur SPRO team of 8 project engineers is a mix of civilians, military officers, and foreign local nationals — and Capt. Ketchum is a great addition to the team not only because of his capabilities as a project engineer but because of his desire to make an impact and ability to inspire others to do the same. The whole team is really invested in the powerful positive effects these projects have on their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ketchum\u2019s work in the SPRO is what brought him full circle, back to Benin where he helped oversee construction of a new boathouse and boat ramp in Cotonou, Benin. The project was funded by U.S. Africa Command and has increased the capacity of Beninese maritime forces to combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.<\/p>\n

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\n The local Beninese construction site lead and the contractor site supervisor discuss a recently completed boat launch project in Cotonou, Benin with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District project engineers Capt. Ben Ketchum and Chris De Pooter September 29, 2022. Being in Benin was a return for Ketchum who had previously been in Benin as a child while traveling with his family aboard a hospital ship associated with the non-profit Mercy Ships organization. Growing up in that environment instilled a desire to serve others in Ketchum and he ultimately joined the U.S. Army as an engineer where he supports humanitarian assistance and other projects in Benin and several other countries in Africa and Europe. (Courtesy photo)
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Benin is just one of the more than two dozen countries where the SPRO team has projects.<\/p>\n

In addition to Benin, Ketchum supports projects in Togo, Gabon and Niger in Africa and in Balkan nations like Serbia and Croatia in eastern Europe. He said while he\u2019s been a part of several memorable projects, certain ones stick out more than others. One of those was the completion of renovations to pediatric pulmonary wing at one of the major hospitals in Belgrade, Serbia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facility serves hundreds of the most at-risk patients, which includes children from all over the country,\u201d Ketchum said. \u201cBeing able to deliver that project into the community was a proud moment for the office and a humbling experience to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the direct impact on peoples\u2019 lives and entire communities that really resonates with Ketchum regarding projects being delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Europe District, the projects we complete have a profound impact on thousands of people\u2019s lives across two continents,\u201d Ketchum said. \u201cWe are on the road quite a bit traveling to project sites all over the world in the EUCOM and AFRICOM AOR while also forging relationships and gaining invaluable cultural exposure to the unique environments many of these countries offer. The work is challenging, collaborative, and fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ketchum said after growing up in a family dedicated to serving communities all over the world, joining the U.S. Army has been a natural next step in fulfilling his desire to continue a life of service to others and has lived up to his expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving been a part of an organization like Mercy Ships it becomes nearly impossible to dedicate your time and effort to another organization that you cannot wholly invest yourself in,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Army has been and continues to be an incredible place to grow, learn, and serve while striving to make the world a safer place.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Curious Gabonese school children look on as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Capt. Ben Ketchum conducts a final inspection of drainage improvements at the Mabanda Primary School in Gabon with a contractor February 23, 2023. Ketchum supports humanitarian assistance projects like this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98566,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98564"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98573,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98564\/revisions\/98573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}