Lieutenant Colonel Rick Childers is the Commander and District Engineer of the Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as he assumed command on 24 July 2020. LTC Childers oversees more than 800 engineers and professionals from various functional backgrounds. LTC Childers is responsible for Civil Works, Interagency Programs and the Operations of USACE projects and activities for Eastern Washington, all of Idaho and portions of Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming and Utah. LTC Childers hails from Port St. Lucie, Florida and was commissioned into the U.S. Army as an Engineer Officer following graduation from Georgia Military College 1999.
LTC Childers previous assignments include: Mechanized Platoon Leader, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, Georgia Army National Guard; Company Executive Officer, Assistant Operation Officer and Battalion Civil Engineer, 62nd Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, TX; Assistant Brigade Logistics Officer, Company Commander, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, Fort Lewis, WA; Science & Technology Staff Officer, Army Capabilities Integration Center, Headquarters Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis VA; Battalion Executive Officer, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment and Brigade Operations Officer (S-3) 165th Infantry Regiment, Fort Jackson, SC; Task Force Engineer, Joint Task Force Bravo, U.S. SOUTHCOM, Soto Cano Airbase Honduras; and most recently Deputy Commander, Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa, OK.
LTC Childers earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from Mercer University in 2002. In 2008, he was awarded a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Missouri and a Certified Project Management Professional.
LTC Childers military education includes studies at the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Engineer Officer Basic and Career Courses, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
His awards and decorations include: Bronze Star Medal (2 awards), Meritorious Service Medal (4 awards), Army Commendation Medal (2 awards), Army Achievement Medal (4 awards), Humanitarian Service Medal, the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign medals and the NATO Medal. He earned the Combat Action Badge and Parachutist Badge. He is also the recipient of the Bronze Order of de Fleury Medal from the Army Engineer Association.
His operational deployments include Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 and 2008; and Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012.
Lieutenant Colonel Childers and his wife Camellia have one son, Hunter (14) and one daughter, Kendall (12).