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News
Colonel DeLuca new North Atlantic Division commander
April 22, 2009
by NAD Public Affairs Office
FORT HAMILTON, N.Y.—Colonel Peter A. (Duke) DeLuca became commander and division engineer of the North Atlantic Division (NAD) April 17, after commanding the 20th Engineer Brigade at Fort Bragg, NC.
DeLuca assumed command from Brig. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, who will next command the Army Corps of Engineer's South Atlantic Division in Atlanta, Ga.
NAD is one of eight permanent Army Corps of Engineers regions providing engineering and construction services to the nation. It is the Corps' regional business center in the Northeast and more than 100 other countries, with district offices in Concord, Mass., New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Va. and Wiesbaden, Germany.
As Division Commander, DeLuca oversees the planning, design and construction of projects to support the military, protect America's water resources and restore and enhance the environment within an 180,000 square mile area along the Atlantic Coast. This includes more than $7 billion in work to support the Base Realignment and Closure 2005 authorization.
He is also responsible for a variety of division engineering and construction activities for international, federal, state and local governments and agencies in the United States and overseas, including Europe and Africa.
While commanding the 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat) (Airborne) at Fort Bragg and in Iraq from June 2006 through December 2008, DeLuca led the brigade through an extremely busy and challenging period in its history. It supported the deployment of two airborne combat engineer battalions to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan, as well as the deployments of the 19th Engineer Battalion to OEF and 326th Engineer Battalion to Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.
DeLuca gained his commission through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps or ROTC program at the University of Pennsylvania in 1983, after earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Economics and Mechanical Engineering. Before serving with the 20th Engineer Brigade, he held a senior service college fellowship at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served as assistant chief of Staff, engineer (CJ-7) at Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, from June 2004 to June 2005, where he led a $3 billion construction program to support the creation and effectiveness of the emerging Iraqi Security Forces. He also commanded the 326th Engineer Battalion (Airborne-Assault) during its participation in Kosovo peacekeeping operations, Noble Eagle security operations in the United States and in the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns.
DeLuca has two previous tours at Fort Bragg. He is also a Eurasian foreign area officer and a graduate of the Defense Language Institute's Russian course, the Columbia University's Master of International Affairs program and was a Senior Fellow at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security in Germany.
His decorations include the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Combat Action Badge.