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News
Backus takes command of Corps' Norfolk District
June 11, 2009
By Norfolk District Public Affairs Office
NORFOLK, Va.—Colonel Andrew Backus assumes command of the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in a ceremony at the Chrysler Museum here, 10 a.m. on Friday.
Backus replaces Col. Dionysios "Dan" Anninos, who assumed command of the district in 2006 and will take command of the Corps' Gulf Region Central District, located in Baghdad, Iraq, in July.
Colonel Peter DeLuca, commander of the Corps' North Atlantic Division, will preside over the ceremony.
Backus, a native of the Cambridge, Mass. and Wilton, Maine, areas comes to the Norfolk District from Harvard University, where he recently completed the Army's Leadership and Management National Security fellowship.
Other key assignments for Backus include three tours of duty with the 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power) at Fort Belvoir, Va., during which he responded to national events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The colonel has also completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As the Norfolk District Commander, Backus will manage the organization's dual military and civil works mission of engineering, construction and water resource management.