LIEUTENANT GENERAL ELVIN R. ("VALD") HEIBERG III, P.E., U.S. Army (Ret.)

Highlights

• Retired from the U.S. Army as Chief of Engineers – the youngest in nearly 150 years
• 35 years experience as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer
• West Point graduate
  

Biography

An expert in environmental clean-up and restoration, including nuclear waste storage, Lt. Gen. Vald Heiberg joined Dawson & Associates when the company began in 1998.  During his 35 years in uniform, Gen. Heiberg held remarkably diverse leadership roles, including service as a company commander in Korea and Germany and battalion commander in Vietnam.

But it was his service in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that earned him special renown.  Among his many achievements, Gen. Heiberg served as Commander of the New Orleans District and Commander of the Ohio River Division.

He was subsequently promoted to Director of Civil Works in the Corps of Engineers and later Deputy Chief of Engineers.

In 1984, Gen. Heiberg became the U.S. Army's 46th Chief of Engineers, remaining the youngest “Chief of Engineers” since Brig. Gen. Joseph G. Totten in 1838.

From 2003 to 2004, Gen. Heiberg served in the Coalition Provisional Authority, working between the Pentagon and Iraq with the group assisting Iraq's new Ministry of Transportation.

Heiberg graduated 5th in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he became a Corps of Engineers officer. While at West Point, he wore the collar stars of a “distinguished cadet.”  He also holds graduate degrees in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in Government and in Administration, both from George Washington University.

He is a registered professional engineer in Louisiana.

 

Other Achievements

• Two Distinguished Service Medals (the Army's highest for service)

• Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross (Vietnam combat) 

• Belgium's Commander of the Order of the Crown

• Brazil's Grand Commander, Order of Military Merit

• Elected into the National Academy of Engineering (1995)

• Elected into the National Academy of Construction (2002)