FAJARDO, P. R. – More than 400 federal leaders, A/E/C professionals, and small business partners converged in Puerto Rico in early March for the 2026 Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Industry Day, marking one of the most significant federal‑industry engagements in the Caribbean in decades. Across two days of briefings, panels, and technical sessions a clear message emerged: the Caribbean is entering a new era of infrastructure investment, resilience planning, and federal‑industry collaboration. And the pace of work is accelerating. From the opening remarks to the final technical sessions, the conference underscored both the scale of opportunity ahead and the shared responsibility to deliver on it.
From the opening remarks to the final technical sessions, the conference underscored both the scale of opportunity ahead and the shared responsibility to deliver on it.
A mission built on partnership
Col. Charles Decker, commander of the USACE Caribbean District, opened the conference by describing his “lived reality in Puerto Rico.” Decker said his daily drive to the office reminds him of the island’s unique blend of beauty and endurance. “When you live here,” he said, “you don’t just see this island’s beauty. You see its endurance. You see the way communities adapt, the way people rebuild, the way every challenge becomes an opportunity to stand a little taller.”
Decker emphasized that the progress visible across Puerto Rico, including stronger power systems, modernized infrastructure, and revitalized neighborhoods, is not the work of any single agency or government entity. Instead, it happens because of partnerships. He recognized the federal agencies represented in the room as “the backbone of so many missions across the Caribbean,” and praised industry partners as the force that “turns USACE concepts into concrete, steel, and capability.”
The colonel framed the week around three themes: alignment, transformation, and innovation. He said SAME is about strengthening relationships, modernizing processes, and rethinking how the Corps and industry work together.
Decker closed his remarks with a challenge to the room: “Lean in. Challenge us. Share your ideas. Tell us what’s working and what isn’t. The future of infrastructure in the Caribbean, and the future of the communities we serve, depends on all of us pulling in the same direction.”
Leadership perspectives
The morning’s first panel brought together experts from industry, territorial and federal partners including the Puerto Rico Permit Management Office, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and USACE SAA. The discussion explored the realities of contracting in a post‑disaster environment, including the “past performance paradox” that limits local firms, the lingering impacts of Hurricane Maria and the 2020 earthquakes, the need for mentor‑protégé partnerships, and strategies for refining minimum requirements to expand local participation.
A second panel, led by SAA’s Chief of Contracting Lt. Col. Christopher Brunner, focused on lessons learned from small businesses in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with representatives from the Small Business Administration and APEX Accelerators highlighting procurement fundamentals, readiness strategies, and alignment with national defense priorities.
The lunchtime keynote speaker was Brig. Gen. Zachary L. Miller, commanding general of the USACE South Atlantic Division. He delivered a sweeping address that placed the Caribbean’s infrastructure mission within the broader transformation underway across the U.S. Army and USACE.
Miller began by acknowledging the urgency of engineering in Puerto Rico. “Engineering here is not abstract. It is visible in every community, it is urgent after every storm, and it is transforming lives every day,” he said.
He then outlined one of the most significant Army reorganizations in decades: the establishment of the Army Western Hemisphere Command (AWHC), a new four‑star Theater Army unifying homeland defense, regional partnerships, and crisis response across NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM. For industry, he explained, this shift promises clearer operational priorities, faster decision cycles, more predictable requirements, and a more streamlined environment for delivering critical infrastructure.
The general then highlighted USACE’s own transformation, including the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works’ enterprise initiative called “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork,” which is a sweeping set of reforms aimed at cutting red tape, increasing transparency, and accelerating delivery.
Turning to military construction (MILCON), Miller described it as one of USACE’s most visible and impactful missions, and a major driver of opportunities for the A/E/C industry in Puerto Rico and the USVI. He detailed upcoming investments in readiness centers, airfields, hardened utilities, microgrids, barracks, maintenance facilities, and mission‑critical infrastructure.
“We are entering a period of historic MILCON investment across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” he said.
He closed by tying these initiatives together: “Army Western Hemisphere Command provides clearer operational priorities. Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork reduces administrative burden. And MILCON is where strategy, engineering, and industry partnership come together to deliver real capability,” he said.
The road ahead
The afternoon program update by SAA Deputy for Programs and Project Management Jacqueline Keiser provided one of the most anticipated briefings of the conference. Keiser described the Caribbean District as a fundamentally new kind of USACE organization: one that is lean, adaptive, and built to contract out everything reasonably possible. Despite being USACE’s smallest district with just 160 employees, Keiser highlighted that SAA is one of the most productive. She said SAA is anticipating the award of over $2 billion in contracts over two years, completing 100 percent of design work by contract, and is scheduled to award SAD’s two largest contracts of the year: Río Puerto Nuevo 3 and Río de la Plata 1.
Keiser highlighted major progress across the district’s flagship programs, including the $500 million flood risk reduction project at Río de la Plata, the $1.6 billion transforming flood protection project for San Juan through Río Puerto Nuevo, and the multi‑phase ecosystem restoration at Caño Martín Peña. Across these programs, the Caribbean District has rescoped projects and gained hundreds of millions of dollars in efficiencies through rigorous validation.
She also acknowledged the challenges ahead for an island-based organization, including volatile material costs, supply chain fragility, workforce shortages, political complexity, and hurricane‑driven disruptions. And she emphasized that the demand signal is growing, not shrinking.
Keiser said over the next 12 months the Caribbean District anticipates more than $1 billion in contracting opportunities across Civil Works, Interagency and International Support (IIS), and power resilience, including the upcoming Río de la Plata Contract 1, valued at $250–$500 million.
To reduce risk for contractors, Keiser outlined several initiatives, including early contractor involvement, economic price adjustment clauses, workforce development partnerships, senior‑level USACE liaisons, and formal Memoranda of Agreement with territorial partners.
“These MOAs are operational playbooks,” she said. “They formalize our partnerships, remove roadblocks, and provide a stable, predictable, de‑risked environment that allows you to do what you do best: build.”
SAD division & district program updates
One of the most valuable aspects of Industry Day was the presence of all six USACE districts from across the South Atlantic Division providing FY26-27 priorities updates on coastal resilience, navigation and harbor improvements, environmental restoration, MILCON, IIS and emergency response/disaster recovery missions. This multi-district presence gave attendees unprecedented visibility into federal pipelines across the Southeast and Caribbean.
A second multi-district panel of Small Business chiefs offered guidance on upcoming set aside opportunities, best practices for engaging with acquisition teams, and common pitfalls in proposal development. The panel’s unified message was that small businesses remain central to USACE’s mission, and early engagement is essential.
Day 2 of the conference delivered deep technical content across disaster resiliency in the Caribbean District, construction quality assurance, and Caño Martín Peña Ecosystem Restoration. The conference concluded with “structured matchmaking sessions” where attendees engaged in one-on-one discussions with industry and federal partners to present capabilities, explore teaming opportunities, and learn about anticipated FY26–27 contracting pipelines.
Across two days of briefings, one theme stood out unmistakably: the Caribbean is entering a period of historic investment and strategic importance. Federal agencies, territorial partners, and industry are aligning around a common mission to deliver resilient infrastructure, strengthen national security, and build a future‑ready Caribbean.
As Decker said at the outset, “The future of the communities we serve depends on all of us pulling in the same direction.” At the 2026 SAME San Juan Field Chapter Industry Day, that direction was clear.