Climbing the Ranks

Alumna finds success in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Christine Altendorf grew up expecting to attend Oklahoma State University, just like her eight siblings did. However, she said she had no idea her college choice would set her on a career path with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Altendorf spent her first two years at OSU as a mechanical engineering major. However, at the end of her sophomore year, she switched to agricultural engineering, which is now biosystems engineering.

“One of the things that drew me to ag engineering was the smaller classes,” Altendorf said. “You got a little more individual attention and individual help from the professors.”

Ron Elliott, former biosystems agricultural engineering department head and Altendorf’s doctoral adviser, said the department was close-knit with a familial atmosphere.

“Our faculty had very much an open-door policy where students can drop in and ask for help or just see how things are going,” Elliott said. “Our students learned a lot from each other in addition to the professors. Altendorf was a big part of that atmosphere when she was here.”

Paul Weckler, BAE professor, was pursuing his doctorate at the same time Altendorf started her master’s program, and he said he remembers what being a BAE student was like.

“You can’t hide and be anonymous in this department,” Weckler said. “The students all know their classmates, and the faculty all know their students. Our students get personalized attention.”

In addition to the family aspect of the department, Altendorf said she was drawn to the applied engineering focus the agricultural engineering program offered. She said the handson research has enabled her to use her skills in real-world applications.

“The thing that BAE did most for me was establishing the basics of engineering,” Altendorf said. “Once you get your basics, you can apply them to any direction you want to go.”

Altendorf graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 1985. Upon completion of her master’s degree in 1988, she started her first job as a research engineer at OSU and began pursuing her doctorate while working full time.

After completing her doctorate in 1993, she was interviewed for multiple positions at different universities. However, Altendorf said she was not sure they provided the route she wanted to go.

“During that time period, I was trying to decide what I really wanted to do,” Altendorf said. “That was when I realized after all those years of research that I am much more of an applied engineer. I like to see things done. I like to have that check list.”

In 1994, Altendorf took a job focusing on hydrology and hydraulics at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa. Between 1994 and 2012, she served in eight different positions within the Corps from California and Washington, D.C., to Iraq and Afghanistan. Her positions ranged from hydraulic engineering, military design, and civil works construction to restoring Iraqi oil distribution and Afghanistan infrastructure. She said much of her career was focused on program and project management dealing with budget, schedule and quality.

In 2013, Altendorf received a phone call from Army personnel at the Pentagon asking her to take over the U.S. Army’s Sexual Harassment Assault Response Prevention program.

Altendorf said she was surprised at the request. At the time, she had not worked directly with the military and was not actively speaking “Army lingo,” she added.

She asked why she was selected to run the SHARP program.

“Soldiers in the Army were able to talk among themselves,” Altendorf said, “but when it came to trying to explain to the media, the public or Congress, they were challenged. They also needed someone who could runra program, and that is something I learned at the Corps of Engineers.”

After managing the SHARP program, Altendorf left the Corps of Engineers and worked in Hawaii as the region director for U.S. Army Installation Management Command. She was responsible for all the Army installations in the Pacific, including Korea, Japan, Alaska, Hawaii and Kwajalein. After five years, she accepted her current position as chief of engineering and construction at the USACE Headquarters in Washington, D.C., in November 2019.

Although her title seems straightforward, Altendorf said she does much more than what meets the eye. She does not do typical engineer work, such as design, hydraulics or geotechnical work. She manages people, sets policy, and represents the thousands of engineers in the USACE.

“It’s a very large job,” Altendorf said. “Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, but it’s also very satisfying to think we have a lot of smart people with excellent skills who are doing really major things for this country and others.”

Altendorf said she is thankful for her OSU degrees, which helped her get her first career job and set her on a path to skill development.

Altendorf said she learned supervisory management skills, communication skills and collaboration skills in the Corps. While she must stay up to date with engineering techniques, the skills she uses on a daily basis are people skills, she added

“I like speaking publicly,” Altendorf said. “I like motivating people. I like the leadership positions.

“To me, there’s a lot of satisfaction in developing other people,” she added. “What motivates me, actually, is people.”

Weckler said the thing he most remembers about Altendorf is her vivacious personality. To become an engineer you have to be smart, he said, but Altendorf ’s character and personality are what set her apart.

“Altendorf couldn’t have climbed in the Corps based on her personality alone,” Elliott said. “You obviously have to be extremely good with your engineering skills and project management to reach that level, but I’m sure her personality and people skills helped her along the way, as well.

“Sports folks sometimes say a player is good in the clubhouse,” Elliott said. “That means they have a good attitude, they’re well-liked by their teammates, and they bring a positive energy to the team. That’s what I think of when I think of her.”

ISABELLE BARRETT

Story by Isabelle Barrett of Valley County Nebraska