Corps Of Engineers to name high-tech hydrographic survey boat in honor of Command Sgt. Maj. Micheal L. Buxbaum, US Army, (Retired)

Published June 23, 2015
urvey Vessel BUXBAUM specifications:
Length: 25 feet, 11 inches
Beam: 9 feet, 6 inches
Draft: 22 inches
Top Speed: 30 knots (35 MPH)
Equipment: (2) Yamaha 150 hp outboard engines; (1) Honda EU 6500is generator; bow-mounted Teledyne Reson SeaBat 7125 High Resolution Multibeam System; Optech Ilris vessel-mounted LIDAR system
Crew: Survey Technician and Small Craft Operator

urvey Vessel BUXBAUM specifications: Length: 25 feet, 11 inches Beam: 9 feet, 6 inches Draft: 22 inches Top Speed: 30 knots (35 MPH) Equipment: (2) Yamaha 150 hp outboard engines; (1) Honda EU 6500is generator; bow-mounted Teledyne Reson SeaBat 7125 High Resolution Multibeam System; Optech Ilris vessel-mounted LIDAR system Crew: Survey Technician and Small Craft Operator

Retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Micheal L. Buxbaum passed away in his sleep on Nov. 9, 2013, while in Afghanistan, where he was working as a contractor supporting deployed soldiers, a calling that spanned his 33-year career.

Retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Micheal L. Buxbaum passed away in his sleep on Nov. 9, 2013, while in Afghanistan, where he was working as a contractor supporting deployed soldiers, a calling that spanned his 33-year career.

The U.S. Army Corps Buffalo District will name the latest addition to its high-tech hydrographic survey fleet after retired Command Sgt. Maj. Micheal L. Buxbaum, U.S. Army (Retired).

The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on June 23, on the fantail of the cruiser USS Littlerock, which is moored at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park.

Guests include: Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy; Maj. Gen. Richard L. Stevens, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Commander Brig. Gen. Richard G. Kaiser; Buffalo District Commander Lt. Col. Karl D. Jansen; Command Sergeant Major Antonio Jones; and the late Command Sergeant Major Buxbaum’s widow Roberta and her daughters Katie and Christina.

Buxbaum passed away in his sleep on Nov. 9, 2013, while in Afghanistan, where he was working as a contractor supporting deployed soldiers, a calling that spanned his 33-year career.

Buffalo District serves an area of some 38,000 square miles, from Massena, New York, in the east, to the Indiana state line in the west. Within that area are: 16 commercial and 19 recreational harbors; 5 of the top 10 US ports; 110 miles of federal navigation channels and 38 miles of piers, jetties and breakwaters. The addition of the survey vessel BUXBAUM enhances Buffalo District’s ability to support our navigation mission with a third survey vessel equipped with a multi-beam sonar system to meet increased production goals during peak periods.

The BUXBAUM will also be equipped with a vessel mounted “LIDAR” (light detection and ranging) system. The Optech Ilris 3-D laser scanner has the capability to collect data in a terrestrial (static) mode and in a marine (mobile) mode of operation which allows the Buffalo District to survey offshore breakwater structures from a moving vessel, with fewer field personnel required. This methodology not only is safer, but also more productive.

“It is fitting and appropriate that we honor the memory of Command Sergeant Major Buxbaum, a top-ranking noncommissioned officer, by placing his name on this boat,” said Buffalo District Commander Lt. Col. Karl D. Jansen. "Noncommissioned officers are the backbone of our Army who inspire disciplined and honorable service while taking care of those they lead. A few years ago, Buxbaum visited Buffalo District and made it his mission to get out into the field and meet with our surveyors and the crew members of our tugs and derrick boat, dedicated Americans who maintain the Great Lakes Navigation System -- which is the backbone of our nation's industrial might."
Contact
Andrew Kornacki
716-879-4349
andrew.a.kornacki@usace.army.mil

Release no. 15-014