Army Col. Ivan P. Beckman replaced Col. Bryan Green as commander of the U.S. Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center during a change of command ceremony Friday at ERDC headquarters.

Green, who retires Dec. 31, served as ERDC commander since September 2015 after commanding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District in South Korea, where he oversaw the construction of Camp Humphreys in Korea, which required building a military city to accommodate 40,000 American troops with the facilities to train, house and sustain them and their families. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, Beckman was the state inspector general for the Mississippi National Guard, where he was responsible for advising the adjutant general on combat readiness, discipline and morale, and for providing inspector general assistance to more than 12,000 soldiers and airmen of the Mississippi National Guard. He has served more than 28 years in the active Army and more than a decade on the Korean Peninsula. His assignments include company executive officer and battalion adjutant for the 307th Engineer Battalion; assistant operations officer for the 2nd Engineer Battalion at Camp Castle Korea; and battalion operations officer for 1/361st Training Support Battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado, before to completing the Army Command and General Staff College. After the Command and General Staff College, he returned to Korea, where he served as chief of facilities and construction for United States Forces Korea; executive officer to the 8th Army commander; and army engineer for Korea.

Beckman has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Military Academy, a master’s in engineering from University of Missouri, Rolla, and a master’s of strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He is a licensed professional engineer in Missouri since 1995, and is presently pursuing a doctorate in engineering from Mississippi State University.   He is married the former Haerin Lee of Seoul, South Korea, and they have three daughters, LeeAnn 15; Annadele, 12; and Isabel, 10.

As ERDC commander, Beckman is responsible for site management and planning of ERDC installations, and oversees the installations operations command of ERDC support elements.

As ERDC executive director, he assists the ERDC director and deputy director in planning and executing research and development activities, with particular emphasis on identifying warfighter requirements and providing liaison to districts, installations and the engineer regiment.