A Career built on quality: Brian Quiroga named USACE Quality Professional of the Year

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — For Brian Quiroga, quality is more than a standard: it is the foundation of his career. That commitment has earned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Far East District senior construction control representative recognition as the USACE Quality Professional of the Year.

“Personally, I feel a deep sense of accomplishment to know that I was viewed as the most deserving candidate,” Quiroga said. “Professionally, I have never won an award at this level during my time as a federal employee or in the Air Force, so it truly means a lot receiving this award.”

Quiroga’s career path began 34 years ago when the Air Force assigned him to the engineering career field, where he quickly developed a passion for construction management.

“I knew that’s what I wanted to keep doing after I retired from the Air Force,” he said.

Today, Quiroga oversees a $130 million construction portfolio at Osan Air Base, where his technical expertise has helped keep critical defense projects on schedule. On a $29 million pre-engineered warehouse project, he logged more than 210 hours supervising 35 concrete placements. During construction of a $66.5 million semi-hardened communications headquarters, he helped expedite a foundation redesign by three months, preventing a five-month project shutdown and keeping work on track.

While those accomplishments reflect his technical expertise, Quiroga measures success through the people he leads.

“Honestly, the most meaningful accomplishment to me is hearing from my subordinates that I positively impacted their careers,” Quiroga said. “Knowing my guidance wasn’t just words, but actually helped them grow, gives me the greatest satisfaction.”

That dedication to others reaches far beyond individual jobsites. To standardize team training and strengthen documentation across the district, Quiroga authored both a Quality Management Guide and a Quality Assurance Report Writing Guide. He also established monthly coordination meetings with the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron and took on administrative permitting duties, freeing engineers to focus on complex design challenges.

He credits his military service with inspiring those initiatives.

“When I managed a construction management section at Osan Air Base from 2009 to 2011, I wanted to make it easier for the inspectors to do their jobs,” Quiroga said. “I wrote local operating instructions to guide tasks like setting up pre-construction conferences or writing daily reports. It gave new inspectors a clear structure so they could hit the ground running.”

Mentorship remains a cornerstone of Quiroga’s leadership. He sponsors incoming personnel transitioning to South Korea, leads science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) outreach for local Department of War Education Activity students, and organized hands-on geotechnical lab training for 18 Air Force engineering technicians. He even revived the district softball team after a five-year hiatus to boost team morale.

“Participating in community outreach and team building gets you out of your routine and pushes you into a much different environment,” Quiroga said.

To expand horizons for junior team members, he regularly arranges visits to the GeoTech lab and brings young engineers to active construction sites to observe large-scale concrete placements firsthand.

“I was exposed to these kinds of experiences as an airman,” Quiroga said. “I just want to make sure I’m doing the same to build their knowledge base.”

Looking ahead, Quiroga remains focused on team camaraderie and molding the next generation of public servants.

“I’m really happy working as a construction representative for USACE,” Quiroga said. “My main goal is to keep developing our younger, less experienced personnel so they’re ready to become the next leaders.”

Quiroga’s blend of technical expertise, proactive leadership and dedication to mentorship exemplifies the highest standards of quality and service that define the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.