OMAHA, Neb. - Larry Morgan Jr. has worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District since 2000. He has served at the Missouri River Project Office and on the Missouri River most of his career as a deckhand, equipment operator and maintenance supervisor.
One title that has eluded him is master towboat pilot. Inspired by an early mentor, and with the help of an accomplished towboat pilot, that will soon change, as he nears completion of an unrestricted master of towing vessel license.
The journey to become a master towboat pilot is long. You must first meet requirements set by the U.S. Coast Guard that includes 365 days of hands-on experience as a deckhand. That is equivalent to 2,920 hours and can take years depending on how often you are operating on the water.
You learn everything from tying off a barge to firefighting, safety, maintenance, emergency mechanical repairs, steering and navigation.
Morgan accomplished the first milestone in his journey in 2013 when he received his steersman license, but his license was put into continuity status in 2017 when he moved to a different job within the district. It was reinstated in 2023 when he returned to the Missouri River Project Office. At the same time, Master Towboat Pilot Tammie White was hired.
White has 45 years of experience and has piloted boats in every corner of the world from working on the Amazon River to training Nigerians in Africa on dredge equipment to boat training in China. He plans to retire at the end of 2026, but before then, he will help Morgan master the two towboats operated by the district.
Morgan said there are many unique skills needed to pilot a towboat on the Missouri River.
“There’s a lot to learn and every day is a learning day with the wind, current, depth, location and rock –- wind can really get you and blow you into a bank,” he said. “The other struggle on the river would be just recreational boaters – they don’t fully understand it –- they think that just floating down the river, we can move easily like they can.”
In addition to hands-on training, pilots must also pass a security background check and physical.
White, who is a designated examiner, helped Morgan achieve a mate pilot, ordinary seafarer license in 2024 and a limited Master of Towing license in 2025. The next step to become an unrestricted master pilot on the Missouri River requires an additional 90 days, or 720 hours, of evaluation where the examiner sits in the pilot house and completes towing officer assessment records. This includes evaluation of communications with other vessels, barge movement and piloting of the vessel up and down the river.
Morgan is on schedule to receive his full unrestricted license by September 2026. He said it’s been a long journey – one that was inspired by Truman Marsh, a former towboat pilot and mentor who passed away in 2008.
“Truman kind of tucked me under his wing and said ‘hey, this is what this job is about,’ so it was always a goal of mine to achieve that because he always wanted me to get my pilot’s license,” Morgan said.
Morgan said he learned “all the old tricks” from Marsh.
“His life was the river,” he said. “Truman knew the river like the back of hand. He taught me that when going down or up the river, have a map, if you see something, draw it. He said, ‘it’s just like Lewis and Clark; there’s an eagle nest here, there’s a giant snag here.’ I have an old map at home with a bunch of stuff documented from my early years of being on the river with him. Truman was a good pilot.”
Missouri River Project Office Acting Operations Project Manager Jeremy Szynskie said the district has sometimes relied on pilots from other districts or through contracts to pilot the towboats when there was a staffing shortage. Having the ability to develop pilots from within maximizes river operations and ensures the mission gets done. In addition to Morgan, Heavy Equipment Operator Kyle Bradley is also being trained.
“The lead time required to achieve a master pilot license through the U.S. Coast Guard is very long,” Szynskie said. “So, it’s important that we are being proactive in training people to build the bench so that we always have pilots available to complete the work. We really appreciate our crew’s dedication to the mission and the pride of ownership that they have in the river.”
Morgan said he is looking forward to finally being licensed as an unrestricted master towboat pilot.
“It’s not for everyone, but I think it’s fun,” Morgan said. “I have 25 years on the river, and I haven’t been bored with it yet.”
The Omaha District maintains the Missouri River from Sioux City, Iowa to Rulo Nebraska, reaching more than 75 miles. Maintenance helps maintain the navigation channel while also mitigating the effects of erosion and flooding to support safety of communities along the river. More than 32,000 tons of rock were placed along navigation structures on the Missouri River in 2025 by the district.