US Army Corps of Engineers Releases 2023 Calendar Commandeered By… Giant Cats

By Alexa Heah, 23 Jan 2023

Image via US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (Public Domain)

When Gizmodo’s Jody Serrano first discovered a 2023 calendar made by the Portland District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, it was hard for her to believe that the oft-commanding organization would use adorable cats as its mascots.

Well, that makes all of us on our first impressions of this quirky calendar, featuring gigantic cats in hilarious, unexpected situations as they interact with the Army Corps’ dams, jetties, and other heavy machinery—courtesy of copious amounts of Photoshop, of course.

While the final product isn’t exactly the most high-brow of artistic endeavors, it certainly elicits a smile every time you look at it. And that’s all thanks to Chris Gaylord, a public affairs specialist, who thought of the idea.

Gaylord told Serrano he had designed all of the calendar’s images and written all the captions to educate the public on what the Portland arm of the organization does, but in a way that wasn’t predictable and boring.

Admittedly, while the engineers think of their work as interesting and exciting, they know “it doesn’t exactly grip the average person,” hence the idea to feature Godzilla-sized cats to convey their message.

The idea initially sprung from a Facebook post to celebrate National Cat Day in 2021. A coworker had seen cats Photoshopped onto fancy architecture and suggested the organization do the same to feature its projects.

As with most pet-heavy images, Gaylord said the response has been “overwhelmingly positive” across the internet, with people even sending emails to enquire more about the project.

He credits the cats for doing the heavy lifting (pun intended), saying they’re the “perfect animal” to feature in “a formal setting that is totally serious and has nothing to do with cats,” because their mannerisms make every scenario funnier.

Fortunately, it appears the district is planning on keeping up this tradition and producing another calendar come 2024. This time, it’ll feature a cat version and a dog version using employee-owned pets for maximum awws.