Ernest Graves
recommended career pattern for operators. Shortly before I left we had a big meeting
at which we presented to all the Army personnel and training people that would be
concerned our recommendations for the career progression for enlisted people who
would start out in the specialties--the electrical specialty, the mechanical specialty, the
process chemistry specialty, and radiological safety.
There were these four specialties. We had worked out a progression--where they
would start out and how they would move up the enlisted chain. There would be a
warrant officer position at the top of each of these four ladders that they could move
into. If you were going to have a large number of plants, you had to have a career
structure for the people that were going to operate them.
I enjoyed the assignment, but I think in some other areas I was more disappointed to
leave because I saw a lot of things still to be done. In this, there was still a lot to be
done, but in the job that I had undertaken, a major segment was pretty well completed.
So I was ready to move on to something else.
Command and General Staff College, 19571958
Q:
You felt pretty good about going to Leavenworth when you did?
A:
Yes. Yes, I did.
Q:
Many officers go through that Command and General Staff College out there.
A:
About half of any year group gets to go. If you are selected to go, that means you are
going to go on and move ahead in the Army. If you don't make that, then it means you
are going to have to turn to something else.
Q:
So it's very important?
A:
It's very important in your career. And, of course, the focus at Leavenworth is on the
combat arms and their combined arms tactics. Some of the school was very interesting.
Some of it was a little far-fetched. This was the era of the pentomic division, which was
a creation of [General] Maxwell [D.] Taylor. This eliminated battalions. You had
companies, and they were grouped in battle groups.
It has never been clear to me why we did this, except that I think Taylor wanted to
break out of the mold of the tactics that preceded nuclear weapons and go to different
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