Ernest Graves
a transitory situation, I told [Colonel] Jack [G.] McNall, the commander of A
Company, to start laying base course.
He didn't complain about this. He said, "It's going to be tough. We aren't going to be
able to produce the amount of hot mix that we projected if we are using our rock for
base course."
I said, "That's all right. First, we will get started. We will try to operate more shifts on
the rock crusher in order to produce the material, but we have got to get on with it."
So we did lay quite a bit. Then the 13th Engineers, which was the battalion of the 7th
Division, started to do better, too. With our help on the production of the crushed rock,
they started to be more effective.
In the meantime, over on the other side, the 2d Engineers, which was the 2d Division
battalion, and the 76th Engineers were busy complaining about what the other outfit
wasn't doing. They got nothing done during most of the summer. Toward the end of
the summer, they did get their act going. We had done all the paving that we said we
would do and had shut down our plant, and they were still up there trying to meet their
targets for the year, when the weather was getting cold.
The whole principle involved here was, "Don't let there be a gap." If you are sharing
a job, reach out and do more than your share if necessary to get it going. Once we got
that attitude inculcated into people, we produced a lot of work.
It is a much more healthy attitude than to stand around and say, "These people were
supposed to do something and they didn't do it; therefore, we haven't done our job."
We got together and I insisted that we weren't going to take that approach. If we were
involved in something, it was going to get done. If it became impossible, all right, but
we weren't going to quibble that the other guy didn't show up; therefore, no work was
done that day. I have tried to practice that since, and that is the way you get results.
Q:
Is it kind of risky to share a job like that? I mean--
A:
It is common. The whole business of units working together, I think it goes on in the
civilian trades as well. In the Army, you have all these units, and they all have to work
together. If they have the attitude that they are going to cover the interface and reach
a little beyond--you should define the interface, of course. There is no issue there. We
should be clear on what each party is going to do. But then, if there is a problem, you
should be reaching out to do a little more than your share so that you are sure there is
no problem with something not being covered.
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