Engineer Memoirs
A:
I had been ordered to go in as the deputy director of Military Construction. I was
anxious to get promoted. I didn't know then what I know now about the way the
system works. If I had, I probably wouldn't have been as worried about that one
efficiency report as I was. But I had not been promoted the year before, even though
Stanley Resor had written some very good reports and he had done everything he could
to assure that I would get favorable consideration.
But the attitude of the president of the board, [Lieutenant General Stanley R.] Swede
Larsen, was if you hadn't served in Vietnam you weren't qualified. The same view
prevailed in the board that selected me. If you hadn't served in Vietnam, you basically
weren't qualified--which is a little tough because there were a few people that, through
the evolution of assignments, didn't get command in Vietnam.
Q:
If they'd had that attitude after Korea, you would have been at a dead end.
A:
That's right. But my number was up. I think my report did get there.
Q:
You came back from Vietnam in August of 1969?
A:
Yes.
Q:
And went to OCE?
A:
That's right. I was assigned as the deputy director of Military Construction.
Q:
That's your first job in the headquarters?
A:
That's right. [Major] General [Daniel A.] Dan Raymond was the Director of Military
Construction at the time. General Carroll Dunn had been the Director of Military
Construction, and he'd moved up to Deputy Chief of Engineers.
Q:
Were you doing some other job at the same time at NASA [National Aeronautics and
Space Administration]?
A:
My job was really a three-hatted job in this respect. The deputy director of Military
Construction also had a title as the OCE representative for construction for NASA.
That program was nearing its end when I arrived, as a matter of fact. It had been much
bigger. [Major] General [William L.] Bill Starnes had been the deputy director of
Military Construction. He had, during his tour, been very much involved in the
construction for NASA, particularly the facilities that were built at Cape Canaveral.
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