Ernest Graves
A:
I was referring to the fact that the Corps of Engineers was more autonomous in its role
in civil works than in its role in military programs. In the civil works program, there was
the Office of Management and Budget, the committees in Congress, but the Corps was
responsible for making the feasibility studies, making the designs, doing the
construction, and operating the projects. It had the whole life cycle in its hands, and it
had a single organization. The Corps had a Director of Civil Works with his staff which
handled all aspects of the program. The Chief had command over the divisions and
districts. They worked directly with the Office of Management and Budget and with the
committees of Congress.
When you get to the military program, a lot of the planning that the Corps did for civil
works was done by the Pentagon. You had the Army staff. You had the OSD staff. So
you had a much more complex hierarchy above you, and the military construction
program for the Army was part of a larger military construction program involving the
Navy and the Air Force as well. So the wiring diagram for the military construction
program was a lot more complex.
It's evolved some since my first contact with it to the point that the Chief of Engineers
has a more comprehensive role. It used to be, back in those days, that the Deputy Chief
of Staff for Logistics had under him a director of installations. That was always an
engineer officer, and he was responsible for the program. But he did not report to the
Chief of Engineers. It was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics who was responsible
for the programming of the military construction program.
Now that's changed. That's changed to the point that the position became the Assistant
Chief of Engineers. The job is now in the Pentagon. And the Assistant Chief of
Engineers works for the Chief of Engineers, and it's his job to complete all the
interactions with the Army staff and with OSD on the military construction programs.
So the organization has evolved to the point that the Chief of Engineers has a more
comprehensive role. But if you go back to the time when I was the Deputy Chief, that
was a fairly new situation.
Q:
So it was messy in terms of the number of people, the number of agencies that were
involved.
A:
When you get to the projects themselves, it was a cleaner proposition. Building
barracks and hospitals didn't involve all the community interactions of the civil works
program.
Q:
You were Deputy Chief under General Morris.
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