Ernest Graves
going to be any. We weren't going to agree to modify it. Therefore, it would remain as
it was.
Q:
My chapter on that episode is called "The Diplomacy of Construction" because it
seemed to me that the negotiations between the Air Force and the Corps were no less
complex and difficult than between the United States and Israel. Is that fair?
A:
That may be. It might have been more difficult because there were so many different
people into it. But as I say, a lot of it was somewhat a self-inflicted wound because
early on, Gilbert and Wray and I had agreed on something. Had they put their names
on it right then, most of this wouldn't have occurred. I think that Toni might have
sought a renegotiation of it. But she would have been working from a very different
base, if the thing had already been signed.
There was no requirement for it to be signed by her. Bill Gilbert did not need her
authority to agree to it, until she became involved. As far as he was concerned, this was
an agreement of a type that he could conclude with his counterparts in the Corps. If he
had done that, that would have made it hard to change.
Q:
Do you remember what made General Morris back off from this?
A:
No. I could probably find out, if I dug out my files from Suitland, Maryland. I just don't
remember whether it was some wording about who was going to do what to whom, or
whether it concerned the money, although I can't believe it concerned the money.
Q:
You got what you wanted essentially with the money anyway.
A:
The agreement pretty well provided for the money to go directly.
Q:
That's an unusual arrangement. I can see why you perceived that it was necessary, but
usually in military construction for the Air Force, it's a year at a time or in increments.
It is an unusual arrangement, isn't it?
A:
There was an important difference. That was one of the arguments we had. If the Air
Force has a requirement to build an airfield, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and
the Secretary of the Air Force go up to Congress and get 0 million appropriated to
build an airfield, and they have their whole hierarchy involved in configuration of this
airfield, and they then, because of the way things are set up, turn to the Corps of
Engineers to build it, they have a lot to say about the details of what it will look like.
In this case, the U.S. Air Force was simply a liaison between the government of Israel
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At various stages in the game there was
discussion about the fact that we didn't need the U.S. Air Force at all.
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