Ernest Graves
Q:
You didn't really envision a three-part management framework when the project was
first created, did you?
A:
No, not at all. It was unnecessary.
Q:
You've been a division commander, and I would like to know what you think about
handling this kind of a construction project through a stateside division. Was that a
good idea?
A:
We handled most jobs like this through some division. We couldn't handle it out of the
Middle East Division in Riyadh. That was politically impossible, although that would
have been a logical way to do it, just on the basis of geography. The next closest
division was the North Atlantic Division [NAD]. The North Atlantic Division had been
engaged over the years in many overseas efforts--all the work in Labrador, North
Africa, and so forth. That was a logical way to do it, from the standpoint of the way the
Corps operates.
OCE is not supposed to be an operating organization. They're supposed to give the
instructions to the divisions, and then the divisions pass the effort, the responsibility and
the authority to the districts, and the districts are the operators. So, to me, giving this
to the North Atlantic Division made a lot of sense.
Q:
Were you involved in that choice? Were you asked your opinion?
A:
I don't remember. But it seems to me there wasn't that big an issue at the beginning.
After all, when you were going to let these contracts and all that, that certainly didn't
go on in the Office of the Chief of Engineers. And there wasn't time. This is always the
case. There wasn't time to set up a whole new outfit. To get going, they had to take
some existing outfit and get them started.
It's perfectly true that they had to create the districts. The echelon in the Corps of
Engineers that does this is the division office that has all the various types of people that
you need--the counsel, personnel, and you-name-it.
I don't remember that there was a big controversy about this. Later on, there got to be
an argument because of the personalities involved. But at the beginning, I don't think
that there was any question that was the way to go. [Major General James A.] Jimmy
Johnson, of course, was the division engineer when the thing got going.
Q:
Once they had it under NAD, was it a good idea to remove it?
237
Previous Page
