Memoirs
Q ..
We talked yesterday about the differences between working for General Sturgis and for
General Itschner. Did you have any problems with them, or did you find yourself being
a spokesman for them to other people within OCE or the districts and divisions?
A
Not so far as I remember. As I think I indicated yesterday, I had no particular
expressing to others in the chiefs
the chiefs desires or interpreting
those
when asked. And so far as I know, in presenting the positions of others
to him, things seemed to work out fairly well. If there were problems, they were not
sufficiently severe for either the chief or one of the senior people in the office to make
an issue of them.
It was a relatively quiet time. I received major benefits from it being my first assignment
to Washington and also my first assignment to OCE. It provided the opportunity, first,
to get well acquainted with the senior people in the Corps and, second, it gave me an
overview
how the Corps of Engineers operated in both Washington and at field
levels. It was a good training assignment for later activities. I got to see the worldwide
responsibilities of the Corps.
Q.
How about relations with the Air Force in that period? Later on, you'll have a great
deal more contact when you're in Southwestern Division, with CEBMCO, and then
back in
again.
A
There were no particular problem areas with the Air Force that I remember. A little
later, questions were raised as to responsibilities and just what the Air Force would do
on their own and what the Corps would do for them. It so happened that my next
assignment,
OCE and a year at the Industrial College, was to East Ocean District
as area engineer, Greenland. This was basically supervising construction for the Air
Force on the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System and its support in Greenland.
There were a few questions raised in regard to coordination with the Air Force but
nothing of significance.
I think most of the strong discussions came up later and had to do with the ballistic
missile work, which was after Greenland. 1 do recall that General Sturgis arranged with
the chief of yards and docks of the Navy to establish liaison, which had not been done
heretofore. I served as his representative to the Navy concerning mutual problems.
Q.
Do you know the motivation for this?
A
I don't think there was anything major that caused this-just the idea of having a point
of contact for things that might be of mutual interest. This was not a major activity, but
it established a system by which the two offices could keep in touch.
76
Previous Page
