Engineer Memoirs
Q ..
I don't know if you'd have any further comments about procurement and its problems
in relation to the job you were trying to accomplish in Vietnam.
A
Well, of course, the Corps of Engineers was not responsible for procurement. The
Navy, both itself and through the contractor, was primarily responsible for procuring
those things needed by the civilian contractor. Procurement for Army units was handled
by the Army system through direct requisition from the U. Army, Vietnam. Certainly
there were procurement problems throughout. Procurement of real estate, for instance,
was a requirement. In the final analysis it fell on the director of construction. Yet, the
procedures and people weren't there to handle it. If you look back to the original real
estate agreements with the Vietnamese, they were supposed to furnish the real estate
as needed by U.S. forces. However, this was [done through] small advisory
detachments and was never intended to handle the situation as it developed with the
massive requirements for land and facilities as the war expanded. My view is that, for
the first time and
at the wrong time, we continued to try to use peacetime
systems in a wartime environment, and that simply doesn't work.
Q ..
Why was that so?
A ..
I would have to say that, largely, that was Mr.
contribution to the war.
We became managers and bookkeepers instead of fighting the war.
.
Q.
And all efforts to change it didn't work?
Yes, there was a change, for instance, in the construction program procedures when I
A
went there. In effect,
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billion was appropriated with authority in the theater to decide
what should be built. Immediately, however, the effort started to bring that control back
to Washington to make those decisions. For instance, we still had to keep military
construction funds separate from operation and maintenance funds. In previous wars,
funding was for operation and maintenance, and we didn't have pockets in which
we had to keep various accounts. That just indicates the fiscal restraints that were
imposed.
Q ..
Was a lot of the coordination required through the Southeast Asia Construction Office
in DOD?
A
There was such a group in DOD, which Noble established. He was our contact in
Washington. There also was a small group in OCE that followed up on any
requirements that we might have. They tried very hard to be of assistance and to furnish
help and support. As far as I know, these groups worked reasonably well, but it was
a complicated system. Essentially, I can only describe it as an attempt to use peacetime
bookkeeping and accounting methods in a wartime environment. In effect, it was
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