Engineer Memoirs
Q ..
Who was his executive then, do you recall?
A ..
[Richard F.] McAdoo. I can't remember who took over for me in military construction,
but it was probably Dan Raymond.
Q ..
I don't have that. Now Koisch, who had worked for you in Fort Worth, came in as
director of civil works at that time?
A ..
Yes.
Q ..
Did Clarke have any-probably not, since you both came in at the same time-say
about who was to become deputy?
A ..
Oh, I think he had everything to say about it.
Q ..
And he chose you?
A ..
Yes, I assume so. It wasn't too illogical. I believe I was the senior officer, next to him,
assigned to OCE. Anyway, it was totally his decision.
Q ..
Now environmental questions became quite major at this time and involved the Corps,
particularly with new legislative requirements. I wonder if you can discuss the Corps'
response to the environmental movement?
A ..
Yes. One of the things that General Clarke established was an advisory committee of
environmentalists.
Q ..
The Environmental Advisory Board [EAB]?
A ..
Yes, this was his idea. I must admit I had some reservations about it. I still have mixed
emotions about it. But, in the climate of the times, it was undoubtedly a good approach
to take.
Q ..
Could you explain some of those reservations that you had then and still have?
A
My feeling was that if you appointed strong environmentalists, they would want to have
an active part. They would not be willing to simply give advice and not see it followed.
They would soon lose interest unless we took their advice, and I did not see how we
could bring in an outside group like that and have them set policy for the Corps. I think
we were fortunate in having most of the people who served-not in all cases-but
some of them were broad enough people so that they recognized the inherent problems.
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