Memoirs
.
Q.
How do you feel about the Tennessee-Tombigbee which is more of an issue lately?
A
I think it's of questionable value because we already have a water route, and the
project's advantages are only those of shortening the route. In this day and time, costs
are so outrageous that it does raise the question of the proper allocation of funding. On
the other hand, because it's been started, I feel very strongly that it ought to be finished.
I see nothing to be gained by stopping it. I think it was a viable project, but I think it
was also a question of priorities in the current economic situation considering the cost
increases that have come about. Certainly it is subject to legitimate question.
Q ..
I wonder if you have any other comments about your experience in OCE, since your
next assignment will take you out of OCE and will also be your last active-duty
assignment.
A ..
I alluded before to the fact that I went with General Clarke to his first meeting with Mr.
Winston] Blount, then the Postmaster General, when he began to talk about the Corps'
supervising the great expansion of the facilities of the Post Office Department.
Q ..
General Wilson claims some involvement in that too, as a retired officer who was a
friend of Blount's.
A
Yes, he knew Blount, and I expect that he may have guided Blount along that way. In
our first conversations with him, we were receptive to the suggestion. As a result, I
supervised the preparation of a booklet, which I'm sure you can find somewhere in
OCE, on the possibilities of the Corps' taking on the responsibilities for managing
construction of the Post Office Department. As I remember, it was about six months
from the first contact until the next event occurred. We finally entered into an
agreement to handle the function. Everybody was agreeable at the time, but then
somewhere along the line the Office of Management and Budget got into the act. They
were the ones who finally killed it. think we had a service to give just as we had for
NASA. Since I had been intimately involved in the NASA activities, I was in a position
to speak from experience after doing work for another government agency. I felt that
a satisfactory system could be established. As far as I know, it was a satisfactory
arrangement during the few years it lasted.
Q ..
Was it a matter of budgetary considerations that kept-
I think the OMB, politically, didn't like the idea that the Corps of Engineers was
A
expanding its sphere of activity. That's my impression based on what I've heard. I can
find no logical reason for their position other than political [considerations]. The
cancellation came after I left OCE.
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