Margaret S. Petersen
Yes. This was a Reserve unit. It included almost everybody from
who was head
A:
of the WES Hydraulic Laboratory, right on down through Dewey, who was Chief of the
at Jackson, and most of the fellows who worked for us at the MBM. The 434th.
It's the
Engineer Command now, but it might have had some other designation then.
A:
Well, that probably was what it was. It was my understanding later that they were called up
by mistake, but they were called to active duty suddenly and sent to Korea, and the staff of
the Hydraulics Laboratory was reduced to a skeleton force. We had applied for a leave of
absence without pay, beginning in June 1952, to go back to school for a year. However, most
of the people who made such decisions were all in Korea. A lot of decisions were made by
the personnel office and by others who were not used to making decisions. There was
concern felt that when the reserves on active duty at that time came back and had to be
reinstated, there would be a problem because there wasn't a lot of work or a lot of money at
that time. Accordingly, they wouldn't give us a leave of absence, and we had to resign to
return to school. After we finished graduate work in 1953, we decided that it would be just
more fun to work in a district.
Mississippi Basin
Board
I asked you about Tiffany. Did he really have a major role? Did you see him very much?
Did he have an influence on the younger staff there?
A:
Yes, I think he did. We attended many meetings at the Hydraulics Laboratory in Vicksburg,
and Tiffany came to Jackson to visit the MBM regularly. There was a MBM Board
established to set policy and determine programs for development and operation of the
model. The Board included the President of the Mississippi River Commission; Division
Engineers of the Missouri River, Upper Mississippi River, Ohio River, and Southwestern
Divisions; Gail Hathaway of the OCE. The Director of WES was the recorder. The Board
established a working committee to recommend construction programs to the Board, develop
procedures to evaluate test data and benefits, and to review model operation. Tiffany and
were actively involved in Board and working committee activities. Both Gail
Hathaway and Al Cochran of OCE were also actively involved. In the Corps there were
always briefings, and briefings. That is how everyone knew what was going on.
Sam Powell is still there, by the way.
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