Engineer Memoirs
Then the Chief would have a meeting with his principal staff. We would lay out the personnel
division's recommendations, and 95 percent of those would be probably okay. Everybody around
the table had a crack at them until finally everything would fall into place and produce an
approved list. That's how the assignments were made. So the Chief definitely took an interest,
and there were certain key assignments he'd approve personally.
Itschner wanted a bachelor for an aide. We looked also for a fellow who was a good student, good
in English, because Itschner was an excellent writer We did, and it turned out to be Don Weiner-t,
but contrary to his file he wasn't a bachelor any more. He'd gotten married at Christmas. I believe
they let him go. I can't be sure. General Itschner took a much deeper interest than just that case,
of course.
I think every Chief took a deep interest in these internal assignments: who was going to be
running the personnel business, who was going to be running the operations business, et cetera.
Not the generals, but the next level. Sometimes he'd throw us an assignment and say, "We're
going to put a colonel in this instead of a general," or, "We're going to put a colonel here who's
going to be a general." He'd have those kinds of requirements.
Now, at the general officer level, that was Army, is that right?
A ..
Yes. The Army's General Officers Branch existed, and the Chief of Engineers had a lot to say
about engineer general officers' assignments. I'm sure he had more to say in those days.
Q .. Any further thoughts on the personnel assignments?
A .. The one thing about the personnel assignment is that the job gave me the opportunity to meet so
many of the Corps' officers and their families and also to participate with people who were going
to be future principals in the Corps.
I also learned that probably the worst person to plan a career is the individual himself. His future
is better managed by others. It's sort of like a lawyer defending himself in court. He's got a fool
for a client.
Q .. How did your next assignment come about? In May 1960.
A
I think I mentioned the fact that I had nothing to do with developing the senior school list. Even
so, I knew I had been recommended to go when I finished my duties in the military personnel
office. When that list came back from the Chief of Engineers' office or elsewhere, my name was
off the list with the comment that, "Before he goes to War College, Morris should get a
battalion."
That was probably right because I hadn't commanded troops since 1945 in World War II. As
mentioned earlier, Dick Hennessy, who was assigning personnel when I went to Goose Bay,
Labrador, had planned for me to go to a battalion in 1.955. Instead, I went to Labrador for two and
then OCE for three years. So the time lag for my getting back to troops was extensive, and
deciding that I should get a battalion before I went to War College was proper.
I was assigned to the 13th Engineer Battalion of the 7th Division in Korea. While en route
overseas, I learned that my assignment had been changed from the 7th Division to the 1 st Cavalry
Division, 8th Engineer Battalion. That was quite a surprise because the 1st Cav Division was the
first tactical unit south of the DMZ [demilitarized zone].
I hadn't been with troops for so long that I remember telling somebody I probably wouldn't know
a soldier if I saw one. Still, I was going to the most active engineer battalion in the Army at that
time. I arrived about the 1st of May and found that my predecessor had been reassigned and the
acting battalion commander was a Major [William] Curry. I had a good opportunity to make
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