Engineer Memoirs
necessarily staff it completely. For example, Bill Borland, who was the outstanding project
manager of the Eufaula project, was assigned extra staff and an assistant, so he was able to go
around his area.
The area engineers were responsible for construction and operations. Field engineering was
limited intentionally. Planning and claims issues were kept in the district office. As mentioned,
handled claims myself after the staff did the groundwork, such as estimating and evaluating
alternatives. The area engineer was called in as needed, but I often didn't bother him unless I had
questions. They had already commented during field negotiations and change processing.
Frequently the resident engineer had developed a firm, often hard, position. Otherwise you
probably wouldn't have a claim, would you? I didn't see any point in bringing that atmosphere
into the discussions at the higher level unless needed for technical reasons. All it did was dirty
the nest a little, cloud the issue. I always believed the contractor should be paid for what he did
if it was of value and the government used it. The Corps was not in the business of "breaking"
contractors, and, besides, everyone profited if management devoted its talents to project progress
rather than tedious and expensive arguments and claim procedures. The philosophy used in Tulsa
was expounded from 1972 to 1980 for the entire Corps, a philosophy the Corps needs to follow
today and every day.
This leads me to what I fear to be among the most serious problems the Corps faces today: the
new procurement officer arrangement. The
district engineer should keep the
contracting officer responsibility. He knows
the work and has the experience to settle
these things properly. That's where it
should be settled. There's no reason to have
a specialist handle construction contracts as
is the case with major weapons systems
procurements. Besides, the district
engineer's position needs to be clear and
strong to the customer. It will not be so if
he is not the contracting officer.
Tulsa didn't have dam failures or serious
engineer problems; however, Waco Dam's
failure, in the Fort Worth District area,
reverberated throughout Tulsa and other
districts having a certain type of soil. Also,
we had very few accidents. As indicated,
real estate was one of the more difficult
management challenges.
First off, just the fact of taking land from
people is tough even though they may
support the project. Those willing to sell
got a good price, but land taking is a touchy
issue which was compounded in Oklahoma
because of the underground oil. You buy
Colonel Morris in Western riding gear at an
surface rights but rarely mineral rights.
equestrian facility while he was district engineer in
This matter was even further complicated
Tulsa, Oklahoma.
in Oklahoma because of the Indians.
Dealing with the Indian councils and
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