John W. Morris
the Corps and then the Executive Branch to a lot of criticism by the Congress because we
weren't getting the permits approved in time. People were complaining about that. So as time
went on, the authority to approve permits was re-evaluated.
There has been a lot of improvement. Since I've retired, Secretary [Bob] Page, Assistant
Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, was very much involved in trying to streamline the
process. That's still going on. So it goes back to the fact that there was once a rather inactive
program that just exploded.
Q ..
Within the Corps it required a change in the Corps' culture too, didn't it?
A ..
Yes, the regulatory program was another piece in the growth of the O&M side of the Corps,
the operation and maintenance side of the house. You may recall that early on in the civil
works program I had been approached by some of our senior staffers to get out of the O&M
business. General Cassidy, according to Joe Tofani, is credited with saying he didn't become
Chief of Engineers to be a plumber. In other words, the implication was the Corps wasn't here
to do O&M work, it was here to do engineering, build things, and all that good stuff. Well,
the fact is that by 1975 we had built most of the program, and early on in the 1970s the O&M
program began to overtake the construction program in dollars.
So the relative position and strength of O&M in relation to planning, design, and construction
was evolving, and the culture of the Corps changed accordingly. The Corps' heavyweight
engineering and construction role had declined steadily while its O&M program had grown
steadily. To have given up that mission would have been a serious mistake.
The regulatory program has proven the wisdom of keeping the Corps in the operation and
maintenance business, because having the base on which to place the regulatory program
helped the Corps survive and become active in environmental matters to include hazardous
waste as well as regulatory issues. The change in the culture of the Corps started before the
regulatory program; however, the regulatory program broadened its understanding and value.
Another part of the cultural change within the Corps was the privatization philosophy which
reduced the Corps' operation and maintenance of certain activities the private sector could do
as well and cheaper. So it wasn't only the transition from engineering, design, and
construction into O&M, it was also changes within the O&M community to using contracts
in place of hired labor.
Personnel shortage was one of the problems created by the regulatory program. The Corps
never received the proper number of people to do the job early on; however, in all fairness,
the Corps was allowed to retain spaces they otherwise would have lost without the regulatory
mission.
Q ..
You supported-or you talked about the privatization initiative quite a bit too, didn't you?
Another controversial
A
Well, it's always
internally. I had concluded we could privatize hopper
dredging if the industry would agree. We tried before, and they wouldn't do it because of the
investment cost.
The idea to privatize hopper dredging had several objectives. One was to get the Corps some
improved equipment. Another was to generate spaces needed elsewhere and also to pass the
bulk of the maintenance of the waterways and ports over to private enterprise. Pipeline
dredging had already gone through that process.
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