John W. Morris
it?"
I mentioned that I thought that was okay, but the place was so close to Washington he
get away from his business.
I suggested he ought to go to Fort Peck. He said, "Fort Peck, is that one of mine?" I said, "No,
sir, it's one of mine." I explained it all to him, about being in the upper reaches of the
Missouri River in Montana, that we had a good project man and horses for his daughters, et
cetera. He said, "How do I get there "Well, if you can get to Omaha, the Corps' plane can
get you to Fort Peck." So we fixed up the two bedrooms that had the baths in the lodge.
Abrams stayed two weeks and had a great' time.
I'd call out every day or so and see how he was doing. Don Beckman, our project manager,
was a fine man. One day as I called Bob, he told me that General Abrams had said to tell
Morris to quit checking up on him.
When General Abrams came home, he had the swearing-in ceremony for General Gribble,
which I attended. General Abrams said he had a wonderful time. You know, he died shortly
after that because he had cancer. Sometime later I saw Mrs. Abrams at an affair in New York,
and she explained that going to Fort Peck in Montana was one of the best things that ever
happened to her and the family. She had no idea that the Corps of Engineers did the things
they did and had such wonderful people as Beckman and his team.
I was very proud of the Corps because it made such a nice impression on the Chief of Staff
and especially his family. That was quite a compliment. I always liked Fort Peck, and having
the Chief of Staff up there for a couple of weeks was a good thing.
My assignment to OCE as the director of Civil Works was a crucial duty for me for several
reasons. In many ways this was my most challenging and demanding job in the Corps and
surely one of the most rewarding. I was blessed with excellent career experiences for the work
which lay ahead and was most fortunate to serve under Lieutenant General F. J. Clarke and
his successor Lieutenant General Gribble.
occurred during the period and
Most i
however, were two watershed events wh
which forever changed the Corps and the public works program of the Department of the
Army. One was from without and the other internal to the Army.
Having been passed two years prior to my arrival as director of Civil Works, NEPA and its
executive agent, EPA, had found their footing. New environmental procedures impacted every
aspect of the public works program. Getting the largest public works agency-the Corps-in
step and a positive player in the new arrangements tested every member. Some were not
willing and others not comfortable to adjust. Nevertheless, the public works foundations of
the Corps of Engineers for the present and the future were laid during the first half of the
1970s decade.
The internal development was the activation of the position of the Assistant Secretary of the
Army for Civil Works. The effects of this are still emerging and will continue in the years
ahead. General Clarke was concerned that this position would generate fewer positive than
adverse values. He appears to have had good reason for his concern. To date, the most
apparent effect has been the steady intrusion of the
into the fabric and authority of
the position of the director of Civil Works and more seriously that of the Chief of Engineers.
For the
to invade the command and control arena of the responsible commander is
wrong, and unfortunately such intrusions appear to be growing in number and depth.
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