John W. Morris
General Gribble may not be a Chief who comes immediately to mind when you talk about
Chiefs of Engineers. I don't know who does and who doesn't, but he did several things that
were critical to the Corps as we now know it: The ACE, the Research and Development
change, and the Directorate of Facilities Engineering. His "customer satisfaction" philosophy
was a set piece as well.
He was an articulate gentleman. I only know one time when he seemed to be out of sorts, and
that was-he just didn't want to go see the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
I may have mentioned earlier that he felt that the director of Civil Works should be able to
handle that office. Gribble was a man of few words and a clear thinker. When he didn't like
the way the 404 program was going, it was very simple. He just called me up and indicated
we had problems with the 404 situation and I'd better get it straightened out. That was about
all he said. "It's not working right, I want you to get it straightened out."
Would you characterize him as being a little hesitant on the environmental program? Was it
something that he was reluctant to see the Corps get involved in?
A ..
I don't think so. He wasn't reluctant about straightening out the 404 program.
Q ..
Well, the Marco Island decision.
A ..
The way he operated on the environmental things was to have the staff do its work first.
There's no question about that. Maybe he felt that he needed to bring the staff in on these
environmental types of things because it was new ground.
Q ..
But he backed up the decision.
A ..
Always. Yes. No question about that.
Q ..
In terms of his relationship with the ASAKW, did you ever hear him say anything that would
indicate he feared that the ASAKW might become more involved in the day-to-day operations
of the Corps?
A ..
I would not be surprised if Fred Clarke didn't pass on to Bill Gribble his concern about the
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works' position. Gribble believed, as I did, that the
director of Civil Works should be the counterpart to the ASAKW and as such should keep
the
out of the other business of the Corps. Completely. This would save the Chief
for the Secretary of the Army on civil works matters. It made a lot of sense to do it that way.
The Chief had the military program, the research and development program, facilities, and
other matters besides civil works to worry about. So the principle was clear and it prevailed
through my term. As Chief, I never dealt with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil
Works unless I absolutely had to. Gribble, to my knowledge, only dealt with the ASAKW
twice in the whole time. So I think he probably realized that an erosion of that relationship
would mean the Chief had to deal at a level where he shouldn't. If the Chief works at that
level, he doesn't have the same flexibility in going to the Secretary of the Army and is
distracted from his duties in supporting the Army.
There was no animosity between him and Secretary Veysey. That wasn't the problem. It was
just the operating procedures, as he saw them. General Gribble was absolutely right on that.
Q ..
Was there a pattern to the duties that General Gribble gave you? Sometimes you see the "Mr.
Inside, Mr. Outside"pattem, or was it more an issue at a time that he assigned to you? I mean,
in terms of your working relationship with the Chief. Or maybe you weren't there long enough
to really see a pattern.
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