John W. Morris
General Gribble was a very private person, particularly about his personal affairs. You
couldn't have a better boss or advocate if he liked your performance.
As I have tried to explain to people, becoming Chief of Engineers, in part, is a matter of
timing. When you walk down the hall, if the door's open, you have a chance to go in. If the
door's closed, because of a lot of reasons, you just pass by and you have missed it. In my
case I was definitely on the way past by, but the door opened all of a sudden and I was given
a chance.
In 1976 Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma was in the U.S. Senate. He had been governor of
Oklahoma when I was district engineer in Tulsa in the early 1960s. We'd stayed close to each
other over the years because of a couple of projects of national interest which he supported.
He was also very close to President Ford at the time. In late May 1976, he and I attended the
dedication of Kaw Dam in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Senator Bellmon learned that President Ford had nominated me to the Congress to be the
44th Chief of Engineers the morning of the day of the dedication. Much to my surprise and
people, Senator Bellmon said he
to everyone else's in the audience of about
was happy to announce that the next Chief of Engineers was going to be General Morris. Of
course, I'd been district engineer when the project was authorized and funded. Consequently,
I was fairly well known to a lot of those people.
I had a wonderful time that day. As an honorary chief of the Ponca Indians from my Tulsa
days, I was soon to become another chief-a bigger and different tribe, for sure. After a
barbecue and other events that go with that kind of festivity, I went to Tulsa and stayed with
some friends, and the celebration continued over the weekend. So it was a nice way to have
it happen, especially since our son John, then First Lieutenant John W. Morris, III, was with
me.
I don't know what else to say about getting the job. The great men and women of the Corps
are loyal to their Chief and seemed to accept the news okay, but as Chief number 44, I knew
that in the final analysis I had to earn their support by performance, not selection. The
transition into the job was very easy. As deputy, I was sitting next to General Gribble and had
worked with him closely ever since he'd become Chief three years earlier. One sidelight,
shortly after my selection I was asked to move from Fort McNair into General Gribble's
quarters at Fort Myer. My countersuggestion to redesignate my quarters at Fort McNair as
the Chief's quarters was approved. General Clarke had lived at Fort McNair when he was
Chief.
To become Chief of Engineers you go through a series of interviews. In my case I'd been
interviewed by the Secretary of the Army [Martin] Hoffman, then by Secretary of Defense
[Donald] Rumsfeld. Finally, I was called over to the Senate for confirmation hearings.
Senator Stennis had me appear before the full Armed Services Committee for hearings on my
becoming Chief of Engineers. I don't think that's happened with many other Chiefs, at least
not anyone in my recent memory. That was quite a nice event. They were very kind to me.
On 1 July, General Weyand promoted me to lieutenant general, and Secretary Hoffman
presented me with the appointment from the president to be Chief of Engineers. Gerry, the
children, family, and friends were present for this very nice ceremony.
I think the most memorable event in conjunction with the change-over occurred when
General Gribble gave me the "MacArthur Castles." As background, General
Sverdrup
had been MacArthur's engineer in the Pacific during World War II. He was given this set of
125
Previous Page
