Enaineer Memoirs
David McGrath publisher of Engineering News-Record, congratulated Genera/ Morris after ENR
named him "Construction's Man of the Year" in New York on 16 February 1977 at the Pierre Hotel.
As for the future, changes will continue. I am inclined to believe the reductions in
responsibility and authority of the Chief of Engineers have reached a low point, and future
modifications will begin an upward adjustment. This swing of the pendulum depends on the
reversal of a trend which began three decades ago and apparently has become more serious
in the last half of the period.
Q:
Can you define this trend more clearly?
A:
Yes, but first I want to establish the essential point that all short-term or specific action gains
must be within the framework of the bedrock goal of "improving the support by the Corps of
Engineers to the Army."
Q:
What about the public works program of the Corps?
Chiefs of Engineers and most senior generals of the Army realize that the world's finest
A:
military engineer capability is in the U.S. Army because of the added value generated through
the professional practices demanded by the civil works program-especially in peacetime. The
trick for the Chief is to convince his military superiors that such is the truth. The Chief needs
help and support, similar to that which I had, from the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the
Army. This comes from personal, frequent contact and involvement.
Q:
All right. Back to the trends over the past 30 years or so.
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