Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
A:
It involved almost all activities in logistical support of cadets. I was the budget officer for the
Corps of Cadets. I maintained the program and budget. I was the supply officer for the Corps
of Cadets. We operated the supply room with all the khaki uniforms, the bayonets, and so
forth that were issued for them.
I was the transportation officer for the Corps of Cadets. I arranged air transportation to fly to
the Notre Dame football game. I would figure out what airplanes were needed for when. I
wasn't the contracting officer, but my office would get the contract and make the
arrangement for the treasurer to withdraw the money from cadet accounts. We would then
contract for the commercial aircraft to fly the cadets to the football game, or lay on the buses
to take them down to Philadelphia for the ArmyNavy game.
We were in charge of cadet uniforms. Therefore, we would work with the uniform
manufacturers, who were right there at West Point. The crew that makes the cadet uniforms
didn't work for me, they worked for the quartermaster, United States Military Academy. I
was the commandant's rep that worked with them for all the fittings to get them right and so
forth. We coordinated all of the uniform manufacturers who came to West Point to sell the
graduating class their first Army uniforms.
I did not operate the cadet mess because there was another quartermaster officer, Major Tom
Arwood, who worked for the Military Academy, who operated it, but I was the
commandant's point of contact with him on all operations of the cadet mess.
Likewise, I was the point of contact for the commandant for everything having to do with
facilities for the cadets. The barracks police worked for me--that is, the janitor on each floor
and each stairwell of barracks worked in an organization of about 130 that reported to me.
Parts of the new barracks at that time were under construction by the North Atlantic
Division, New York District. The district had an area office at West Point. I was the
commandant's point of contact for everything having to do with construction requirements,
for policing of the area so that we could simultaneously conduct operations, for closing off
certain things so certain construction could take place.
Q:
Did you like being back at West Point at this stage of your career? Did you enjoy working
with cadets?
A:
I enjoyed it very much, and I enjoyed very much the interaction with cadets. It was a nice
time for my family too. It was, having just been in Vietnam on a hardship tour, a chance to
get to know my children.
I left Steven at age two and came back at age three. He was three, John was six, and Michelle
was eight. That was a nice period for them, getting started with school and all the activities at
West Point. We met an awful lot of nice people and interacted with them. A lot of people had
just come from Vietnam; some were just going back.
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