________________________________________________________________________Richard S. Kem
So, there was a lot of interaction, a lot of telephone calls--typically every assignment would
be 5, 6, 7, 8 telephone calls, calling around to find a person's interest; coming back with two
or three "what do you think's?" Then moving on to say, "This is coming open, are you
interested?" No, he's not, for whatever reasons. Then trying to find other matches.
At the same time, we had Army requirements. We still had Vietnam going on, and it was
drawing down, so no one wanted to go for their second or third tour; some people still hadn't
been there for a first tour.
There were some things where Army policy would be, "so and so should go next," so there
were a few "have to's." The job of the Colonels Division assignment officer was to facilitate
that process, make it work, and make everybody happy.
Another factor in all this was the fact that with colonels' very high level responsible charge,
oftentimes I would only have one engineer colonel at a place. It's not like you would have
eight or nine majors on a post and certain ones could gravitate to certain jobs and others slip
to others, or you could cross over.
Typically, the colonel succeeded or didn't succeed in the position. There was no backstop
there, no flexibility at the post, and everything was then a permanent change of station move
to someplace else. So, that complicated things.
Also, colonels work for generals, and a lot of generals had very decided viewpoints on who
ought to do what and where, what their colonels were worth and not worth, and who should
be selected. They were always willing to provide a little extra help to the assignment officer.
So, that's what an assignment officer did, and the differences between, say, the Engineer
Branch or Artillery Branch, and the Colonels Division.
Q:
So, there were fewer Vietnam slots, but there still was a requirement for a number of
colonels?
A:
Yes. By that time, I think, we were down to three or four engineer colonels in Vietnam.
Q:
Was there any feeling on the part of men who hadn't been there that this was something they
needed to do, they needed to go ahead and have an assignment there? Or was it too late for
that?
A:
I don't believe by this time that people who hadn't been there felt that they had to go; those
people who hadn't been there basically could have gone if they'd really understood and had
asked. There may be some exceptions to that, and certainly some people who hadn't been
there for some number of years could go back or not go back. By this point in time, we're
talking 1972, we were definitely pulling back and down, so it was seen that the heyday of
Vietnam service was over.
It was still a very important place. There were people advising the Vietnamese and still trying
to make it a go. Certainly on a ramp down.
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