Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
The question was, "Why did it cost million more than had initially been estimated?" I
was designated to go over and testify about that.
Q:
That's a really hot-seat position, I think, to testify on overruns.
A:
Well, yes. I hadn't even taken my seat when the committee chairman said, "Well, General,
what are we going to do about an Army that has a million cost overrun." It was my first
time before a committee. I was trying to put my thoughts together. I mean, I was still walking
from my back seat to the table. Somebody else in the Air Force had been up and now they
were leaving, and here we are approaching and the chairman was already asking a question. I
didn't have my books out or anything, I'm just moving forward and trying to key my mind
too. So, I just blurted out what came to mind, which was, "I don't know, Sir, but just
remember it's the only Army we've got." [Laughter] It seemed to keep the day going. I won't
say it carried the day because there were a lot of questions that followed--but at least I didn't
get thrown out.
Q:
Let's talk a minute, maybe, about the organization of the office and how it functioned. Before
we started actually taping, we were talking about the executive assistant position, I guess it's
called now, and the lack of it at that time. That's one issue that you might want to address.
Let's start with that, and I have a couple of others to follow.
Ann Kem and Lieutenant General John W. Morris (right), Chief of
Engineers, pin brigadier general's stars on General Kem's uniform
during his promotion ceremony in November 1979.
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