Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
With his predecessors, I think oftentimes their schedule called them away to do other things.
I almost put them back to a parallel experience as when we discussed my being the
community commander in Germany as well as the brigade commander. I think I suggested at
the time the community could always schedule something earlier than the troop command
side. So, if I let the schedule just happen and be filled up by the one who asked first, the
community would fill the schedule and I wouldn't have any quality time to command the
brigade or go to Corps meetings. So, I learned that I had to be in charge of my schedule. Not
that I'd take over from the secretary, but I couldn't accept everything that somebody wanted
to put on my schedule. I had to save important times and things, give tentative okays but not
finals. I would caveat things--I may have to send a rep, and that sort of thing. Otherwise, I
would have been totally consumed by community activities and never have had time to do
the troop side.
I think the same thing happens to the Chief of Engineers. He really needs to be there when
the Army's senior leadership is getting together over things. Yet, you don't always know
when that will be. The Chief can certainly fill up his schedule with visits to the Far East,
going along to the good old Missouri River Division, paying a semiannual visit to the
Southwest Division, dropping into the Lower Mississippi Valley--the good folks in the Delta
are always happy to see you down there. Those are pretty easy to accept, and the Chief can
really fill up the schedule before important things are scheduled.
Q:
Same?
A:
That's right. The Chief has to weigh his time. The Army Staff's PPBES calendar is all laid
out at the start of the year, so it is known generally when the senior leadership's going to be
getting together for purposes of deciding their response to defense guidance, or final approval
of the POM, or sending the budget out. I think the Chief can ensure that certain areas of time
are left open for that. He would be there at those key kinds of events. They schedule four-star
conferences well in advance, so he can always be involved in that, and I think most Chiefs
made themselves available, but not always.
So, from my experience back in those days, General Morris was often gone and he also often
attended. When he wasn't there, General Read attended or I attended. Now, that's a pretty
sobering thing when you're a brand-new brigadier and you walk into a general policy council
meeting and you're sitting next to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army because they sit by
rank and he's the four star and is sitting in the middle of the table. General Morris was the
ranking three-star in the Army and so that's where I would sit--in General Morris's seat. So,
here's all these three-stars around the table and one or two brigadiers, one of them right next
to the Vice Chief of Staff. Does keep you awake for the meeting! [Laughter]
But, you know, I was always wondering, were they looking down at me wondering where
General Morris was? So, I think it is important for the Chief to pick his shots and make
himself available for key times when the Army leadership wants to make weighty decisions
and they're looking for collective advice. I know the last year before I retired, I had a couple
of people on the Army Staff comment on how Hank Hatch was appreciated for his
contributions, not just in subjects of Army engineering interest, but his contribution as part of
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