Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
way to bang things around among the senior folks for two purposes: To get it right, first of
all, and, second so they have a buy in, so there's a consensus that this is the right way to go.
I guess also so the Chief hears different views, and when he makes up his mind, it's not just
been Bill Robertson talking. Bill may have been the architect in putting all of this together,
but it's been banged around by all the other good thinkers. He gets all the inputs, and we can
better a good product, with a consensus buy in, and everybody feeling good because they
participated.
Q:
I don't know if you can answer this. As an institution, the Office for Strategic Initiatives--
it's very clearly General Hatch's "thing." When a new Chief comes in, do you think it's
likely to have proven itself and be the means that will continue, or is it really--
A:
One can never predict those things.
Q:
Yes.
A:
I created my "thing" when I was at Fort Belvoir as commandant. It was a technique to create
a matrix thinking, developing synergy. I called it my "mafia." I brought Tom Farewell in to
head what I called the Engineer Force Modernization Office, my special actions team. I gave
him two people, ensured they were not encumbered by an in-box, and used them as the focus
of activities of the mafia and others to make things happen for the engineer force
modernization efforts I was pushing.
They were big drivers in helping me work to establish EForce. They did a lot of integrating
work and networking, and I thought they were super and did significant work. Yet, my
successor killed it in three months after he arrived because all the other folks, the colonels in
the command, turned against it.
You see, the mafia folks were lieutenant colonels, and I thought I was taking care of the
insecurities of the colonels by making them the oversight. They, the colonels, met with me
and the mafia, and we always did things together. When I left, the colonels turned upon it,
and Bill Reno did away with it.
So, I would say you can't be assured that the Office for Strategic Initiatives and Bill
Robertson will continue like that, and if you get somebody other than Bill in there driving the
Office for Strategic Initiatives, it may not be as effective and, you know, his interests may not
stay there forever. If you get a guy of that ilk, his satisfactions come from creating and doing
things. If he feels that it's no longer an opportunity for creativity, then he may well decide
there are other places that he can get such satisfaction. Without him, there goes the chemistry
because he and Hank Hatch right now have great chemistry.
Q:
That's an important part of it.
A:
It is.
Q:
Like your group, you had the chemistry, I'm sure.
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