________________________________________________________________________Richard S. Kem
So, General Otis said, "We're going to cut the headquarters. We're going to do away with
functions we don't need. I'll make the tough choices between what we have to do and what
we'd like to do."
Everybody said, "You can't do away with ISAE. We have to do this. We have to provide
staff assistance to our installations." He said, "No, you don't. You only get around to an
installation about once every two years. What kind of assistance is that? You know, when
installations call, they have to get in a queue, and you've got somebody required for the
scheduling." So, he did away with the whole outfit. Some of the things were moved to the
DCSENGR's staff. I mean, different things moved different places, but ISAE as an entity
went away.
When General Saint came in, we had to take the Vander Shaaf cuts. As Chief of Staff, as I
mentioned earlier, I led the staff effort over there where we had to cut 450 spaces out of
USAREUR and the Corps headquarters. We found a way to do it.
We cut a lot of sacred cows on the way, like 20 auditors. "You can't cut auditors," we were
told, but we did. We did away with our MS3 staffing study shop. "You've got to have an
MS3 shop," they said. "No, we don't," and we really didn't. We also eliminated 30 lie
detector operators.
Now we've got to meet this new requirement in USACE, you know? We have to make tough
choices. We all say you shouldn't salami slice, but if you don't make a choice between A and
B, then you have to take the same percent off both of them.
We haven't come to grips with that in USACE. So, I've told Ernie Edgar that I did not
succeed this year. I tried to cut excess. I sent a marker to the Engineering and Housing
Support Center, told them that they were going to have to figure it out. I sent a marker to the
Engineer Automation Support Activity, told them they were going to have to figure it out.
Sent one to the Engineer Studies Center, told them they would have to figure it out, and all of
them stonewalled change.
Really, we are going to have to figure out how to cut somebody because you can't continue
doing everything at the same level when what you're supporting is smaller.
Q:
Is a lot of that going to come in the very next year, do you think, or spread out maybe over a
few? I mean, is the next year going to be really the toughest, or might it be '92 that's even
worse?
A:
I think the work activity for addressing it is next year. See, the advantage of doing it on your
own initiative is that you might well be able to program the ramp. If somebody else does it to
you, you probably can't program the ramp. There are a lot of reasons why you want to
program the ramp.
You might be able to say, "I want an Engineering and Housing Support Center of this size.
However, during the pullout from Europe and the base realignment and closure process for
two years, I ought to take a little and take a little and then take some more in the fourth or
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