How Did Colonel Frank Mayer Replace Colonel Burnett As DCD Commander

Colonel Frank Mayer replaced Colonel Burnett as DCD Commander. His personality was exactly the opposite of Burnett’s, and though brilliant, he was not mature. But travels with him, keep us in stitches. One day we were traveling in a rented car, and he turned to the driver and said; “I don’t like the way you’re driving and took the keys out of the ignition.” Those were the days without steering lock, and nothing happened, but it did shock us. Another day we were in Washington briefing Under Secretary of the Army Ambrose. We were in a large conference room with Generals around the table and several full Colonels and the rest of us in chairs against the wall. After 20 minutes, a messenger told us he was on his way. Everyone despised Ambrose since he was ambivalent, had no personality, and spoke in a whisper. One meeting would cause three additional meetings to answer his questions.
He finally arrived, and everyone obligatorily stood up. One could hear a pin drop as he sauntered to his front seat. My seat was opposite him and General Woodmansee, who was in charge of the meeting so I could hear every word. General Woodmansee stood up and told Ambrose that before Colonel Mayer’s LLHX briefing began, LTC McNair would answer the OH-58D force structure question he had from an earlier meeting. LTC McNair showed the force

He decided he didn’t agree with the LHX engine specification and took classified materials to his house to re-write it himself. Upon completion, the resulting Request for Proposal (RFP) was distributed and Manufacturers spent over $500,000,000 designing and producing the engine to meet the specification. As we had previously declared, the engine would not have enough power. The never used engine still sits in storage today Expensive redesign and development finally provided the needed power. He was turned in for taking classified material to his house, but as usual, political figures aren’t