"It looks like some of you came loaded for bear and weren't sure I was a bunny, so you shot anyway," Koop said following a series of pointed questions from the audience.
Putting members back into uniform is the first step in Koop's plan to shape up the corps. In an April 6 memo to all 5,400 corps members, Koop ordered that "effective May 1, 1987, you are directed to own and wear the appropriate uniform" every day. Corps members had been required to wear the uniform once a week, but the rule was often ignored. (About half the corps members at the NIH meeting were in uniform.) Koop's memo also warned of more frequent transfers and a tighter system for reviewing promotions.
After the meeting, NIH Director James B. Wyngaarden said that rules regarding uniforms would be forthcoming, but he would not say when. "We were given assurances that ...
