Editing Hugh John Casey (section)

===Construction Division===
[[File:Pentagon construction.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Northwest exposure of the Pentagon's construction underway, 1 July 1942|alt=Expansive view of a construction site with lots of parked cars, scaffolding and cranes. There are a number of demountables in the foreground.]]
Casey returned to [[Washington, D.C.]] in October 1940 to become chief of the Design and Engineering Section in the Construction Division of the [[Quartermaster general (USA)|Office of the Quartermaster General]], under [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Brehon B. Somervell]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=265}}</ref> An enormous construction program was underway to meet the needs of [[World War II]]. Working with a staff that included [[George Bergstrom]], a former president of the [[American Institute of Architects]],<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=266}}</ref> Casey set about revising the standard designs for barracks. A number of new features were added to improve comfort, safety, and durability. Substitutions were made for scarce materials. It was discovered that the standard 63-man barracks was now too small. Of the 81 companies in the new [[triangular division]], 51 fitted more easily into 74-man barracks. By slightly increasing the barracks size, substantial savings were made by reducing the overall number of buildings that needed to be constructed, the size of the [[cantonment]] areas required, and the length of required roads and utility lines.<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|pp=347–354}}</ref> Casey was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] on 8 April 1941.<ref name="Casey, p. xiii"/>

On the afternoon of Thursday, 17 July 1941, Somervell summoned Casey and Bergstrom and gave them a new special project: the design of an enormous office complex to house the [[United States Department of War|War Department's]] 40,000-person staff together in one building. Somervell gave them until 09:00 on Monday morning to design the building, which he envisaged as a modern, four-story structure with no elevators, on the site of the old [[Hoover Field|Washington Hoover Airport]].  This would ultimately become [[The Pentagon]], the largest office building in the world.  Over that "very busy weekend", Casey, Bergstrom and their staff roughed out the design for a four-story, five-sided structure with a floor area of {{convert|5100000|sqft|sqm}}—twice that of the [[Empire State Building]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=431 }}</ref> The estimated cost was $35 million.<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=432}}</ref> [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] subsequently moved the site of the building, over Somervell's objections, away from [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=434}}</ref>