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Prime Concern. A California-born bureaucrat who spent most of his 35 years in Government employment as a Foreign Service officer (India, Colombia), Tripp is eminently qualified to manipulate the myriad agencies and offices that deal with disaster. In addition to the Pentagon, the Public Health Service, the Weather Bureau, oceanography office, Coast and Geodetic Survey, he also works with the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the International Red Cross and more than 100 other private agencies.
Last week, in his mild but unwavering way, Tripp wheedled the Air Force into computing the cost of its Sicilian airlift at the lowest possible rate; in the midst of a crisis, he often takes over the telephone headset himself for hours at a time to ensure that the job is completed as efficiently as possible. As for his clients, Tripp's prime concern is to keep them together as family units, thus speeding psychological recovery from cataclysm. "We want them to be comfortable," he says, "but not too comfortable. We don't want them to stay permanently in the tents."