Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1969

VII.

Logistics

The Army's logistics mission embraces materiel, personnel, facilities, and services. To carry it out, the Army must acquire, move, distribute, maintain, store, and dispose of materiel; move and support personnel; acquire, construct, operate, maintain, and dispose of facilities; and furnish services. In fiscal year 1969 the over-all task was generally shaped by the war in Vietnam and the Army's million-and-a-half strength and worldwide deployment. Once again efforts were directed toward achieving a balance between the requirements of the war, the support of Army forces elsewhere, and the general progress in long-range programs so essential to future readiness, and deterrence.

Procurement

For the past decade the procurement objectives for materiel support of general purpose forces have been set out by the Secretary of Defense in his annual logistics guidance. The guidance establishes a balance between programed forces and the equipment, ammunition, secondary items, and consumables required to sustain them in combat. It specifies the number of Army division forces to be equipped and supported, and the Army's budget is developed accordingly.

In fiscal year 1969 the budget for the procurement of equipment and missiles totaled almost $6.8 billion, up some $340 million over 1968. It was designed to achieve and maintain prudent inventory levels in the light of operations in Southeast Asia. Over $4.7 billion was for procurement related to the war. The table below compares costs in various commodity areas over the past two years.

PROCUREMENT OF EQUIPMENT AND MISSILES, ARMY (PEMA)

(in millions of dollars)

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Of the more than $8.2 billion in contracts awarded during the year, $6.5 billion ($5.5 from current year and $1 from prior-year funds) was for the Army and $1.7 billion for customers ordering Army equipment.

Most of the equipment and munitions delivered in the 1969 fiscal year were contracted for in 1968. The following table illustrates the growth in deliveries since 1965.

MAJOR PROCUREMENT DELIVERIES

(In millions of dollars)

¹ Includes reimbursable procurement for military assistance and for U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.

As a result of these deliveries, the estimated value of major end item assets on hand at the close of the fiscal year was $21.7 billion. The increase in requirements was largely due to support of Vietnam operations, which involved expanded use of aircraft and increased ammunition consumption for new and conventional weapons. Other factors contributing to increased requirements and high costs were the addition of temporary forces to maintain the ground defense posture, accelerated production, and inflation. Deliveries resulting from the substantial procurement funds appropriated for fiscal year 1969 and anticipated far 1970—over $11 billion in two years—will close a part of the gap between existing assets and requirements.

Support of Operations in Southeast Asia

In the four fiscal years from 1965 through 1968 the logistical base for U.S. participation in the Vietnam War was constructed, linked with the home base, placed in operation, and progressively enlarged to accommodate the expanding U.S. commitment. As the buildup leveled off in 1969, the program to equip the South Vietnamese forces to take on a larger share of the war was accelerated, while logistic planning was focused on developing an orderly schedule of actions to accompany U.S. withdrawals.

The adjustment of force levels, combined with improvements in port capacity, ship availability, and depot capability, brought an adjustment

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in the transportation phases of war support. In fiscal year 1969 the capability to move over 900,000 short tons of materiel and supplies per month over an 8,000-mile pipeline had been achieved, along with the capability to rotate the theater's personnel on the short tour basis.

About 50 percent of all Army-sponsored cargo and passengers moved to and from Southeast Asia during the year. The Military Sea Transportation Service moved 9,122,200 measurement tons into the area, down by 97,600 from the previous fiscal year. Cargo shipped by air totaled 221,500 short tons, up 22,900 over the previous year. Of the totals, 6,605,600 measurement tons were shipped by surface and 131,900 short tons by air from the continental United States. Over 14,000 short tons were airlifted by the Red Ball Express expedited service.

Passenger movements were both inter- and intra-theater. During the fiscal year 947,900 passengers were moved from the continental United States to support operations in Southeast Asia. Of the total, 863,700 were moved by air and 84,200 by surface; 150,400 moved within the theater.

A shallow draft port at Vinh Long became operational in February 1969, increasing to 11 the ports used by the Army in South Vietnam: Saigon, Qui Nhon, Cam Ranh Bay, Vung Tau, Vung Ro, Cat Lai-Nha Be, and Nha Trang as deep draft ports, and Dong Tam, Phan Rang, Can Tho, and Vinh Long as shallow draft ports. Port congestion is no longer a problem. The average time a deep draft ship waits for a berth in Vietnam ports has been reduced from the 20.4 days of the critical 1965 period to an average of less than 1 day. The deep draft ports have a daily "throughput" capability of 26,000 short tons. (Throughput includes a variety of factors such as berth-anchor capacity and discharge, onward movement, and destination reception capability.)

Monthly throughput—discharge and outload combined—in Army-operated ports in South Vietnam decreased by about 100,000 short tons during fiscal year 1969, the average dropping from 807,000 in the opening quarter to 728,000 in the closing quarter. The decrease is attributable primarily to reduced tonnages rather than handling capability, another reflection of the leveling-off process in the theater.

Closely allied to the transportation phase of military operations is supply support. Under current consumption factors, U.S. Army personnel in Vietnam are using an average of 94.04 pounds of supply (of all classes) per man per day, compared with 45.34 pounds during World War II in the Pacific theater.

The Army's ammunition support effort continued to expand during the fiscal year with the inclusion of ground munitions support to Republic of Korea forces in Korea, and, in Vietnam, to the Republic of Vietnam's Navy, Marines, and Air Force in addition to its Army forces. Procurement and production of Army munitions for Southeast Asia were based on continuing assessment of consumption experience and

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force levels to insure responsive support without overprocurement. In view of competing demands for ammunition, the Military Services Ammunition Allocation Board controlled apportionment of production deliveries among the military departments, while the Department of the Army Allocations Committee for Ammunition performed the same function for the Army. Careful and continuous monitoring of theater stocks and shipments has kept the vast majority of items at the levels required to meet combat needs.

Under the direction of the Secretary of Defense, the Army provides a limited number of administrative and general housekeeping items, packaged petroleum products, and subsistence items to all U.S. forces in the II, III, and IV Corps Tactical Zones in the Republic of Vietnam. The Navy provided similar support in the I Corps Tactical Zone. Extension of the Army common supply support system and expansion of the categories of items handled will depend upon the Army's general supply posture and further direction from the Secretary of Defense.

Combat operations have placed a heavy burden on maintenance funds and activities. The growth rate of the U.S. Army, Pacific, depot maintenance program, for example, has been almost three times the worldwide rate. To shorten the maintenance cycle, ease the transportation burden, and take advantage of favorable labor costs in the Far East, maintenance work has been done as far forward as possible. Some repairs have been undertaken in the theater that would not have been economical in the continental United States. Depot maintenance is now performed in a score of shops in Japan, Korea, Okinawa, and Taiwan, and the closed loop support program, under which critical items are withdrawn, repaired, and returned to the user, is now fully operational to support not only U.S. Army forces in Vietnam but those in Thailand, Korea, Okinawa, Alaska, and Europe. The program embraces 86 major and 93 secondary items and in the past year over 40 line items were removed from a critical supply status. The maintenance support capability in the Pacific will be highly useful when and as the war is terminated and materiel is redistributed.

As noted in last year's report, the U.S. armed forces were left with $12 billion in surplus stocks at the end of the Korean War. The high cost of identifying, processing, and storing large amounts of excess materiel, coupled with rapid deterioration and obsolescence, tends to encourage the early classification of war surpluses as salvage. To insure that such waste does not occur in Vietnam, a program has been going forward since November 1967 to identify excesses and redistribute them according to need. Of the more than $700 million worth of identified excess materiel in the Pacific by the end of the fiscal year, the Army reported assets of $515 million, with approximately $177 million of these assets having been redistributed.

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The program to improve and modernize the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam, initiated in the spring of 1968, proceeded during the fiscal year, with progress attested to by the battlefield performance of Vietnamese forces and the announcement that an initial increment of U.S. forces would be withdrawn. Force levels were increased, funds allocated, procurement initiated, and equipment delivered to augment stocks already on hand. At the year closed, the supply of the most essential weapons and combat vehicles was well in phase with Republic of Vietnam Army unit activation schedules and maintenance and attrition requirements.

Support of Operations in Europe

In the first quarter of fiscal year 1969 the major redeployment of Army troops from Germany to the United States was completed. Two brigades of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), the 3d Armored Cavalry, and 78 support units were involved in the move, completed on September 30, 1968. The majority of their equipment was prepositioned in Germany against future need, and the units, although stationed in the United States, remain committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and under the operational control of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Army, Europe. To test their availability on call, the major 24th Division units and selected support elements were deployed by air to Germany in January 1969 to participate in Exercise Reforger I, using their prepositioned equipment.

As a part of the continuing effort to improve the U.S. logistic posture in Europe, a study was made of the management considerations connected with prepositioned materiel configured to unit sets. The appraisal addressed management procedures; funding and construction of controlled humidity storage facilities; readiness reporting; disposition of overage equipment; depot maintenance program data; and storage, maintenance, and modernization policies.

In March 1969 the Secretary of the Army approved the plan, proposed by the Commander in Chief, U.S. Army, Europe, to reorganize the logistic system in Europe, and the majority of actions embodied in it were completed in the final quarter of the fiscal year. The reorganized structure consists of a theater army support command and two corps support commands, and makes use of modern management techniques.

Under the military construction program, the Army continued to fund the United States share of the NATO common infrastructure program. The Congress authorized the $55 million budget request, but appropriated only $47 million. The other NATO nations agreed to share the cost of relocating U.S. facilities from France, and reimbursements began in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.

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Materiel Maintenance

In fiscal year 1969 the Army obligated $791.8 million for depot maintenance activities. Of this amount, $550.3 million was used to overhaul, convert, renovate, modify, repair, inspect, and test materiel. The remaining $241.5 million was used to plan and program maintenance activities; provide technical and engineering services; and procure capital equipment and basic issue items. Of the grand total, $649.5 million was directly related to maintenance support of the Army buildup and operations in Southeast Asia.

Two worldwide depot maintenance programing conferences were held in the Washington, D.C., area during the fiscal year, one in December 1968 and the other in April 1969. The 1969, 1970, and 1971 fiscal year budgets were reviewed and the entire program adjusted in the light of maintenance and repair schedules, the condition of existing materiel, and projected requirements. Broad consideration and regular updating are essential to insure that the program is responsive to the heavy maintenance requirements placed on it, for the maintenance of materiel is as important to combat readiness as the procurement of new stocks.

A joint Army-industry team, established to collect and evaluate data on armored personnel carriers and tanks in Vietnam, completed its work in the report period. One result of the appraisal was to change the standard overhaul frequency schedule for the M-113 armored personnel carrier from 5,000 to 6,000 miles of operation. The extension increases the operational availability of a vehicle by 20 percent and saves millions of dollars in overhaul costs.

The Army-industry team mission has been expanded to include evaluation of data on all combat vehicles worldwide. Evaluation of auto-frettage in gun tubes was begun this year, along with a program to improve the techniques by which wear-out and replacement factors for parts and components of tank retrievers are developed.

The Department of the Army prescribes standards for the operational readiness of equipment that measure both equipment and logistic support performance. The standards are considered to be attainable and are consistent with equipment distribution, geographic environment, usage, and command priorities. They have been established for each major command and separately for Vietnam and the Reserve Components. Updated readiness standards for Army ground equipment and aircraft became effective in December 1968.

Army Aircraft

Worldwide readiness standards were set in 1969 at 80 percent for fixed-wing and 75 percent for rotary-wing aircraft, with a weighted average of 76 percent for all aircraft.

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Because of the large number of aircraft in Vietnam and the time required for surface transportation from the United States, air movement of both aircraft and components to the battle zone has become increasingly important. Aircraft losses must be replaced immediately, either from new production or through repair programs. Thus cargo planes—C-124, C-133, C-141—transport new aircraft and parts to Vietnam and, bring back damaged or high-use aircraft for repair and overhaul in the United States. Also helpful in keeping aircraft operational is a new technique designed to diagnose an engine's condition. Called the spectrometric oil analysis program, it improves the aircraft maintenance diagnostic capability in Army units, reduces maintenance requirements, and promotes operational safety. All Army aircraft installed engines were diagnosed during the year, and the feasibility of extending the technique to ground vehicles and water aircraft is being evaluated.

In September 1968 the Army was designated the integrated weapons support manager for the UH-1 aircraft and the T-53 turbine engine, responsible for providing materiel support for all such equipment used in the military services. The Army supported the Navy and Air Force through interservice agreements for the remainder of the fiscal year, pending implementation of the new agreement early in fiscal year 1970.

Forward maintenance for aircraft in the battle zone was enhanced during the year with the development of a family of aircraft airmobile shop sets that permit integration of aircraft direct support maintenance into operational aviation units. The sets were issued to the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne Divisions (Airmobile) and the 1st Aviation Brigade in Vietnam, and provided repairmen with the tools and equipment to perform 80 percent of the direct support maintenance requirement.

Logistics Systems

Among numerous recommendations developed by the Department of the Army Board of Inquiry into Army Logistics Systems were those relating to improvement of the logistics systems of Army divisions. Extensive changes in the system were proposed, along with an increased use of automation. Tests were conducted at Fort Hood, Texas, and in U.S. Army, Europe, between September 1967 and August 1968, and a number of new methods were approved in such areas as management of repair parts, maintenance of the property book, asset reporting, and inventory control. Organizational realignments were also adopted that would provide more effective and efficient supply and maintenance support to the combat battalions. The changes were in progress in the 24th Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, as the year closed, and are scheduled for other divisions in the United States, Europe, and Korea.

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Developmental work began in the fiscal year on an integrated facilities system (IFS) that would provide structured, accurate, and timely data on Army real property resources and programs. Such data is used in developing costs associated with various courses of action and in making decisions related to force structure, force readiness, and facilities planning and programing. The IFS will provide functional managers and commanders with data required to manage real property resources. In a related development, the stationing capability system was completed during the year. This will provide the Army with an automated system to be used in the preparation of stationing plans to support capabilities studies. One of its principal features will be the ability to determine dollar costs associated with troop stationing plans. This system will be incorporated eventually into what is called the facilities planning module of the integrated facilities system.

Under the over-all Program to Improve the Management of Army Resources (PRIMAR), a system is being developed to control supply and maintenance activities that are financed for the most part from the Army's operations and maintenance fund. The system will isolate key performance indicators, which will be used in conjunction with a simple reporting system to develop comprehensive budgets by computer, ideally in less time and with greater accuracy than has been possible in the past.

Management has become ever more intensive in military operations today. The size, complexity, and cost of operations, goods, and services have made this so. Contributing to the need for intensive management are limited budgets, competing demands, high costs, measured production, accelerated consumption, distant operations, and worldwide requirements, among other reasons. One of the key elements in intensive management is an effective reporting system, and one of the equipment areas that has required close management is that of aircraft components. An Aircraft Component Intensive Management System was instituted in February 1967, initially for T-53 and T-55 turbine engines. In 1968, 20 additional critical or high-dollar value items were added to the system. Testing was completed in September 1968, and the system has been made a permanent one. By the close of the fiscal year, 45 high-dollar aviation items had been brought under intensive management.

Those elements of logistics which directly concern materiel—requirements, assets, production engineering and facilities, supply and distribution, sales losses, research and development, funding levels—are integrated into the Army Materiel Plan. This is the basic document used to develop the procurement portion of the Five Year Defense Program, and items for the budget are selected from it. A system for the automation of the Army Materiel Plan became operational during fiscal year 1969. It is used at the commodity commands and the Major Item

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Data Agency at Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The system automates a large number of calculations required in the preparation of the Army Materiel Plan that were previously done manually. It provides more rapid access to information and response to changes in guidance and permits data to be updated monthly and retained in computerized form.

Several important concept studies of broad logistics implications were in progress during the 1969 fiscal year. One deals with the question of whether the extension of the Army Materiel Command overseas or some other method would provide the most responsive, efficient, and effective supply and maintenance support for U.S. forces in oversea areas; the study concludes that the Army Materiel Command should be responsible for requirements determination, procurement, distribution, and integrated inventory management worldwide. Decision has been deferred until communications and data processing systems that would support the over-all system are evaluated. The other study, approved in the year, examined the concepts and costs of an all-air line of communications and compared possible surface and air lines of communications in the 1970-75 time period when the Air Force C-5A transport will be available. It was concluded that all-air lines of communication are not feasible given the projected C-5A availability and problems of vulnerability in forward delivery; a mixed surface-air concept appears to be the most feasible.

Supply and Depot Management

Wartime conditions continued to complicate the management and distribution of Army materiel. The Department of the Army's Distribution-Allocation Committee continued to control the allocation of critical items of equipment to meet requirements and priorities around the world. Distribution planning was aided by the inception of an automated system to display equipment requirements, inventories, scheduled production, and anticipated losses. From this data a 2-year distribution plan is now compiled, reflecting the planned equipment status of major Army commands.

The Army Stock Fund finances much of the materiel that flows through the Army depot system. Stock fund purchase authority in fiscal year 1969 amounted to $3.7 billion to support an issue program of $4 billion. The purchase program was about 3 percent less than that of fiscal year 1968, while the issue program remained essentially unchanged. The Army continued to improve supply management and control in Southeast Asia, where demands leveled off somewhat, although there were some increases in connection with the modernization program for South Vietnamese forces.

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The Warehousing Gross Performance Measurement System (described in the last several reports) is used to measure productivity and manpower utilization throughout the Army depot storage system. It has been implemented for both general supply and ammunition storage activities at all Army Materiel Command depots, and for general supply storage activities in Europe and the Pacific. It will be applied to ammunition storage in Europe in July 1969 and in the Pacific in January 1970. A gross performance measurement system for inventory control points will be installed in the Army on July 1, 1969. Use of the system will improve efficiency and reduce operating costs of depot storage and supply management operations in the Army.

Modernization of the depot storage system in the United States began in fiscal year 1967 as part of a $14.2 million 3-year program to equip depots with the most efficient materiel-handling systems and provide modern facilities, design capabilities, and layouts for effective storage operations. Through fiscal year 1969, $6.2 million had been spent on procurement of handling equipment and alterations to facilities, while $1.7 million was obligated for military construction under the program. If Army requests in the 1970 and 1971 budgets are approved and the modernization program is completed, depot storage operating costs will be reduced by about $3 million annually.

Depot organization as well as modernization was a subject of attention in the fiscal year. In May 1969 a revised depot organization regulation was issued to assist depot commanders around the world to establish and maintain a uniform structure. The standard organization makes more effective use of resources and takes advantage of the latest organizational experience of the Army. The advantages of uniformity are evident in some simple statistics. There were 47 Army depots and 35 depot activities in nine countries (United States, Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Thailand, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy) on December 31, 1968, storing some seven million short tons of Army supplies and equipment and performing such wholesale functions as storage and warehousing, repair and rebuild, rail and motor vehicle traffic management, stock control, overhead and support functions, quality control, and property disposal, among other depot and tenant activities.

Installations

The 1969 Military Construction Authorization Act, approved in July 1968, provided $449.1 million in new funding authorization for the Army. Although the Congress approved a total funding plan of $628.1 million, a general reduction of $80 million was imposed, reducing the Army's fiscal year 1969 military construction appropriation to $548.1 million.

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The $80 million reduction, made without reference to specific projects, required the Army to defer temporarily certain portions of the program. Some already-approved Southeast Asia programs were reduced and about $40 million in other projects deferred. Since deferred projects were still required, funds for projects that encountered award delays were transferred to them.

To comply with the congressional desire to reduce large unobligated balances, the Army on September 6, 1968, set March 31, 1969, as the date by which all fiscal year 1968 and prior-year funds would be obligated, and June 30, 1969, as the date when 1969 fiscal year fund obligation would be completed. The award of contracts was slowed by rising costs; in many instances, waivers of statutory cost limitation or redesign were necessary to hold contracts to authorized limits. Considerable progress was made, however, in reducing the backlog of unstarted projects, and the unobligated carryover for all work except that connected with the Safeguard system and Vietnam and Thailand was reduced,by about $80 million. The reorientation of the Safeguard program and a revalidation of construction requirements in Vietnam created a reserve for future work in both areas.

The Army in fiscal year 1969 thus had available for military construction a total of $1,057.4 million, consisting of $548.1 million in current appropriations, $490 million in unobligated prior-year funds, and $19.3 million in transfers from appropriations of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Funds for new work were available as follows:

¹ Excludes $4.1 million advanced against fiscal year 1970 appropriations.

Obligations for major projects totaled $248.7 million in areas outside of Vietnam and Thailand and excluding Safeguard. Some $84.3 million was obligated for new work in Vietnam and Thailand, while $44.3 million was obligated for infrastructure, $26 million for Safeguard, and $31.5 million for planning, minor construction, and access roads.

Appropriations for military construction in Southeast Asia (as opposed to obligations) in fiscal year 1969 included $131.7 million in new obligation authority for construction in Vietnam and $7.5 million for construction in Thailand. The general reduction of $40 million assigned to Southeast Asia, plus a deferral of apportionment imposed by

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the Office of the Secretary of Defense, reduced the Vietnam and Thailand allocations to $40.5 and $4.3 respectively. New obligation authority for construction projects in the United States and other oversea areas in support of Southeast Asia operations totaled about $10.9 million. Over $1.3 billion in regular, contingency, and military assistance funds have been applied to military construction in Southeast Asia in the four fiscal years 1965-69.

The Army's military construction program consists of three basic elements: providing facilities that installations need but do not have, replacing aged and obsolete facilities, and improving and modernizing existing facilities. At the present time, the permanent assets at fixed Army installations have a total value of about $14.4 billion. If these facilities were depreciated over an average life of 50 years, it would require yearly expenditures of about $288 million to replace them on a cyclic basis. Based upon an assumed long-range permanent Army peacetime strength of 925,000, there is a facilities deficit of about $7.5 billion (excluding Safeguard construction). It is the Army's objective to invest $800 million in construction funds annually to overcome the deficit in about 10 years. By way of comparison, only $57 million was authorized and funded by Congress in fiscal year 1969 for replacement and modernization. Further progress has been deferred in favor of meeting the demands of the war.

On April 24, 1969, the Secretary of Defense announced actions to consolidate, reduce, realign, or close 36 military installations and activities in the United States. Four are under Army control. The radio receiver station at La Plata, Maryland, and the radio transmitter station at Woodbridge, Virginia, were announced for inactivation by July 1969. A NIKE site at Garfield Heights, Ohio, will be declared excess by December 1969, while research and development functions at Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will be consolidated with similar activities at other installations by January 1973. These actions will result in the relocation of 72 military personnel and the elimination of 758 civilian spaces and will produce an annual saving of $14.2 million.

Approximately $1 billion was expended in fiscal year 1969 for real property maintenance activities at Army installations, equal to the previous year. Space in Army buildings decreased by over four million feet as a result of the closing of some installations. The amount of unexecuted essential maintenance and repair at year-end was estimated to be $228 million, the same as that for fiscal year 1968.

Real property maintenance in Southeast Asia was done primarily by contractors. In Vietnam, one firm with a work force of about 21,000 furnished all normal post engineer support to about 400,000 U.S. Army and allied assistance personnel at 104 locations. The same firm, with

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a force of about 2,800, provided the same type of services to U.S. Army forces in four areas of Thailand. Another contractor operated and maintained power ships and distribution systems at four sites in Vietnam.

The Army, through the Corps of Engineers, provided construction support to numerous agencies and projects, among them the Air Force (including its Guard and Reserve), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, various Department of Defense agencies, the Military Assistance Program, the Agency for International Development, the Navy and Coast Guard, national cemeteries, and several foreign governments. During fiscal year 1969, Army Engineers contracted for approximately $385 million of construction for these other U.S. agencies and foreign governments.

Around the world, the Army controls 14.1 million acres of land that, with improvements constructed after initial acquisition, cost $12 billion. During the year, 71,194 acres were disposed of that, with improvements, had an original cost of $106.4 million. Disposal of an additional 5,328 acres having an original cost of $23.8 million, reported to the General Services Administration during the year, is in progress. During the period, 1,663,036 acres temporarily not required for military purposes were leased to private parties, and receipts in the amount of $6 million were deposited in the U.S. Treasury.

As real estate agent for other government agencies, the Army in fiscal year 1969 acquired 343 land tracts for the Air Force costing $5.4 million and 953 land tracts for the National Park Service costing $5.7 million. Real estate services were also furnished the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission.

In December 1967 the Secretary of the Army was assigned responsibility for the homeowners assistance program, under which military or civilian employees of Department of Defense activities are provided financial assistance to reduce their losses if they are required to dispose of a home when a military installation is closed. Through June 30, 1969, 6,584 applications for assistance had been received and 1,947 applicants had been given financial assistance totaling $6.779 million. Some 786 mortgages totaling $6.296 million were assumed, while 2,010 applications were rejected.

Due to the suspension of work on the Sentinel program and the subsequent redirection to Safeguard, major installation redesign became necessary. The changes were required by revised assessments of the threat, modifications to technical and tactical criteria, and transfers of site locations, and the principal ones concerned power requirements, the number of radar faces, the size of the missile site radar building, the launch cell design, and the number of missiles deployed at sites. The architect-engineer contracts for the major facilities—two radars and two power

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plants—are being revised and design of the first sites should be completed by January 1970.

Transportation

In fiscal year 1969 the amount of Army cargo and numbers of Army passengers moved varied slightly from fiscal year 1968. The Military Sea Transportation Service moved 96 percent of the cargo that was shipped—18,901,600 measurement tons, about 65,100 less than the previous year's quantity. The Army also shipped about 318,800 short tons by air, somewhat over the 1968 level.

Passenger movement continued to reflect the policy of using the most expeditious means to move personnel and save man-days of travel. During the year, 1,698,100 Army-sponsored passengers were transported worldwide, 1,590,600 by air and 107,500 by sea. The ratio of passengers using airlift increased along with the number of passengers moved.

Restraint in the use of premium cargo transportation was also maintained through the year under the airlift challenge program, which provides for automatic review, screening, and challenge of requests initiated by field commands. An average of over 2,000 shipments per month was diverted from airlift to sealift, at an estimated cost avoidance of about $12 million per month. The diversions were made without detriment to delivery dates.

There were further refinements and improvements in the Military Standard Transportation and Movement Procedures (MILSTAMP) program during the year. The most significant concerned improvements in the procedures for moving dangerous and hazardous cargo by ocean carrier.

The safe shipment of conventional explosives, nuclear weapons, and chemical agents is a matter of continuing concern to the Army. In the field of transportation safety there were several developments during the year. Escort responsibilities for nuclear weapons were transferred from the Continental Army Command to the Army Materiel Command, and installation commanders were authorized to grant refuge, in case of need, to shipments of military explosives or hazardous materiels covered by a government bill of landing.

The proposed plan to move obsolete and unserviceable chemical munitions from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and other installations by rail to the east coast for disposal at sea came to public attention through congressional interest. As a result of public discussion over potential hazards, shipment was halted until the National Academy of Sciences could study the matter and make recommendations. The academy determined that the most appropriate disposal procedure would be to defuse the explosive devices and detoxify the chemicals in the gas bombs, and suggested that this method be considered for all materiel scheduled

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for disposal. Should this prove to be impractical because of preparations already made for the disposal at sea, the academy indicated that the original Army plan be carried out. As the year closed, the Department of Defense was evaluating the academy's recommendations and disposal plans were being revised. Decision on disposition of the obsolete stock was in abeyance.

The Army's containerization program moved forward during the fiscal year. In November 1968, contracts were let for the purchase of 2,000 containers, 8'x8'x20' in size (to be called MILVANS), and 1,750 matching chassis. Initial deliveries began in May 1969. Meanwhile, a pilot operation was developed, based on the initial procurement of containers and chassis, to test the possibilities of an Army-owned MILVAN fleet.

The Army has long studied the methods and means by which to cross water, which often proves to be a formidable obstacle in military operations. The roles and missions that might be assigned to transhydro craft in the 1975-85 decade were the subject of a study plan prepared during the fiscal year by the Combat Developments Command. For study purposes, transhydro craft were considered to include those which float on the surface, those supported by air cushion or foils, and those that fly over water. In May 1969 a steering committee met to consider the study plan against the possibility that approval would permit initiation of the study in the first quarter of fiscal year 1970.

The Defense Appropriation Authorization Act for fiscal year 1969 (Public Law 90-500) restricts the purchase of buses from foreign manufacturers primarily for reasons of economy and the national interest. The restrictions apply whether the buses are purchased, rented, or leased for transportation services. To comply with the new provisions, buses of foreign manufacture used by the Army will be replaced by U.S. equipment.

The extensive requirement for lighterage in Southeast Asia has practically depleted the Army's supply of landing craft. Except for 40 LCM-8 craft received through new procurement in 1967, those now in the Army supply system were procured in the 1950-52 period. They are becoming increasingly difficult to repair and provide with spare parts. Landing craft in Vietnam have had minimum maintenance and hard use in both supply and tactical operations. In view of their importance in the logistical chain, the Army is presently preparing a procurement plan for the Five Year Procurement Program.

Support Services

Although the various types of Army support services are often considered to 'be routine, the fact that they deal with essentials makes them interesting, and especially so during wartime. The sheer magnitude is

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illustrated by the fact that the Army, during fiscal year 1969, had 4,471 troop dining facilities in operation worldwide, backed by 26 central meat-processing facilities, 12 central pastry facilities, 16 garrison bread bakeries, and many additional field facilities. There were also 153 commissary stores serving Army families worldwide, with annual sales in excess of $535 million; 112 issue commissaries supplied troop messes with subsistence valued at over $508 million.

A cumulative total of 1,138,951 interments have been made in the 85 national cemeteries under Army jurisdiction, 39,811 of them during fiscal year 1969; 2,080 of these are Vietnam casualties. Among the 85 cemeteries administered by the Army, 55 have gravesites available, while 30 others have space only for Vietnam casualties, previously reserved gravesites, or second interments in existing graves under the single gravesite policy.

The 90th Congress failed to complete action on the proposal that the National Cemetery System be transferred to the Veterans Administration. The legislation was introduced once again as the 91st Congress reconvened in January 1969.

Work continued during the year on the expansion and improvement of Arlington National Cemetery. Contracts have been awarded for a visitor center and parking lot, remedial landscaping, the development of 80 acres of additional burial area, and a water distribution system for the entire cemetery. The permanent lighting system for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and facade of the Memorial Amphitheater was completed in March 1969, a contribution of the American Legion on its 50th anniversary. President Nixon presided at the dedication ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The 1970 budget contains a request for $258,000 as the federal government's share of costs associated with construction work at the Arlington Cemetery gravesite of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The Kennedy family will assume the cost—about $419,200—for construction of the gravesite memorial.

During the fiscal year, excess property of various kinds and in various locations at home and overseas, with an acquisition cost of $1.5 billion, was available for disposition by Army property disposal activities—by redistribution, transfer, donation, sale, or other authorized action, depending upon the nature of the property. Usable property that cost $238 million and 420,000 short tons of scrap were sold; proceeds amounted to $53 million, as against $29 million for operating the disposal program. Stocks of usable property eligible for disposal increased during the year from $375 million to $502 million. Most of the increase is at Army depots in the United States and comprises returns from Southeast Asia, disposal of stocks resulting from refinements in the supply system, and munitions stocks awaiting disposal.

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