Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1973

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Support Services

This chapter assembles the variety of services that provide for and contribute to the soldier's physical, spiritual, moral, social, and civic needs and well-being. Support services are used here in a generic sense. This format permits the compatible grouping of a number of subjects that were formerly covered organizationally or functionally in the personnel and logistics areas: health and medical care, religion and moral enrichment, housing, food service, commissary and post exchange, laundry and dry cleaning, clothing, recreation and morale, voting assistance and community service, and memorial affairs.

Health and Medical Affairs

As the fiscal year closed, the health of U.S. Army personnel, according to ruling indexes, could be considered excellent. The worldwide admission rate to hospital and quarters was 387 persons per 1,000 in calendar year 1972; from January through June 1973 the rate decreased to 363 per 1,000. The noneffective rate (the average daily number of active duty personnel in an excused-from-duty status due to medical causes) fell to 13.5 per 1,000 in calendar year 1972 and decreased to 9.8 per 1,000 during January-June 1973, continuing a decline begun in 1968.

The major cause of admission continued to be disease. As a group, the common respiratory diseases, influenza included, were the principal causes of admissions and noneffectiveness. The next three most important causes for admission were diarrheal conditions, neuropsychiatric disorders, and skin diseases. Prevention, early diagnosis, and prompt treatment contributed to the worldwide decrease in noneffectiveness due to disease in the Army.

Respiratory diseases were responsible for the highest loss in man-hours among recruits; they disrupted training cycles and increased training costs. Army-wide, for example, the admission rate in calendar year 1972 was 125 cases per 1,000 strength per year, considerably higher than in previous years. In September 1972, evidence showed that an antigenic shift had occurred in influenza A virus, from the so-called Hong Kong/68 strain to a new one identified as the England/72 strain. Large-scale epidemics of the new strain had not been noted in military populations except in a few instances by the close of this report period. The new virus appears to be slow moving, and existing vaccine may have limited pro-

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tection. A new vaccine is needed to combat the new variant and should be available by the next flu season.

Acute respiratory disease continued to be the most common illness among recruits; the incidence rate for them in calendar year 1972 was 407.9 cases per 1,000 strength per year, up from 292.4 in calendar year 1971. Oral adenovirus vaccines of Types 4 and 7 had been administered to the recruits during the 1972 epidemic season, as in past years, but low potency of the Type 7 component appears to have reduced protection and led in part to increased rates in recruit training camps. In January 1973, new adenovirus vaccines of Types 4 and 7 were administered to recruits, reducing the incidence of respiratory disease to a rate of 272 cases per 1,000 per year for the period January-June 1973.

The pattern of meningococcal cases among Army personnel reveals that cases increased in the mid-1960s. Most were in the category identified as Type C. Following intensive research and extensive field trials, a Group C vaccine was administered routinely to all incoming Army recruits beginning in October 1971. There was noticeable reduction in meningococcal cases among immunized recruits, and the Type C disease virtually disappeared.

Until broad spectrum vaccines are available, general preventive measures will have to be relied upon to combat other types of meningitis. Efforts to produce a Group B vaccine have been unsuccessful to date. The Group A vaccine has been produced but not yet completely evaluated; infections in this category are uncommon. All in all, the incidence of meningococcal infection at recruit training sites has been greatly reduced. There were twenty-eight cases with two deaths in calendar year 1972 (most of them Group Y) and twelve cases with two deaths in the period January-June 1973. General preventive measures against respiratory diseases will be stressed to retard transmission.

Through continued research, vaccines have been developed to combat other major diseases. Penicillin, although not suitable for mass prophylaxis, is still the drug of choice in the treatment of clinical disease and remains highly effective. Prompt diagnosis and treatment with penicillin undoubtedly accounts for the continued low mortality from disease; occasional fulminating cases cannot be saved despite the great medical measures taken. In this connection, it may be noted that the use of antibiotic prophylaxis has been discouraged since the appearance of sulfadiazine resistance in the early 1960s.

Rubella caused a substantial amount of lost time among basic combat trainees. High infection rates occurred frequently at basic training sites; peak monthly rates ran as high as 240 cases per 1,000 strength per year. The over-all annual rates for rubella among trainees were considerably higher than Army worldwide active duty rates. For example, the world-

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wide rate for rubella in 1971 was 10.4 cases per 1,000 per year, whereas the trainee rate for the same period was 49.4. Hence the rubella rate among basic combat trainees was ten times higher than the worldwide rate and five times higher than the continental U.S. rate for 1971 (the CONUS military population includes large numbers of basic trainees).

Analysis of several years of data revealed that 75 percent of rubella cases occur in the January to April period, except at Fort Ord, California, which had a high rate throughout the year. Use of the rubella vaccine was shown to be cost effective, and The Surgeon General authorized it for mass prophylaxis with basic trainees within certain guidelines; it was recommended for use during the epidemic season for posts that have experienced rates of 30 cases per 1,000 per year or more over the past five years. Care is taken to insure that rubella-vaccinated individuals are not used as blood donors for three months following the injection. Early indications are that the rubella immunization program has been successful.

A worldwide epidemic of venereal disease has been reflected in the Army, with rates of incidence rising in all of the major commands, and especially in the Far East. This has been a serious problem for U.S. forces in Korea since the war there; rates have been high in relation to other commands, peaking at 64 cases per 1,000 in September 1972. By May 1973 venereal disease in Korea had declined to 39 cases per 1,000 strength per month, the result of a concerted effort to control the problem there. While sexual promiscuity is a leading factor, the single greatest problem is the presence of up to 20,000 prostitutes, many infected with a venereal disease, near military installations. In addition to the carriers, a number of other problems exist: the increasing resistance of gonorrhea to currently used antibiotics; the incidence of infections without any symptoms, making detection difficult; the lack of a vaccine or highly effective protective measure; and the potential of driving the problem underground by the use of harsh punitive measures. Major effort has been made to preserve the credibility of the medical treatment program.

Venereal disease declined substantially among Army personnel in Korea in the past year. Traditional methods of prompt detection, case contact investigation, and education, counseling, and protective measures have been strengthened. Co-operation between U.S. and Korean authorities increased, and the Korean government instituted a number of measures to cope with the problem.

To test a new concept of providing medical services to military families outside the hospital environment, a pilot project was launched at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in July 1972. A recreational vehicle was procured, modified and equipped, and placed into service as a mobile health clinic. It makes regularly scheduled visits to military families on post,

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providing health education, screening, and treatment to those not requiring a physician's attention. Army health nurses, the Army's equivalent to civilian public health nurses, assigned to the Fort Knox hospital and an enlisted licensed practical nurse, who serves as the driver, staff the van and provide the services. The mobile clinic has been enthusiastically accepted by the military families at the Kentucky installation.

In the armed forces health facilities modernization program, the Secretary of Defense indicated in a memorandum of 19 February 1972 to the three services that the medical facility replacement and modernization rate was too slow and requested that each service evaluate its requirements and submit a plan to accomplish the required modernization during the five-year period, fiscal years 1974-1978.

The Army's estimated average annual cost to accomplish this replacement, including equipment, construction, and design, was more than $170 million. As a result, a Program Decision Memorandum (PDM) was issued by the Department of Defense on 30 August 1972, which allowed The Surgeon General to program an additional $40 million for fiscal year 1974 with greater amounts added in the following years. Greater detail is shown in the table below

The Surgeon General developed a five-year modernization program, to meet these new levels. One of the major projects included in this program is the construction of new hospitals at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Carson, Colorado; U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Lewis, Washington; Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Denver, Colorado; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, Fort McPherson, Georgia; Fort Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Darby, Italy. Also included are new dental clinics at most major installations in the continental United States and numerous alterations and additions to existing medical treatment facilities.

This program is subject to change as the Department of Defense regionalization plan for medical services is developed and put into use.

Religion

Although the strength of the Army in fiscal year 1973 was roughly equivalent to that of 1961, the size of the Army chaplaincy has increased

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since that date. This is accounted for by a realistic increase in the number of chaplains in authorization documents, as well as a new awareness of the diversified role of the chaplain and his spiritual contribution in a period of social unrest and mounting problems of interpersonal relationships.

The table below shows year-end strength authorizations for the Chaplain Branch over the past twelve years. From 1,110 in fiscal year 1961, the number of chaplains rose to a peak of 1,925 in fiscal year 1969, the highest since World War 11. Fiscal year 1972 closed with a strength of 40 over the authorized level of 1,491.

YEAR-END STRENGTH AUTHORIZATION OF THE CHAPLAIN BRANCH 1961-1972

In March 1973, the Chief of Chaplains sponsored a four-day Pastors' Conference for all post chaplains in the United States. Since these chaplains are the top managers of the religious program at the installation level, they represent the grass roots, senior leadership within the chaplaincy. With eighty-five chaplains in attendance, it was the first conference in the history of the chaplaincy specifically geared to the needs and concerns of the post chaplain.

With the assistance of four civilian resource leaders—a highly successful practicing clergyman, a behavioral scientist, a representative of an ecumenical organization for the development of professional competence within the ministry, and an organization development consultant—the management and development of installation religious programs were examined. In addition, selected chaplains provided information on significant program issues in which they were involved, such as community development, team ministry, and racism.

By using the group process plan and facilitators from the United States Army Chaplain School, the conferees engaged in a series of discussions on the material presented by the resource leaders. As a result, each chaplain was able to examine his own style of leadership, discover additional ways for evaluating the effectiveness of his performance as pastor, and formulate proposals for future development of the post religious program and organization.

Under the auspices of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., professional training is being provided to Army chaplains as a part of theological graduate degree programs and as continuing education for the ministry. Chaplain students work under the direction of

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a certified Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor who helps them examine all aspects of their pastoral performance. They learn how to be more attentive listeners; they examine new techniques for counseling which will help people grow in self-reliance, self-respect, and confidence; they learn how to function comfortably as members of a professional team; and they learn about their own attitudes and behavior and the dynamics of interpersonal relations. This training has been so effective that a policy has been established which eventually will enable every chaplain in the Army to receive a minimum of thirteen weeks of intensive CPE experiences.

Chaplains are currently trained in accredited CPE establishments at four Army Medical centers and at the Veterans Administration hospital in Brooklyn, New York. In addition, a new model center for clinical pastoral education has been developed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, marking the first time that an entire community has been accredited as a place for training pastors.

The Community Clinical Pastoral Education program is new not only for the Army chaplaincy but also for the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. Historically, CPE training has been most beneficial in developing the professional competence of clergymen working in institutional environments, such as hospitals and confinement facilities. Recognizing the need for similar training which takes into account all of the normal military ministerial duties, the chaplains at Fort Knox pioneered a CPE program that would provide students a typical Army community environment. During the year of four quarters of training, the students are assigned to a family (dependent) chapel, a basic training brigade, the post stockade, and the post hospital, pursuing their duties under clinical supervision.

As a result of these training programs, over seventy active duty Army chaplains have completed a one-year CPE course. Some will receive additional training and become certified supervisors, which will insure continued professional development within the chaplaincy. These men are filling key assignments throughout the world and are assisting other chaplains, line officers, and noncommissioned officers to be better counselors, sensitive listeners, and more effective leaders.

In his pastoral role, the Army chaplain's responsibility places a premium on his ability to interpret the needs of his people and his skill in translating these needs into action; therefore, in the training of chaplains significant emphasis has been placed on human relations and communications.

In the career training at the United States Army Chaplain School at Fort Hamilton, New York, a student-oriented, small group-learning procedure has been developed which enables its graduates to relate more

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effectively as pastors to junior commanders and soldiers. Graduates of this course have been assisting in preparing young officers and NCOs for their leadership roles in the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. Recognizing the need to integrate principles of moral leadership, moral responsibility, and human relations into Army-wide military leadership training, the Chaplain School was designated participating proponent with the Infantry School for those aspects of leadership training. The task of enabling young officers to achieve this capacity has been assigned to chaplain instructors in the department, who conduct a class on "Leadership for Professionals." This class is devoted to a discussion of the values, beliefs, and attitudes of today's soldier. Integrity, self-discipline, moral courage, and loyalty are emphasized as ingredients of professionalism. In addition to the program of instruction at the Infantry School, these values are being taught by chaplains on the faculties of eight other Army schools and the Sergeants Major Academy.

Selected chaplains have also attended the American Institute of Family Relations, Los Angeles, California, to participate in a program which is designed to develop family enrichment and community building skills in its graduates. As a result of this training, significant community programs were developed by chaplains at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Dix, New Jersey; and Fort Ord, California. In their activities, these chaplains focus on the problem-preventing aspects of community building and the development of strong, healthy family relationships. Their goal is to improve the quality of life in the military community and reduce the need for the crisis resolution.

Communication through preaching has traditionally been an important function of all ministers. Obtaining validated spaces in homiletics and communications was an important step in providing a means whereby chaplains can sharpen their preaching skills. Thus far, four chaplains have been enrolled in graduate degree programs in communications at the University of Kansas, American University, and Princeton Theological Seminary. With this background of training in interpersonal skills, future plans call for the establishment of a program in organization development for the chaplaincy. This program will build on and integrate all those skills which chaplains have developed through their training in human relations and communications. Many preliminary plans have been made and some of the initial steps, including management training for senior chaplains, have been taken. The objective of this program is to raise the personal expertise of all command chaplains and their key subordinates in developing teamwork and producing more creative machinery for setting objectives and evaluating the effectiveness of their religious programing.

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Housing and Homeowners Assistance

Over the past two years, after making a start in the fiscal year 1972 Army Military Construction Program, the Army has been moving rapidly to eliminate a long-standing problem—the shortage of bachelor and family housing for soldiers. The program received money and impetus when Modern Volunteer Army studies disclosed that unsatisfactory living conditions constituted one of the main objections to Army life.

Bachelor housing availability improved satisfactorily during fiscal year 1973 under a program approved by the Congress that authorized 16,141 new barracks spaces for enlisted men and 458 for officers, plus modernization of 53,380 existing barracks spaces for enlisted men and 70 existing spaces for officers. The President's fiscal year 1974 budget includes funds to construct 24,553 new barracks spaces for enlisted men and 285 for officers, along with money to modernize 46,896 spaces for enlisted men and 528 for officers. With continued financial support, the goal of providing adequate troop housing for all bachelors should be achieved in the late 1970s.

Notable progress was made in family housing as well. A program was designed to provide adequate accommodations for married soldiers (except trainees) either on post or in the civilian community, to maintain existing housing adequately, to provide sufficient replacement furniture overseas, and to provide government-owned clothes washers and dryers in oversea housing. The fiscal year 1974 program, a promising one, was presented to the Congress and was under consideration as the year closed. The key items and projections of the program for the remainder of the 1970s are as follows

The housing program is not without problems. Currency revaluation overseas is causing costs to increase significantly. Funds programed to reduce deferred maintenance may well be totally erased, and the backlog is expected to increase. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to award construction contracts at the statutory fiscal year 1973 unit cost limit of $24,000 and still obtain desired livability features; it is proposed to increase the unit cost level to $27,500 in the 1974 budget. As the year closed, the fiscal year 1975 construction program had not been resolved, and the resources of the Five-Year Defense Program were allocated to

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operation and maintenance and to meeting debt expenses. Continued revaluation overseas will further erode the overseas construction and rehabilitation program and retard progress later in the 1970s.

The following table provides a general picture of the appropriations and execution of the Army family housing program for fiscal year 1973. The differences between the program submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the actual appropriations represent adjustments by OSD and modifications by Congress.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

FISCAL YEAR 1973 FAMILY HOUSING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT
(In millions of dollars)

As a part of the preliminary effort to establish the Modern Volunteer Army, $311 million in new construction funds was designated to be expended during fiscal years 1971-73 to improve the soldier's environment. The 1971 portion of the construction, for which $4.2 million was allotted, was completed by the Army Corps of Engineers during fiscal year 1972; approximately 11,000 barracks spaces were rehabilitated at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Benning in Georgia, and Fort Carson in Colorado.

The $36.4 million portion of the three-year program was used for barracks, which were placed under construction by the corps during fiscal year 1972 and were partially occupied by troops during fiscal year 1973. When these barracks are completed in 1974 they will provide about 40,000 improved spaces at installations worldwide, about 28,000 at twenty-nine locations in the United States, and the remaining spaces in Germany, Panama, Okinawa, and Korea.

Approximately 73 percent of the $270.8 million portion of the three-year program was placed under construction at locations worldwide in fiscal year 1973. The remaining 27 percent is to be contracted in the first half of fiscal year 1974. Completion of the eighty-eight projects in the 1973 program will provide new barracks for approximately 17,000 men, modernize about 54,000 spaces in existing barracks, and improve the soldier's living environment by adding recreational and morale facilities.

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Under the terms of the 1972-73 fiscal year offset agreement between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany, the program to rehabilitate old German barracks complexes continued. The Army's share of this program financed by the German government was 576 million Deutsche marks. Projects were executed by German construction authorities using plans and specifications furnished by the U.S. Army Engineer Command in Europe. As the year ended, available funds had been committed and contracts were operative at thirty military barracks, and work projects had been advertised for twenty-six additional barracks and for living facility improvement at border and remote sites.

The Homeowners Assistance Program continued in fiscal year 1973. Since the program was enacted in March 1967, 10,262 applications for assistance have been received and 9,868 processed. Of the latter, 7,438 have been settled at a cost of $18.5 million, and 1,632 mortgages have been assumed for a cost of $15.7 million, for a total of $34.2 million in benefits as of 30 June 1973. Another 2,380 applications have been rejected, 767 appeals submitted, and 782 settlements made without payment.

Food Service

The two-phase plan to modernize the Army's Food Service System progressed during fiscal year 1973. The first phase was designed to improve existing dining facilities, and the second was to set up a central food preparation concept based primarily upon tests conducted at Fort Lewis, Washington, in 1971. The modernization program was funded at $16 million in fiscal year 1973 to update dining facilities and especially to improve serving lines and dining areas. Plans were developed for central food preparation facilities at Fort Lee, Virginia, and Fort Benning, Georgia.

The steep and continuous rise in food prices and in the cost of subsisting troops resulted in shortages in the subsistence-in-kind portion of the military personnel budget in fiscal year 1973. In March 1973 the Department of Defense requested that the services reduce their subsistence costs for appropriated fund dining facilities by 2 ¹/2 to 5 percent. The Army directed that the field commands take action to accomplish the reduction, which became effective in dining facilities on 1 May 1973.

The program to civilianize the kitchen police (KP) function in appropriated fund dining facilities was completed during fiscal year 1973 at a worldwide cost of $66 million. The implementation was primarily by contract in the continental United States and by direct-indirect hire civilian employees overseas.

The contractual food service operation at the Tri-Service Dining Facility at Fort Myer, Virginia, continued during the year. The contract was renewed as a result of satisfactory operation. In an evaluation of

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this contract facility and a military-operated dining facility at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, the results favored the Tri-Service (civilian-operated) facility.

New procedures for issuing and accounting for field rations became mandatory in the continental United States on 1 July 1972 and were phased into use in oversea commands during the fiscal year. This new Army Ration Credit System is flexible and makes it possible to tailor local menus to meet food preferences of enlisted personnel.

Commissaries

At the end of fiscal year 1973 the Army operated seventy-five stores in the United States and seventy-one overseas. Store sales totaled about $770 million Army-wide.

Commissary advisory councils at installation level, approved in 1972, came fully into operation in 1973. Comprised of members representing a cross section of authorized patrons, the councils began making recommendations concerning stockage, quality, service, pricing, and managerial operation. Because the clientele were brought into closer touch with the merchandizing operation, customer satisfaction was furthered.

An internal automated system has been installed in a hundred Army commissaries around the world to carry out such major administrative functions as inventory and stock control, procurement, accounting, and issues to troop dining facilities. At the same time, planning for the expansion of the Direct Commissary Support System to additional outlets in Europe and the Pacific was completed in September 1972. Two commissaries in England were added in that month, and nine were added in Germany in April 1973. In the Pacific, implementation began with commissaries in Hawaii, Thailand, and South Vietnam in February 1973, in Korea in April 1973, and in Japan in June 1973. The expansion of the system resulted in additional recurring annual savings of $380,000 and inventory reductions in excess of $5.3 million.

Laundry and Dry Cleaning

The systematic program to replace obsolete laundry equipment continued in fiscal year 1973, reaching a level of 80 percent completion. Obsolete and worn-out equipment is being rapidly replaced with new machinery that will maintain and improve present production levels while meeting new processing requirements created by synthetic materials. A scarcity of unskilled labor also made it necessary to acquire washing machines that eliminate almost all manpower requirements in the washroom. Garment-finishing, traditionally the largest department in the laundry operation, requires the highest employee skill for quality workmanship. A new processing device, the steam tunnel, or hot box,

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has been developed that will eliminate human intervention in the garment-finishing process. Continued replacement of old and conventional laundry equipment is necessary to offset the rapid upward spiral in labor costs.

During the year new contraflow washing machines were installed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Fort Lewis, Washington. They may be hopper or conveyor loaded with 100- to 125-pound modules of soiled linens as often as every three minutes, depending upon the soil content or the kind of laundry. A single operator can monitor multiple washer system units, yet assume manual command of any unit at the touch of a button.

Official laundry and dry-cleaning instructions were revised during the year to bring them into line with new practices and procedures designed to modernize the system and improve services to patrons. In the latter regard, a number of steps were taken. All installations proceeded with conversion to hanger service for patrons using the payroll deduction method of payment. The traditional method of pressing, folding, wrapping, and tying each bundle of garments was being discontinued in favor of placing the finished garment on a hanger and in a polyethylene cover. Pickup stations at convenient points were being designated near large troop concentrations. Automatic data processing equipment is being used to prepare rosters of personnel using payroll deduction for laundry service.

Finally, an automatic central supply system for the washing department was installed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and Fort Dix, New Jersey. The new equipment using liquefied materials allows savings of about 40 percent over the conventional use of dry materials and eliminates the need for hard-to-hire and trained washmen. These two pilot operations will be carefully evaluated before the system is expanded to other Army laundries.

Clothing and Personal Equipment

In August 1971, the Army Uniform Board voted to conduct a test of wash-and-wear (durable press) khaki uniforms: shade 445 (65 percent polyester/35 percent rayon) and shade 443 (50 percent polyester/ 50 percent cotton). Both uniforms were tested by the U.S. Army Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia, during May-October 1972. Although both passed the limited serviceability tests, the batch-type method used in dying the polyester/rayon uniform resulted in color variances, and there was some doubt as to whether the textile industry could meet Army requirements.

By the close of the fiscal year a decision on selection was at hand and the estimated supply date for a new uniform was being considered

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against the availability of stocks of the current cotton khaki uniform for the interim period.

Wash-and-wear durable press uniforms that contain a blend of polyester fibers and cotton or rayon fibers tend to retain oil and grease. Since the fatigue outfit is a duty uniform, its exposure to oil and grease

is more pronounced than that of wash-and-wear khaki, particularly for drivers and maintenance personnel. Thus different types of washing formulas are required, and home-type washing machines are not considered to be satisfactory for fatigue uniforms exposed to oil and grease.

The advent of double-knit fabrics and their wide acceptance by the public resulted in an Army Uniform Board recommendation, approved by the Chief of Staff, to authorize uniforms of double-knit material for optional purchase and wear. The U.S. Army Natick Laboratories began to test uniforms using two polyester/wool blend fabrics. The test will establish a list of acceptable certified manufacturers of the material and uniforms.

The armored vehicle crewman helmet T-56-6 was found to be a health hazard because of its failure to lessen the effects of sound. The helmet is also bulky, cumbersome, and uncomfortable. A new helmet was placed in development in December 1968, complementary to the main battle tank (MBT70) development, when a Gentex Model DH-132 was identified as a candidate to meet the Army's requirement. Sixty were delivered to the Army in August 1972 for test, and the helmet was accepted for procurement in November 1972.

Decorations

With the transition from a wartime to a peacetime situation, Army awards policies and practices were reviewed during fiscal year 1973, and several actions were taken to strengthen the integrity and significance of awards. Guidance was published that would limit end-of-tour awards to exceptional cases, and the approval structure for meritorious service and achievement awards was revised to insure maximum equity and consistency among the major commands.

Heraldic Activities

During fiscal year 1973 the Institute of Heraldry, U.S. Army, furnished heraldic services to the Army and to other military departments and government agencies. New and modified symbolic devices and services were required to meet organizational changes and functional realignments. The 1973 Army reorganization required substantial design, research, and development of heraldic items such as insignia and flags.

The Institute of Heraldry furnished advice and information on a wide range of subjects to a wide range of users. At the request of the

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Australian government, for example, a compilation of the U.S. Army heraldic program and related data were furnished to help that country evaluate its own heraldic system. The institute also responded to numerous inquiries from the White House, Congress, and other government agencies concerning history and protocol governing the flag of the United States.

The institute developed tools and prototypes to put a plan approved in 1972 into effect to cover the cost of distinctive unit insignia from appropriated funds. This entails lending tools and prototypes to manufacturers as well as certification for manufacture. As a result of these new procedures, insignia of better quality are being furnished to the soldier at reduced cost.

During the year the Institute of Heraldry launched several studies pertaining to materiels and processes used in the manufacture of symbolic items in order to improve them, make them more satisfactory to the user, and reduce cost. One study addressed the use of substitute materials for all types of heraldic items—including gold and silver—to offset drastic cost increases. Another concerned the development of new tools for Medal of Honor pendants to correct problems in the enameling process. Still another sought a more economical method of manufacturing flags for Army units. And a fourth explored ways of improving existing items: development of a two-piece flag staff that could be more easily shipped and development of a one-piece construction of Oak Leaf Clusters and Silver Stars in multiples of 2, 3, and 4 as optional purchase items.

The diversity and magnitude of the institute's work are reflected in the year's statistics: 125,000 items were inspected, 500 items were designed, 2,300 drawings and paintings were completed, 1,100 items were certified, and 500 specifications were completed.

Morale and Recreation

The Army has an active and varied program to sustain soldier morale. The program embraces arts and crafts, sports, outdoor recreation, music and theater, libraries, recreation centers, and dependent youth activities in their broadest connotations. The nature and scope of the program has changed through the years. In 1942, for example, the War Department established a morale program for troops under the title "Interior Design and Soldier Art"; its primary mission was to enhance buildings and grounds. By 1944 this program was renamed "Arts and Crafts," and it provided classes in the arts for soldier recreation. During ensuing years the metamorphosis continued as the name and concept shifted from "Manual Arts" to "Handicrafts" to "Hobbies." In 1952 it was redesig-

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nated the "Army Crafts Program," and finally in 1973, it was returned to its earlier title "Arts and Crafts Program."

The Army Arts and Crafts Program was established primarily to provide soldier participation, and it has operated on that premise for over thirty years. In October 1972 it was expanded to include families of military personnel and retirees; under this status and staffing, it will serve the military community with a more balanced and diversified program of arts and crafts. A Cooperative Education Project established in March 1973 will expand arts and crafts services through technical vocational courses for military personnel; laboratory-type facilities of arts and crafts will be used by the General Educational Development Program to develop and enhance skills throughout the military establishment.

In the library area in fiscal year 1973, a special procurement of books on race relations was made which totaled $220,800 and consisted of two parts: one of fifty-eight books for post and military school libraries and equal opportunity offices at major command and subordinate command headquarters and the other of twenty-one paperbound books for distribution to company-size units not having easy access to a library.

Under the Army Music and Theater Program, two prototypes of a showmobile were procured in 1973 and placed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for test. The four-wheel-drive vehicles are self-contained and self-powered, and each is equipped with an electric generator, sound system, theatrical lighting system, stage drapes, and a hydraulically operated stage. The prototypes may be procured by commands or installations that want to expand their mobile programing capability.

In August 1972 the Army Theater Arts Association, a worldwide organization, met in San Francisco, California, as a full division of the American Theater Association, to participate in a program that included

a lecture on drug control, a demonstration in the art of makeup and use of stage materials, and a seminar on the American Music Theater.

To introduce talented young and academically trained specialists into the various professional occupations encompassed within the core programs of Army Recreation Services—music, theater, youth activities, library science, arts and crafts, and recreation centers—a Student Internship Program was developed to encourage commanders to propose student internship programs to colleges, universities, professional schools and institutes, and vocational schools accessible to commands, agencies, and installations.

Fiscal year 1973 was a period of substantial progress in the development of the Army's Outdoor Recreation Program. In October 1972, for example, the Department of Defense authorized such outdoor recreation facilities as beach bathhouses, skeet and trap shooting facilities,

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lodging (cabins, cottages, dormitories), marina support buildings, equipment centers, pavilions, riding stables, and travel camps of a size compatible with the population to be served (military and varying percentages of dependent and retiree populations). A director position for the Army Outdoor Recreation Program was established, Army travel camps were procured for thirty-four Army installations in the continental United States and Alaska, and a recreation and travel guide was published that provided detailed information on camps, lodging, recreation information centers, and other support services available to Army travelers.

An important element of the morale picture is the Army band. At the end of fiscal year 1973, 2,779 Army bandsmen, 62 warrant officer bandmasters, and 23 band officers were authorized. WAC personnel were authorized to enlist for bands other than the 14th Army (WAC) Band. Operational control of the U.S. Army Element, School of Music, Naval Amphibious Base (Little Creek), Norfolk, Virginia, was transferred to the Continental Army Command on 31 December 1972, and the 9th Army Band in Alaska and the 266th Army Band (the last in Vietnam) were eliminated.

The Army's sports highlight of fiscal year 1973 was the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. Included among the 446 members of the U.S. Olympic Team were 33 active duty Army athletes and 2 Army Reservists. The thirty-five Army representatives comprised 7.9 percent of the U.S. team and won 8 Olympic medals: 3 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze, about 8.5 percent of the 94 medals won by the United States. The 1972 Army Olympic medalists are listed below.

Major command welfare budgets for fiscal year 1973 reflected an $83 million backlog in unfunded construction for new morale, welfare, and recreational facilities. The magnitude of this requirement indicated that these community support facilities were not being given a high enough priority for funding through the regular military construction program. Departmental regulations gave major commanders wide latitude in programing the construction of new recreational facilities to

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be financed by nonappropriated funds. With no dollar limits on approval authority, major commanders were limited only by the amount of welfare funds available for construction and the requirement to adhere to Army standards and the approved master plan. Thus projects were funded from nonappropriated resources rather than being considered for appropriated funding through the military construction program. The concept of providing morale, welfare, and recreation facilities for the soldier and his dependents with appropriated funds supplemented by nonappropriated funds was in large measure reversed; nonappropriated funds were carrying the big load. In the fall of 1972 it was decided to commit $20 million of the Army Central Welfare Fund to finance construction of priority morale, welfare, and recreation facilities. New procedures were developed for coming years that would eventually bring such facilities into the Army military construction program.

Education

During fiscal year 1973, four separate studies were made of the General Educational Development Program (GED). Between June 1972 and January 1973, the Academy for Educational Development in New York City analyzed and evaluated the Army Predischarge Education Program (PREP) in the continental United States and Europe. Through actions based largely upon report recommendations, PREP was expanded from about 9,000 enrollments in fiscal year 1972 to over 50,000 enrollments in fiscal year 1973.

Between June and October 1972, the University of California at Los Angeles analyzed the Army's Transition program at selected installations in the continental United States. As its name implies, the Transition program helps to prepare military personnel for their return to civilian fife as productive citizens. UCLA recommended that Transition counseling be moved back into a vocational education program, a concept fundamental to career education as conceived by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

In February 1973 Dr. William A. Gager, Jr., Administrator of Academic Affairs for the Florida Division of Community Colleges, completed a study entitled "Future Programs Directions and Suggested Systematic Management Practices for the Army General Educational Development Program." From his recommendations evolved a new philosophy of decentralized management and program planning based on Educational Services Plans at each installation.

The three evaluations were integrated into a study of Army Educational Services. This study concluded that the General Educational Development Program should be revitalized and expanded to meet volunteer Army requirements. It was recommended that an educational

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system be designed, developed, and implemented that would expand and integrate associated but currently separate subprograms now under GED; that GED management functions be decentralized so that each installation commander sets his goal and documents his program in an annual education service plan; that a budget be instituted based on management indexes, such as cost data and performance factors for the major GED programs; that a reporting system be developed based on management indexes and functional subelements used in the budget system so as to provide a statistical, automated data base for effective management of the educational system cycle; that AR 621-5 be rewritten to reflect the final application of systems designed to GED; and that a publicity and public relations program be developed for GED to improve communication with the civilian academic world at all levels.

In the early months of the fiscal year a Serviceman's Opportunity College (SOC) concept drew attention. The SOC is a community or junior college that recognized the need to aid servicemen and servicewomen in quest of higher education. Generally, in order to meet this need, such an institution has an admissions policy that is related to the life conditions of service personnel, eliminates seemingly artificial barriers (such as residency requirements) which hinder the educational process of the service person, and provides special services and programs that meet the distinct needs of ,service personnel.

Each SOC subscribes to ten criteria, embracing virtually every concern a service member might have regarding his education; these criteria are developed co-operatively by community college educators and educational leaders from the Department of Defense and each military service. As the year closed the SOC concept was well under way and comprised more than a hundred participating institutions.

In the area of educational achievement, one might have expected service personnel participation in educational activities to decrease as the size of the Army diminished. Such was not the case. The following table compares educational achievement between fiscal years 1972 and 1973:

Participation in educational programs within the Army has never been as high as it was for fiscal year 1973.

The Overseas Dependents' Schools System is operated by the military departments under the policy direction of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs). The system is divided into three

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geographical school areas for operation and administration: European, Atlantic, and Pacific. The Secretary of the Army is assigned responsibility for the operation and administration of all dependents schools in Europe and for providing educational opportunities through the use of adequate tuition-fee (contract-type) schools in the European area, which includes the countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia to 90 degrees East Longitude. During the 1972-73 school year (fiscal year 1973), an estimated total of $116,267,000 was expended from the Operation and Maintenance, Army, appropriation to provide for 116,681 Department of Defense students at an average cost of $996 per pupil. Approximately $112,424,000 of the above amount was used for educating about 112,711 students in Army-operated schools at an average cost of $997 per pupil and $3,843,000 for providing educational services for about 3,970 students in tuition-fee-type schools at an average cost of $968 per pupil.

A close liaison has been maintained with the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, concerning the operation of the nine Army-operated, on-post Section 6 schools (under the provisions of Public Law 81874, as amended) in the continental United States. During the 1972-73 school year (fiscal year 1973), $15,920,000 was expended from funds provided by the Office of Education for an estimated 19,350 dependent children who attended the above schools at an average cost of $823 per pupil.

Although the decision was made to discontinue the U.S. Army Merit and Special Scholarship Program, effective with the granting of scholarships in 1972, the contract with National Merit Scholarship Corporation contains provisions requiring that scholarships granted in prior years be supported. During fiscal year 1973, sixty-five Army dependent children were awarded U.S. Army Merit Scholarships and sixty-eight were awarded U.S. Army Special Scholarships. These children began college in August and September 1972. During fiscal year 1973, the Department of the Army provided stipends to these children and to 466 other children who were awarded scholarships previously and were in the second through fourth year of college, in the amount of $438,850.83.

During school years 1970-71 and 1971-72, 1,111 U.S. Army Educational Assistance Loans were made under the provisions of the Federally Insured Student Loan Program. These loans were made from the Army Central Welfare Fund and totaled $1,381,761. Discontinuance of the loan program was announced on 20 April 1972.

Community Service and Voting Assistance

On 26 July 1972, a group of Army Community Service (ACS) volunteers was received at the White House by Mrs. Richard M. Nixon.

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The volunteers presented the First Lady with an ACS-Volunteer uniform and plaque and designated her an honorary ACS Volunteer. To improve the quality of service provided by ACS centers, emphasis was placed during the year on increasing the professionalism of the staff. To support this objective, the Fifth Annual Worldwide ACS Workshop, attended by over two hundred volunteers, focused on opportunities and challenges for the integration of human services. Also during the year, two cycles of the ACS orientation course were conducted and seventy-seven staff members completed the two-week course.

During the last half of calendar year 1972 the Army employed the Federal Voting Assistance Program to insure that all eligible Army personnel, oversea Army civilian employees, and dependents were informed, advised, and encouraged to register and vote in the general election by the absentee process. Unit voting assistance officers and counselors were appointed throughout the Army to perform this function. The high point was Armed Forces Voters Day, 15 September 1972, when an all-out effort was made to see that all eligible persons were contacted and informed about registration and balloting for the presidential election. A number of major actions were taken by Headquarters, Department of the Army, to maintain emphasis, gain command support, and provide current voting information to the field, including personal letters to the commanders of major Army commands, signed by The Adjutant General, circulars, messages, telephone calls, and sample surveys, reports, displays, posters, news items, film shorts, and fact sheets. To check the effectiveness of the program, departmental staff personnel visited posts and units and the DA Personnel Management Team interviewed 3,500 military personnel in sixty units. Final test and analysis of the program will be reflected in post-election voting sample surveys by the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army in November 1972 and February 1973 respectively. The results of the DOD survey will be published in the Ninth Report on the Federal Voting Assistance Program late in 1973.

Memorial Affairs

Army deaths dropped sharply in fiscal year 1973 as American participation in combat operations in Vietnam diminished and U.S. troops were withdrawn from the country. In the twelve-month period of July 1972-June 1973, the Army provided mortuary service for 3,400 deceased. Those returned to the United States from overseas were received at three ports of entry: Oakland, California, Fort Hamilton, New York, and Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The Army operated ten mortuaries in foreign countries where there were appreciable numbers of Americans on duty. Posts, camps, and installations in the continental United States

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were authorized to arrange for mortuary services with civilian funeral establishments.

As the war receded, plans were made for future search and recovery of bodies in former battle areas. As the cease-fire took effect and two of the Army-operated mortuaries in Vietnam were closed, a United States Joint Casualty Resolution Center was established at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, to resolve the status of missing U.S. personnel. The center conducted search and recovery of bodies throughout Southeast Asia through arrangement with the Four-Party Joint Military Commission. On 24 March 1973, a Central Identification Laboratory was activated at Camp Samae San, Thailand, as an element of U.S. Army Support, Thailand, and placed under the operational control of the center, to support that part of its mission related to recovering the bodies of deceased servicemen in Southeast Asia.

In addition to the recovery program in Southeast Asia resulting from current operations, twelve bodies were recovered from World Wax II battle areas. The bodies of two persons, one in Holland and the other in Germany, were discovered by road construction crews; both were identified and returned to the United States for burial. A B-24 airplane that had been lost in New Guinea in July 1943 was found, the ten crewmen were identified, and their remains were returned to the United States for disposition in accordance with the wishes of the next of kin.

In the operation of the National Cemetery System, the interment work load was heaviest at cemeteries located in heavily populated areas. The Long Island National Cemetery, New York, had the largest member of interments during the year. At Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, work continued in accordance with the master plan developed for that installation at the nation's capital. Master planning was begun at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, and at Williamette National Cemetery, Portland, Oregon. Master planning was being developed for Fort Snelling National Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Colorado.

During the year there were 36,422 interments in the eighty-four cemeteries operated by the Department of the Army, 11,528 of them in Long Island National Cemetery alone; Williamette, Fort Snelling, Arlington, and Jefferson Barracks were next in order with burials in the 2,000 to 3,000 range.

Culpeper National Cemetery in Virginia and Knoxville National Cemetery in Tennessee were both closed except for interments of combat fatalities in gravesites previously reserved or under the single gravesite policy. This brought to forty-two the number-of national cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the Army that have been closed except for the special categories.

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As an example of the magnitude of the task of identifying the graves of decedents, 190,380 headstones and markers were procured during the year, 48,254 of marble, 64,749 of granite, and 77,377 of bronze. Of the total, 34,995 were for national and post cemeteries, and 155,385 were for placement in private cemeteries.

In recent years a number of bills have been introduced in the Congress to transfer the operation of the National Cemetery Systems to the Veterans Administration. An acceptable bill was passed by the 93d Congress and signed by President Nixon on 18 June 1973. The National Cemeteries Act of 1973 (PL 93-43) transfers the operation of the system from the Army to the Veterans Administration effective 1 September 1973. Eighty-two of the eighty-four cemeteries are included; Arlington National Cemetery and the Soldiers' Home National Cemetery, both at the nation's capital, were left under Army jurisdiction.

The Army has been traditionally involved in the funerals of prominent Americans from the standpoint of its cemeterial responsibilities and its ceremonial role. In fiscal year 1973 the Army participated in the State funerals of former Presidents Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson, whose deaths occurred just a month apart: Mr. Truman died on 26 December 1972 and Mr. Johnson on 22 January 1973.

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