Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1974

IV

Organization

For the second consecutive year the organization of the Army, and particularly its headquarters structure, underwent major changes. New reductions and realignments were made to reduce overhead, bolster Army combat strength, and, more specifically, increase the number of combat divisions to sixteen.

Army Management Headquarters Activities, which comprise Headquarters, Department of the Army, major command headquarters, subordinate major commands, and their staff support activities, began fiscal year 1974 with a strength of 33,614 military and civilian spaces. Projected strength at the end of fiscal year 1974 was 28,720 and by the end of fiscal year 1975, 21,803. An overall reduction of 11,811 spaces will be achieved over a two-year period, of which 7,058 represent jobs eliminated and 4,753 a transfer of functions.

The Department of the Army Staff

During fiscal year 1973 the requirements and management practices of the Army General Staff and its staff support activities had been evaluated as part of the Army's 1973 reorganization within continental United States. The manpower savings resulting from this review were primarily across-the-board reductions within the framework of the existing organization and did not alleviate the problem of layering on the Army staff. Recognizing this deficiency, the Chief of Staff in November 1973 directed a reorganization of the Army staff that would (1) establish clear responsibility in the five key functions requiring departmental management., that is, people, dollars, plans, materiel acquisition, and logistics; (2) remove operational tasks from the Army staff so that the staff could concentrate on establishing Army policy; (3) improve direction and control; (4) eliminate fragmentation of functional responsibilities; (5) remove layering through broader spheres of control; (6) make better use of the management abilities of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, the U.S. Army Forces Command, and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command; and (7) achieve manpower and dollar savings for transfer to combat forces.

The result of the Chief of Staff's directive, the first major reorganization of the Army staff since 1962, was announced by the Secretary of the Army on 4 March 1974 and became effective on

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20 May 1974. The positions of the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the General Staff were eliminated, as were the Offices of the Chief of Research and Development, Chief of Reserve Components, Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development, Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications-Electronics, and The Provost Marshal General. One new agency was created, the Office of the Chief of Research, Development, and Acquisition.1

Within the Office of the Chief of Staff, Army (OCSA), the functions of Secretary of the General Staff and Assistant Vice Chief of Staff were combined in a new position, the Director of the Army Staff (DAS). The director, a lieutenant general, develops guidance for the Army staff, integrates its activities, and supervises the OCSA Directorates of Management, Management Information Systems, and Program Analysis and Evaluation. Although the Management Directorate is new, its functions-high-level, long-range, and internal review of the Army Management headquarters and the support establishment-have been performed within the Office of the Chief of Staff for five years. This directorate also became responsible for Army staff management and the Army Study Program. As an additional change, the Operational Test and Evaluation Agency (OTEA) was assigned directly to Office of the Chief of Staff for general staff supervision.

The 20 May 1974 reorganization improved the coordination of manpower authorizations and personnel assignments. In the revised military manpower management system, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans (DCSOPS) allocates manpower spaces to commands and units, and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (DCSPER) is responsible for the qualitative aspects of manpower management, including personnel utilization policies, the manpower survey program, development and approval of staffing guides, position delineation (military and civilian, officer and enlisted, male and female), and the approval of all authorizations for grade, branch, and occupational specialties. DCSPER also validates the timing and phasing of unit actions to reduce personnel turbulence and has taken over the functions of law and order (from The Provost Marshal General) and human factors research (from the Chief of Research and Development).

As a result of the earlier 1973 reorganization of the Army within the continental United States, combat developments and doctrine functions were assigned to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and more closely allied with the Army's school system, the Concepts Analysis Agency was established and made responsive


1 Legislation is pending to provide a fourth deputy chief of staff to head this agency

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to the Army staff for detailed analytical work in force development, and the Operational Test and Evaluation Agency became the manager of operational testing of materiel. To improve upon these earlier organizational changes that affected the force development process, the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations was given many of the responsibilities of the disestablished Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development and renamed the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans (ODCSOPS). This consolidation more closely integrated the Army system of plans with the function of force development. The control of materiel requirements, which had been fragmented throughout the staff, was centralized in a Directorate of Requirements in ODCSOPS. Army staff responsibility for plans and operations of telecommunications and electronics, previously handled by the Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications-Electronics, was combined with the command and control function and assigned to a directorate in ODCSOPS. Additionally, on 18 June 1973, the Chief of Staff made ODCSOPS responsible for monitoring the selection, assignment, and training of Army personnel for key positions in security assistance. The International Staff Affairs Office was established in ODCSOPS to do the monitoring.

The newly organized Office of the Chief of Research, Development, and Acquisition (OCRDA) is responsible for Army systems acquisition policy and the life-cycle management of materiel until it enters the Army inventory. OCRDA took over the function of materiel acquisition previously exercised by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. Staff directorates within the new agency are organized along systems lines, with six divisions created to parallel the Army Materiel Command's appropriation categories and major management groupings (munitions; aviation; missiles and air defense; weapons and combat vehicles; command, control, and surveillance; and support systems).

The reorganization of 20 May 1974 expanded the responsibilities of The Inspector General, whose new title became The Inspector General and Auditor General, into the fields of audit, internal review, and manpower survey. More timely assessment of the Army's condition and improved coordination of inspection, audit, and manpower survey should result. Also assigned to The Inspector General and Auditor General for close scrutiny were the Army Safety Program and the supervision and control of the U.S. Army Agency for Aviation Safety.

The Inspector General and Auditor General remained the commander of the United States Army Inspector General Agency, which had been formed on 1 December 1973, following an increase

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in personnel from 100 to 148. Excluding audits, internal review policy, and safety, the operational functions of conducting investigations, resolving Inspector General action requests; performing general, technical proficiency, and functional inspections; and providing worldwide surveillance over the Inspector General system remained with The Inspector General Agency. Approximately 2,400 action requests were received and processed. Special inspections were completed on pay complaints, family housing, movement of personal property, proliferation of Army regulations, and overseas outpatient care, and visits were conducted to determine the effectiveness of command in selected battalion-size units.

Remaining Army staff agencies were reduced in size and complexity but incurred less dramatic changes in their functions. The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (ODCSLOG) will now focus on the classic logistics functions of supply, maintenance, and transportation and on international logistics. The Office of the Comptroller of the Army (OCOA) has been reorganized to concentrate primarily on financial management. The Comptroller has received added responsibilities and resources for independent cost estimation and program directorship for both the base operations and headquarters and administration programs. A separate directorate was created for management of the Operation and Maintenance, Army, appropriation. Changes in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (OACSI) primarily involved the transfer of operational functions to field agencies. Staff responsibility for management of the Reserve Components remained with the Chief, National Guard Bureau, and Chief, Army Reserve. Functions formerly assigned to the Chief, Office of Reserve Components, were distributed to other Army staff agencies and integrated with like functions pertaining to the active Army.

A number of procedural changes were prompted by the 20 May 1974 reorganization. Internal paper work has been reduced. Authority has been delegated at the lowest practical level within the staff, and more reliance has been placed on the action officer to manage an action to completion. Informal coordination has speeded up the decision making process.

Together with these changes, the major reorganization in fiscal year 1974 has improved the Army staff's ability to manage the army in the field and to coordinate activities with higher authority.

Command Reductions and Realignments

As a result of the Army reorganization in continental United States during fiscal year 1973, three new major Army command

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headquarters were established on 1 July 1973. These were the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) located at Fort McPherson, Georgia; the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Monroe, Virginia; and the U.S. Army Health Services Command (HSC) at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

The 1973 reorganization also disestablished Headquarters, U.S. Army Combat Developments Command, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Headquarters, U.S. Third Army, at Fort McPherson, Georgia, on 1 July 1973, and Headquarters, U.S. Continental Army Command, at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on 31 December 1973. The size and junctions of the three remaining CONUS Army headquarters were reduced, and their attention focused on providing support to the Reserve Components. On 1 July 1973, the Army Health Services Command took over jurisdiction of all Army Medical Department activities and Army Medical laboratories from Continental Army Command. The Health Services Command also assumed control of the Medical Department Activity, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, previously the responsibility of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Department of the Army.

On 5 October 1973, the Secretary of Defense ordered a study of the manpower requirements of DOD management headquarters to determine the effect of 10 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent reductions. As a result of this review, the Army will discontinue seven major and subordinate Army command headquarters by the end of fiscal year 1975. Headquarters, U.S. Army Intelligence Command, at Fort Meade, Maryland, was discontinued on 30 June 1974, and on 4 January 1975, the U.S. Army Air Defense Command located at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado will also be disestablished. Headquarters, U.S. Army, Alaska, located at Fort Richardson, Alaska; Headquarters, U.S. Army Forces Southern Command, at Fort Amador, Panama Canal Zone; and Headquarters, U.S. Army, Pacific, at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, will be discontinued on 31 December 1974. The mission and functions of these headquarters, however, will be absorbed by commands based in continental United States. In addition, a new command relationship is being developed for the Western Pacific area. In Europe two subordinate commands of Headquarters, U.S. Army, Europe-Headquarters, Theater Army Support Command, Europe (TASCOM), in Worms, Germany, and U.S. Army Engineer Command, Europe, in Frankfurt, Germany-will be discontinued on 30 September 1974.

With the worldwide scaling down of Army activities, the Army Materiel Command, the Army's major command for handling com-

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modities, reduced its depot activity. Sixteen major realignments, completed between April 1973 and the end of fiscal year 1974, are indicated below.        

Activity Type of Action Completion
Electronics Command
(ECOM)
 

Consolidation of ECOM, Philadelphia, with ECOM, Ft. Monmouth, at Ft. Monmouth, N.J.
 

4th Qtr, FY 74

 
Armament Command
(ARMCOM)


 

Merger of MUCOM HQ, including APSA, with WECOM HQ at Rock Island, III. Absorption of the Small Arms System Agency and the Operation Research Group (Edgewood Arsenal).
 

1st Qtr, FY 74



 
Troop Support Command
(TROSCOM)



 

Two phases. Phase I-MECOM redesignated as TROSCOM. Assumption of command of Natick Laboratories and ACMAS. Realignment of RDE functions and transfer of items to other sub-MACOMS. Phase II fiscal year 1975 action.
 

2d Qtr, FY 74




 
Richmond Support
Center

 

Disestablishment. Closure of commissary. Transfer of AVSCOM mission and support personnel to New Cumberland Army Depot.
 

4th Qtr, FY 73


 
Maintenance Management Center






 

Establishment of agency at Lexington by integrating the Army Maintenance Board, the AMC Maintenance Support Center, the AMC Logistic Data Center, the AMC Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment Technical Coordinating Office, and the Tools and Maintenance Equipment Committee.
 

4th Qtr, FY 73






 
Jefferson Proving
Ground
 

Transfer of Ammunition Acceptance Testing from Aberdeen Proving Ground.
 

4th Qtr, FY 74

 
Atlanta Army Depot
 
Discontinuance of depot operations.
 
4th Qtr, FY 74
 
Pueblo Army Depot
 
Reduction in force.
 
4th Qtr, FY 74
 
Seneca Army Depot
 
Reduction in force.
 
4th Qtr, FY 74
 
Sierra Army Depot
 
Reduction in force.
 
4th Qtr, FY 74
 
Savanna Army Depot
 
Reduction in force.
 
4th Qtr, FY 74
 
Umatilla Army Depot

 

Redesignation from depot to depot activity under Tooele Army Depot.
 

4th Qtr, FY 74

 

Land Warfare
Laboratory
 
Disestablishment.

 
4th Qtr, FY 74

 
Advanced Materiel
Concepts Agency
 
Disestablishment.

 
4th Qtr, FY 74

 
Logistics Control Office, Atlantic
(LCO-A), and Logistics Control Office, Pacific (LCO-P)
 

Consolidation into the Logistics Control Office located at the Presidio of San Francisco, Calif.
 

2d Qtr, FY 74


 
Chemical and Coating
Laboratory
 
Reduction of personnel and movement from Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD., to Ft. Belvoir, Va. 4th Qtr, FY 74

 

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Field Organization

Testing of the TRICAP (triple capability) division, which last year's summary described in some detail, was completed during fiscal year 1974. Following evaluation by the Combat Developments Command, the 1st Cavalry Division-the test division-was initially reorganized into two armor brigades and an air cavalry combat brigade. Later, in March 1974, the Department of the Army announced that the force structure for fiscal years 1975 to 1980 would be revised. The 1st Cavalry Division would be reorganized as an armored division, and a separate air cavalry combat brigade would be formed. Tentatively scheduled to be fielded during the latter half of fiscal year 1975, the separate air cavalry combat brigade is seen as a quick-reaction force, highly mobile, primarily equipped with antiarmor helicopters. This brigade will enable the Army to continue to test and develop doctrine for employing air cavalry forces.

In August 1973 the Army began a pilot program in which selected Reserve Component units were to be equipped and trained to deploy as parts of active Army divisions. This affiliation program is funded, in contrast to existing relationships between the Reserve Components and active forces, and is intended to provide additional combat forces in Europe. Currently, twenty-one Reserve Component maneuver battalions and five field artillery battalions are affiliated with active Army divisions in continental United States and Hawaii. During 1974 the participating divisions and the Army schools will plan, support, and evaluate the annual field training for thirteen of the twenty-six battalions. The remaining thirteen battalions will conduct their summer training as usual but will be monitored by the divisions with which they are affiliated. A decision on how many additional Reserve Component units will be affiliated will be made early in calendar year 1975. In conjunction with the pilot program, the Army conducted an analysis to determine how many maneuver and support units could be controlled by a division in sustained combat.

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