Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1973

VIII.

Management, Budget, and Funds

Management Programs, Systems, and Techniques

Numerous management programs, systems, and techniques employing the latest advances in computer technology and automatic data processing are being developed to insure that military manpower, funds, and materiel are handled as efficiently and effectively as possible. Some of the more important management tools are mentioned in this chapter; others appear in appropriate sections of this report.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Army continued to conduct in-depth analyses of major Army commands, small installations, sub-installations, and off-post activities to evaluate the use of resources as related to assigned missions. Analyses were completed for the U.S. Army, Pacific, and U.S. Army activities in Alaska and the Panama Canal Zone. An analysis of the St. Louis region was in progress at year's end. Since the inception of this program in late 1969, twelve commands and regions have been analyzed. The current estimate of the annual cost benefits resulting from the analyses performed in fiscal year 1973 is approximately $60 million, and this figure is expected to increase as additional recommendations are adopted. The total estimate of cost benefits realized from the over-all program exceeds $140 million.

The Standard Army Management Language (SAML) study was set up to develop a single management language to replace the several classification systems and management languages which are currently used in the planning, programing, and budgeting of Army forces, manpower, materiel, and operating funds. The systems now in use have different formats, similar words have different meanings, definitions and translations between systems are expensive and time consuming, and precise correlations between the various languages have been extremely difficult and in some cases impossible. The development and use of a common language among planners, programers, and budgeters will correct these problems.

Phase I of the SAML study was completed in May 1973 and has led to a proposed revision of codes and definitions for Programs 2 and 5 of the Department of Defense Five-Year Defense Program. The revisions were awaiting approval by the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the end of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, Phase II of SAML is being undertaken for programs other than 2 and 5 and is scheduled for completion by the end of fiscal year 1974.

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The trend to centralize personnel procedures at Department of the Army level has placed a premium on more timely, up-to-date personnel data, a requirement which overworked second- and second-and-one-half-generation computers and software used by the U.S. Army Personnel Center's Personnel Information Systems Directorate could not meet effectively. Project 70X was to relieve this situation by replacing outdated equipment with advanced third-generation computers and software. In April 1973, Sperry Rand's UNIVAC Division received an eight-year multimillion-dollar contract for delivery of a succession of dual UNIVAC 1108 computer systems, tape drives, disc and drum storage units, and other equipment. Services to be provided by UNIVAC include maintenance of the systems and training courses for operators, programers, system analysts, and managerial personnel. The first of the dual systems is scheduled to become operational in September 1973.

The expansion of computer abilities under Project 70X will greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness with which the Army's over-all personnel management mission is performed. It will also provide the automated means for putting new personnel management techniques developed in support -of the Base Operating Information System (BASOPS) into effect.

BASOPS, the Army's first multicommand and multifunctional computer system, was operational at thirty-nine installations (thirty-seven in the continental United States plus one each in Alaska and Panama) at the end of the year. This centrally developed and maintained system standardizes automatic data processing equipment, programing, and systems management and reporting procedures in support of the Army's supply, financial management, and military personnel functions. To date, BASOPS has replaced many of the small, nonstandard systems that were locally developed and maintained.

During fiscal year 1973 a successful prototype test of the Standard Installation/Division Personnel System (SIDPERS), the BASOPS personnel subsystem, was completed at Fart Riley, Kansas, and the system was installed at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Lee, Virginia. Approval for the worldwide extension of SIDPERS, which will provide a single computerized system for the management of soldiers' personnel data at installation and division levels, is expected during fiscal year 1974.

The BASOPS supply subsystem was extended to additional Army installations at home and ,overseas during the reporting period, and it is now operational at thirty-seven installations. The prototype of a new supply subsystem, the Standard Army Intermediate Level Supply System (SAILS), was also successfully tested at Fort Carson, Colorado. SAILS will encompass all logistic support operations between the wholesale and direct support/user levels, including medical materiel currently

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carried under the Medical Management Information System. Integration of medical materiel requirements in SAILS will provide uniform system support on a worldwide basis to Army Medical Department materiel managers.

The Standard Finance System (STANFINS), which is the BASOPS financial management subsystem, provides for the automation of accounting operations at the installation finance and accounting office level. STANFINS was extended to fifteen installations during the year, bringing the number of installations under the system to thirty-nine. Eighteen of these are within the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, seventeen under U.S. Army Forces Command, and one each at the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, U.S. Army Forces, Southern Command, U.S. Army Strategic Communications Command, and U.S. Army, Alaska. Further extension of STANFINS is scheduled for fiscal year 1974.

The effort to cut paper work and reduce reporting requirements within the Army received special emphasis during fiscal year 1973. The Offices of the Comptroller and the Project Manager for Reorganization worked together to implement Project FASTGUT, a program to achieve a 30 percent reduction in the number and cost of reports that was formally established by the Chief of Staff on 28 September 1972. By the end of the fiscal year, 497 reports were reviewed; two-thirds of these were emanated from Headquarters, Department of the Army, and the remainder were requirements set by the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. Of these, 138 are to be rescinded and 132 will be revised. To date, forty-one of the revision actions and ninety-six rescissions have been accomplished.

Project FASTGUT was also applied in the field, where each major command reviewed its own reporting requirements and also strove to achieve a 30 percent reduction in the number and cost of reports. As of 30 June 1973 a total of 1,143 reports had been reviewed; of these, 304 with reporting costs identified at $6 million are to be revised or rescinded.

During the report year action was completed on all functional user manuals, training texts, lesson plans, and instructional plans and programs for the extension -of the Combat Service Support System (CS,). However, a test and evaluation of the system's Corps Computer Service Center indicated that the software system for supply actions, that is, the Division Supply System (DISUP), did not fully meet user proponent requirements. Test results also showed that the personnel system, the financial application, and the property book application were acceptable and that the Modification Workorder/Maintenance Control System (MWO/MCS) would require minor modification. Following the test, it was decided to delay the extension of CS3. A revised concept that uses

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a small mobile computer at division level and a slightly larger one at corps headquarters was developed to correct the deficiencies uncovered in the demonstration of the Corps Computer Service Center. The revised CS3 will be tested under simulated combat conditions during fiscal year 1974, after completion of a functional evaluation of supply and maintenance applications, which was under way at the end of fiscal year 1973.

A number of substantive policy and procedural changes relating to the Army Commercial and Industrial Type Activities Program were promulgated during fiscal year 1973. These included redelegation to major commanders and Army staff agencies of the authority to make decisions as to the continuation, discontinuation, or curtailment of their activities in this area; establishment of a requirement to analyze local manpower resources before new starts and cyclical reviews are undertaken; establishment of new criteria for submitting new start proposals; and changes in reporting requirements for annual inventories of commercial- and industrial-type activities. The special commercial- and industrial-type activities training program sponsored by the Army Logistics Management Center upon the request of the Department of Defense entered its second phase. Phase I of the program, a series of executive seminars, was noted in last year's report. Phase II emphasized acquainting command and installation training personnel with the philosophy and concept of the Commercial and Industrial Type Activities Program and with the latest training techniques in use at the Army Logistics Management Center. Phase III will consist of a command training program for personnel at the installation level.

Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) is a concept that supports planning for new systems. It involves maintenance planning, support and test equipment, supply support, transportation and handling, technical data, facilities, personnel and training, logistic support resources and funds, and logistic support management information. The Integrated Logistic Support provides the basis for evaluating the potential or actual logistics impact of a materiel system during each phase of the system's life. Its objective is to field materiel that can be adequately supported within constraints created by resources and technology.

The ILS concept took on increased importance during fiscal year 1973 as the Army reorganized and revised its weapons acquisition policies. Weapons acquisition management has shifted from tight, central control to a more decentralized approach that permits high-level executives to focus their attention on major projects. Successful decentralization will require the development and implementation of policies that will not only permit program managers freedom of action but will also provide sufficient guidance to assure good management results. During

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the past year, the main effort in furthering the ILS concept was directed toward developing a better definition of the degree of planning that would be appropriate to the various program phases of materiel systems. Future effort in this area will emphasize improving long-range logistic planning and enhancing the quality of logistic input in the design of system hardware.

The WHEELS Study, initiated in early 1972 to analyze the Army's needs and usage of wheeled vehicles and the management of this program, was completed during the period of this report. Actions to carry out the study's recommendations have been taken that will lead to an over-all reduction of 29 percent in requirements (from about 400,000 to under 300,000 vehicles) and a 23 percent increase in total fleet commercial vehicle authorizations (from 78,000 to 120,000 vehicles), the majority of which will be employed in selected tactical applications. These actions will result in a $1.1 billion reduction in programed procurements from fiscal year 1973 through fiscal year 1978 and an estimated life-cycle savings of $4.5 billion. Procurement plans are being developed for the acquisition of standard production line commercial replacements for military vehicles, such as 34-ton semitrailers, 40-ton low-bed semitrailers, and 1 1/4-ton trucks, which will be brought into the inventory during the next two to three years. In addition, the feasibility of leasing certain vehicles for Reserve forces training needs is being studied. The WHEELS Study has also led to the cancellation of the XM-852 1 1/4-ton truck program.

Budget and Funds

The Army's budget request for regular appropriations for fiscal year 1973 totaled $23,340.6 million. Following reviews by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Bureau of the Budget, the President requested $22,724.6 million for the Army, and the Congress appropriated $21,824.9 million. Table 2 and Chart 1 trace the chronological development of the fiscal year 1973 budget and compare budget authorizations over the past ten years.

Budget and Financial Management

It has become increasingly evident in recent years that the Army's system of budget management and reporting for the Operation and Maintenance, Army (OMA), appropriation is succumbing to stagnation. This condition is due largely to a proliferation of data requirements for numerous budget exercises, which has resulted in an unwieldy volume of machine reports and a loss of timely contact with the field. Nearly all major commands have complained about the explosion of data requirements and the numerous restrictions placed on funds.

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Chart, Chart 1—ARMY BUDGET, FISCAL YEARS 1964-1973, (TOA in billions)

Click on Diagram to view Full Resolution Image

Because of the funding restrictions, field commanders have been denied flexibility in managing resources and taking actions that might resolve local financial problems. Also, the increased volume of data required by Headquarters, Department of the Army, has compelled subordinate commands to use an excessive amount of personnel in gathering data at the expense of performing vital data analysis.

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TABLE 2—CHRONOLOGY OF THE FISCAL YEAR 1973 DIRECT BUDGET PLAN (TOA)
(in millions of dollars)

Appropriation

DA Submission to OSD

Amended President's Budget

Budget Approved by Congress

Supplemental Approved by Congress

Reprograming Approved by Congress

Total Approved by Congress

Military Personnel, Army

7,550.2

7,708.1

7,528.0

175.7

-1.1

7,702.6

Reserve Personnel, Army

484.8

529.5

453.7

7.9

-

461.6

National Guard Personnel, Army

578.0

616.3

568.2

15.4

 

583.6

Operation & Maintenance, Army

7,158.9

7,142.9

6,636.6

98.8

+67.0

6,802.4

Operation & Maintenance, Army Reserve

-

-

199.3

3.7

-

203.0

Operation & Maintenance, Army National Guard

492.9

468.5

443.2

8.5

-

451.7

National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice

.1

.1

.2

-

-

.2

Aircraft Procurement, Army

186.2

162.9

128.5

-

-

128.5

Missile Procurement, Army

1,579.5

896.7

704.7

-

-

704.7

Procurement of Weapons & Tracked Combat Vehicles, Army

285.6

375.1

242.8

-

-

242.8

Procurement of Ammunition, Army

1,250.6

1,350.4

1,318.8

-

-

1,318.8

Other Procurement, Army

678.0

654.0

630.2

-

-

630.2

Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Army

2,045.7

2,122.7

1,889.0

-

-

1,889.0

Subtotal, excluding Construction

(22,290.5)

(22,027.2)

(20,743.2)

(310.0)

(65.9)

(21,119.1)

Military Construction, Army

967.5

619.2

586.6

-

+41.0

627.6

Military Construction, Army Reserve

40.6

38.2

38.2

-

-

38.2

Military Construction, Army National Guard

42.0

40.0

40.0

-

-

40.0

Subtotal, Construction Accounts

(1,050.1)

(697.4)

(664.8)

(-)

(41.0)

(705.8)

Total Direct Budget Plan (TOA)

23,340.6

22,724.6

21,408.0

310.0

+106.9

21,824.9

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During fiscal year 1973 nearly all restrictions on operating funds that were not imposed by Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, or the Office of the Secretary of Defense, were removed, thereby giving major commands more flexibility in solving their own financial problems. An experimental monthly report, designed to keep all levels of command informed as to how funds are used at subordinate echelons, was tested at twenty-seven Continental Army Command installations. The reports were reviewed by the Office of the Director of the Army Budget to determine the type, quantity, and frequency of information on financial operations at the installation level that should be submitted to higher authorities.

The problem of voluminous data requirements for budget exercises was relieved substantially when a small task force, acting under orders of the Comptroller of the Army, reduced the requirements for the fiscal year 1973 Budget Execution Review by more than 50 percent. The volume of data actually submitted to Headquarters, Department of the Army, was only 30 percent of the amount sent in for the fiscal year 1972 review. A similar drive was conducted for data requirements associated with the fiscal year 1973 Command Operating Budget, and a reduction of nearly 25 percent was recorded.

Additional relief from burdensome reporting requirements will be realized with the putting in of Data Element Management /Accounting Reporting (DELMAR), a new system with a capacity for direct reporting of data from installations to the Comptroller of the Army (COA ) Data Base. DELMAR will replace the Integrated Command Accounting Reporting (ICAR) System, reduce installation reporting by eliminating formatted reports and limiting input to changes in data previously recorded, and improve the reliability and timeliness of Army financial data. DELMAR is scheduled for testing during fiscal year 1974.

The COA Data Base will focus on the collection, storage, and processing of DELMAR's reported financial data. Once established, the financial data base will serve to support Department of the Army budget requests and actions, control the execution of programs and budgets, and meet the demands of other government agencies on financial information. Advances made in the COA Data Base during fiscal year 1973—that is, documentation of system specifications and development of computer programs—will permit, during the coming year, testing of the system's ability to store and process accounting data from installations.

The Army, the first and only service to install the joint Uniform Military Pay System (,JUMPS), has completed two full years under the system, and all the basic objectives prescribed by the Department of Defense have been met. Major accomplishments during the fiscal year included the introduction of a new easy-to-read and easy-to-understand leave and earnings statement; the use of a new, simplified form which

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permits soldiers to select pay options (monthly or bimonthly, or by cash, check to bank, check to home) ; and the virtual elimination of allotment errors in soldiers pay as a result of the full reconciliation of the allotment and the JUMPS-Army pay files. In the past such errors, according to Army Audit Agency reports, have resulted in overpayments of around $48 million annually. A new allotment system using the same computer hardware as JUMPS will further refine allotment operations.

A program using printouts of individual pay data from the master pay file was started in July 1972 to verify entitlement to designated items of pay, such as proficiency pay, basic allowances for quarters and subsistence, flight pay, jump pay, and medical and dental pay. The program has proved highly successful in assuring that accurate payments are made to the soldier. In proficiency pay alone, overpayments exceeding $2.1 million were detected and promptly eliminated. Additional computer edits were developed to automatically terminate payments for special entitlements when the conditions for payments no longer exist. Included in this category are such job- or duty-related entitlements as proficiency pay, hostile fire pay, foreign duty pay, and family separation allowances.

The success of JUMPS in providing prompt and accurate pay service to all soldiers and improving management of the Army's military personnel appropriation has led to the development of plans to increase the number of personnel actions involving active Army personnel covered by JUMPS and the extension of the system to retired personnel and members of the Reserve Components. The completion of these actions will give the Army full realization of the abilities inherent in a standard, automated pay system and will result in more efficient and convenient pay service to all active, Reserve, and retired soldiers.

In December 1972, major Army commands within the United States received permission to establish centralized unit fund accounting procedures at installation level. Under this concept, commanders and unit fund councils would retain their authority over the expenditures, but the burden and responsibility for administering the fund would be transferred from the commander/fund custodian to a central accounting office at installation level. By the end of the fiscal year, centralized unit fund accounting procedures had been established within Third Army and the Military District of Washington. Initial indications are that worldwide execution of this concept would result in a substantial savings in man-hours.

The provisions of an Army regulation on Depot Maintenance Cost Accounting were put into effect overseas during the year, thus providing full cost accounting of depot maintenance worldwide. The system forms the base for the cost accounting system of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

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