Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1978

8

Logistics

Logistics are shaped by the Army's responsibility to protect the life and liberty of the American people in a tense international environment. In peacetime the Army must work to maintain the symmetry of power relationships. Threats must be analyzed, and readiness to meet them must be achieved. The Army is fully involved in the functions, activities, services, and procurements that come under the general heading of logistics.

In January 1977 Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld presented the Ford administration's 1978 defense budget to Congress. Noting that the United States is no longer invulnerable in the modern world, Rumsfeld stressed that "our nation simply cannot allow Soviet capabilities to continue expanding and U.S. capabilities to retrench-as they have over the past decade without inviting an imbalance and, ultimately, a major crisis." In his presentation, Secretary of the Army Martin R. Hoffmann pointed out that "the continuing growth of Warsaw Pact military power, the militarism of North Korea and other Communist states, coups, insurgencies, border disputes, and terrorism contain the potential for confrontation and conflagration." Secretary of Defense Harold Brown presented the 1979 Carter administration defense budget to Congress midway through the 1978 fiscal year. He referred to "an increasingly precarious conventional balance between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in Europe." Secretary of the Army Clifford L. Alexander confirmed that "the improving capabilities of the Warsaw Pact have sharpened our focus on the European area and on the overall readiness of our force manning, training, equipment, and deployability."

Against this background, defense rested upon three categories of military force: strategic nuclear, theater nuclear, and conventional. As the backbone of conventional forces, with sizable elements in Europe and the Far East, in fiscal year 1978 the Army addressed the continuing requirements of readiness and sustainability with a budget suffering the pinch of inflation. The terms "current dollars" and "real dollars" qualified the financial picture, and "real growth" became a way to estimate progress before inflation.

[116]

One of the Army's major logistical tasks is supporting forces overseas at the end of long lines of air, sea, and land communications. Requiring large quantities of equipment and supplies, these forces and those of our allies guard regions vital to U.S. interests. They can be quickly reinforced by using prepositioned materiel configured for units in the United States ready to be flown to join troops already on station.

The Army began prepositioning equipment in Europe in the late 1960's. In 1969 the first annual training exercise was held for units earmarked for Europe. Although the shortages caused by diversions to the Middle East during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War have been remedied, the stocks require modernization.

A fiscal year 1978 allocation of $33.6 million was the first in a program to improve' the preparedness of the U.S. Army and ultimately NATO for a Warsaw Pact threat. The funds will be used in part to design and construct maintenance facilities to augment controlled humidity storage areas in eight locations in Germany.

The fiscal year 1979 program is the first to employ the ready-for-issue-facility concept, in which basic unit equipment and supporting supplies are located together in a single facility. The Federal Republic of Germany will handle future construction.

NATO has traditionally defined logistics along national lines. Members have planned lines of communication for their forces unilaterally, and host nation transportation support has been based upon bilateral agreements. Consequently, the movement control system became duplicative and fragmented. To relieve this situation, U.S. Army logisticians have developed a concept for NATO lines of communication that would streamline the transportation process and bring it under a central control. By year's end it had been viewed favorably by American and some allied representatives and was pending presentation to NATO.

The Army continued transferring certain stocks from Defense Logistics Agency sources to the New Cumberland Army Depot in Pennsylvania to improve supply support to Army and Air Force elements in Europe. The depot remained the base installation for an air line of communication to Europe. Repair parts are palletized there, moved by commercial truck to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, flown to Rhein-Main and Ramstein Air Bases in Germany by the Military Airlift Command, and delivered by military truck to eighty-nine Army support units. Over 1,500 short tons were shipped each month. There was a

[117]

fifty percent reduction in delivery time and general improvement in equipment service and supply.

The Army has provided our allies with security assistance since the end of World War II. It strengthens defense agreements, the regional military balance, U.S. base and operating rights, and political relations. It also compensates for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from overseas.

Security assistance became a formal program in 1950. Since then the Army has contributed more than $25 billion in grant assistance and sales. In recent years the emphasis has shifted from grants to sales; the number of countries receiving new grants has shrunk from forty-three in 1965 to twelve in 1977 and eight in 1978.

Recent policy modifications at the highest levels of government have changed the program. Following a review of U.S. conventional arms policies, and with the aim of reducing arms traffic worldwide, on 19 May 1977 President Carter announced that the United States would henceforth regard arms transfers as an exceptional instrument of national security policy; the United States would take the lead in reducing arms sales.

Except for the NATO countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, U.S. policy limits recipients by country and dollar ceilings. Grants and sales are prohibited to nations engaged in activities inimical to U.S. interests, particularly in the area of human rights. Only eight countries were authorized new materiel grant aid during 1978: Greece, Indonesia, Jordan, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, and Turkey. Aid to Turkey was suspended until 28 September because of the Turkish-Greek dispute over Cyprus.

Although the U.S. withdrew from Ethiopia, foreign military sales programs continued in Morocco, Tunisia, and Zaire, and a new program began in Kenya. The U.S. provided Egypt with an English-language laboratory as a prelude to further sales.

The fiscal year 1978 military assistance program set a ceiling of $228.9 million for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Approximately $219 million was allocated. The Army allocated $73.4 million as follows (millions of dollars, actual deliveries in parentheses):

[118]

Actual deliveries of Army grant aid during fiscal year 1978 totaled $39.8 million.

In the foreign military sales program, new orders for materiel and services have been declining. The dollar value of new orders peaked in fiscal year 1974 at $4.2 billion. By fiscal year 1977 the figure was $2.8 billion; in 1978 it was $2.73 billion. Highlights of this year's new orders were as follows (millions of dollars):

Western European countries retained their great interest in security assistance, particularly for obtaining advanced weapons systems. Attention centered on coproduction as a path to force modernization. The Federal Republic of Germany became a mediator between the United States and European countries interested in coproduction. These developments furthered standardization, interoperability, and political cooperation.

Developments in Greece, Turkey, and Portugal were favorable to NATO. The United States continued supporting Portuguese ground force modernization, and tension between Greece and Turkey relaxed after the United States lifted the Turkish embargo. Greece seemed to be drifting toward reintegrating its forces with NATO.

U.S. relations with Yugoslavia improved during the year. Yugoslavia's Federal Secretary of National Defense visited our country, and U.S. officials assured him of our support and respect. We continued discussing security assistance with the Yugoslav government.

Security assistance surveys of the Middle East and Africa increased this year. They were designed to gather information about economic, political, and military conditions in countries requesting our aid. Surveys were made in Lebanon, the Sudan, Kenya, and Jordan.

Saudi Arabia remained the beneficiary of one of our largest assistance programs. A U.S. military training mission managed most of the program. The Corps of Engineers handled construction, a separate manager handled modernization of the Saudi Arabia National Guard, and special military teams handled training. The success of this training has spurred interest in other countries; teams are scheduled for Egypt and Yemen in 1979. Assistance to both nations is on the upswing because of the Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations and their growing pro Western attitudes.

[119]

A number of Latin American countries have rejected U.S. security assistance, and we have canceled programs in others because of human rights problems. Nevertheless, this year twelve countries received foreign military sales financing or training. Security assistance to Argentina was terminated on 30 September 1978, and assistance was phased out for Brazil when it refused to submit its internal situation to examination.

Negotiations proceeded with the Philippines. The U.S. agreed to provide certain kinds of assistance in exchange for the use of certain bases, notably Clark Air Force Base and the Subic Bay Naval Base. As the year closed, military talks were progressing as representatives of both nations sought to resolve basic issues.

In 1977, when President Carter decided to withdraw American ground combat forces from the Republic of Korea within five years, he assured South Korea this would not jeopardize its security or the balance of power in the Far East. The U.S. thus planned measures to strengthen and modernize South Korean forces. Forces would be withdrawn in proportion to increases in South Korean strength. Army logistics, intelligence, and communications personnel would remain. U.S. and South Korean officials agreed to establish a combined command and to continue military exercises. They developed a priority list of materiel needed to upgrade the South Korean army. With congressional approval, approximately $800 million worth of that equipment will be transferred from withdrawing American units at no cost to South Korea. The Army made plans to add ammunition to the war reserve stockpile for allies in South Korea. The $244 million requested for this purpose for fiscal year 1978 was approved.

United States support to the United Nations complements the security assistance program. The United Nations Participation Act of 1945 authorized the President to help supply and equip United Nations forces and to demand reimbursement from it for expenses incurred. In 1948, when the United Nations started its first peacekeeping effort, the truce supervision organization in Palestine, the United States provided assistance. Truce observers have been on duty for three decades, and U.S. assistance has waxed and waned with the flow of events.

On 3 October 1973 the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked that the Army Chief of Staff be the executive agent for U.S. logistics support of United Nations forces. Support began in earnest that year when the U.N. established the United Nations Emergency Force in the Sinai as a buffer between Egypt and Israel. In May

[120]

1974, after Israel and Syria ceased fighting, the U.N. established the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force along the Golan Heights border. In March 1978 the U.N. established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon along its forty-mile border with Israel following an Israeli incursion into Lebanon. Its mission was to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restore peace and security, and help the Lebanese government regain its authority in the area.

The U.N. requested and received approximately $2.1 million in goods and services from the United States in 1978. Another $8.0 million in airlift support was provided to transport troops and equipment for the interim force in Lebanon, all on a reimbursable basis.

On 30 May 1978, the Department of the Army approved twenty-one concepts developed in a study of logistics in the communications zone. The study had been prompted by deficiencies in supply, maintenance, and transportation support of the Army, primarily in Europe, and applied to logistics organizations and systems in the land area between the corps rear area and the ports and beaches.

To unify logistics worldwide, the Army prepared and tested a primary reference list of activities crucial to logistical readiness. It was an important tool in developing the five-year defense program and the Army budget. The Army was updating the list at year's end for worldwide distribution in October 1978.

Standardization remained a watchword of logistics management. Guidelines were coordinated with the Director of Army Automation. Data elements were reviewed and some were approved for standardization. Attention centered upon interservice support agreements as a way for local commanders to improve operations. The information in the Defense Retail Interservice Support data bank was tested, and the Army staff and major commands were issued guidelines for improving its accuracy.

The Army Inspector General audited and inspected the management and accountability of Army materiel at the retail level. His recommendations produced a number of actions. Battalion commanders were required to instruct company commanders on inventory procedures. Company commanders were designated as property book officers or hand receipt holders, and instructed to perform 100 percent inventories whenever commands were changed or assumed and report the results to

[121]

division/installation commanders. New procedures were developed to account for lost, damaged, and destroyed property. The officer education system was modified to include mandatory property accountability training, work was begun on simplifying supply publications, and security was tightened for Army property at organizational/installation levels.

The Army Logistics Specialty Committee secured approval to consolidate three officer specialties-general troop support materiel management, supply management, and logistics services management-into a single specialty, Materiel and Service Management. Steps were taken to reinstate the combat arms detail for regular officers commissioned in combat service support branches, and attention was focused on using combat service support officers in all battalion supply officer (S-4) positions. Logistics subjects taught in officer basic and advanced courses and in battalion/brigade command refresher courses were reviewed. Training with industry continued to be successful, and the first warrant officer entered the program. Numerous administrative actions were taken to revitalize the noncommissioned officer logistic program. An area of concern in supply, maintenance, and transportation civilian career management was the delineation of responsibilities between the functional chiefs and the Civilian Career Management Field Agency in light of Army staff personnel reductions.

The Army has several logistical and management systems in various stages of development. Systems in which technical advances were made during the year include the standard army ammunition system, which will integrate supply and maintenance management of conventional ammunition, guided missiles, and large rockets; the standard Army maintenance system, which deals with materiel maintenance; the direct support unit standard supply system, which will replace two other systems and apply to the whole Army; the standard Army intermediate level supply subsystem, which aims at a single intermediate system worldwide; the wartime standard support system for foreign armed forces, which will provide more responsive materiel support to friendly nations during wartime; and the armor management information system-logistics, a data tool to govern the tank fleet.

The Materiel Development and Readiness Command continued planning and executing command automation objectives under the five year automated data processing program. Under

[122]

it, systems furnished effective wholesale logistics support to the Army. The standard depot system was extended to the McAlester, Crane, and Hawthorne Ammunition Plants, and their operation was transferred to the Army from the Navy as the Army assumed managerial responsibility for the joint conventional ammunition program.

The command's automated systems are hampered by the limitations of third generation equipment of the mid-1960's. The Army is taking advantage of advances in computer technology to improve them. It is installing minicomputers to extend the capacity of processors. The use of distributive processing will bring system capabilities closer to the user and permit interactive processing. This evolutionary approach avoids the disruption of a massive system change. It also preserves the Army's investment in current programs.

The total Army equipment distribution program relates projections of equipment distribution to budget and program objectives. First-phase projections were completed on 1 July and are used extensively.

The purpose of the depot maintenance program is to overhaul equipment that lower maintenance echelons cannot repair, and to return it to the user. This year the Army allocated $1,019 million for depot maintenance and support: $773 million for overhauling unserviceable equipment, $9 million for technical, administrative, and new equipment training, and $237 million for maintenance support. Depot staff and machinery augmented by contractor services carried out the program.

At the outset of the fiscal year the Army estimated the program would involve repairs worth $1.307 billion. The value of maintenance work under way or ordered at the end of the fiscal year was $346 million. Consequently, the Army took steps to make future estimates more accurate. Force packaging, reliability centered maintenance strategies, and zero-based budgeting were introduced into the program. Reliability centered maintenance strategies identified items requiring depot maintenance; force packaging related these requirements to the field so maintenance resources would be applied in a way to support a "come as you are" war concept; and zero-based budgeting highlighted the areas where funding would contribute most to combat readiness.

Materiel maintenance is under constant evaluation. This year studies addressed such subjects as commodity-oriented support

[123]

maintenance for conventional materiel, recording user participation in the Army oil analysis program, improving test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment support, applying personnel space criteria to new facilities, collecting field data for wholesale equipment developers, and raising field command readiness with maintenance assistance and instruction teams.

The Army completed two studies on depot maintenance production planning. A depot rationalization study determined the optimum workloading process by assigning specific weapons systems to designated depot maintenance facilities. A depot baseline study defined maintenance requirements for peace and mobilization. The studies enable the Army to relate readiness goals to workload requirements, to plan effective depot modernization programs, and to improve the efficiency of maintenance operations.

The Army has capitalized on its Vietnam experience by reducing the levels of aviation maintenance from four to three. Aviation unit maintenance has been established at companies with ten or more aircraft to support. Direct and general maintenance support levels are being consolidated into one intermediate level supporting divisions, echelons above divisions, and other nondivision aircraft. Aviation intermediate maintenance primarily supports unit aircraft rather than the supply system. Depot level maintenance remains essentially the same. The three-level system has been instituted in U.S. Army, Europe, in Eighth U.S. Army in Korea, in the 1st Cavalry Division, and in selected TRADOC and Army Reserve flight support activities.

The "on condition" aircraft maintenance program described in last year's report moved forward in 1978. Requirements declined for depot overhaul of light observation helicopters. In March the annual worldwide aviation logistics conference was held in St. Louis at the U.S. Army Troop Support and Aviation Materiel Readiness Command. The participants decided to repair light observation craft in the field by depot contact teams rather than in a depot, except in cases of crash or battle damage.

Much of the materiel that flows through the Army depot system is financed by the Army Stock Fund, a revolving fund that finances inventories of supplies and provides working capital for industrial-type activities. The Army replenishes the fund with annual budget appropriations. In fiscal year 1978 obligations of $3.8 billion supported $3.7 billion in net sales. The Army was authorized to obligate approximately $436.5 million of the

[124]

procurement appropriation for secondary items; returns from users were $762.8 million, about 17 percent higher than had been forecast.

Of the 1978 operation and maintenance appropriation of $8.6 billion, about 26 percent, or $2.3 billion, was allocated to central supply and depot maintenance. These two areas provide the receipt, storage, issue, maintenance and transportation of supplies and equipment worldwide and the maintenance of an industrial base. The 1978 budget increased allocations for central supply by $65 million and maintenance funds by $168 million. A Directorate for Resources and Management was established under the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics to tighten controls of certain supply and maintenance funds. The advantages of centralized resources management were apparent in 1978-80 programming and budgeting.

Management of scarce major items requires data on assets distribution at unit and intermediate levels. Under a new continuing balance system, such data are assembled in a reporting process that extends from the installation level to Headquarters, Department of the Army, and covers tanks, trucks, and other major items. Detailed unit level data will be phased into a future total Army equipment distribution program.

Marking and reporting on equipment location in the distribution system received increased attention. Service representatives assembled under Army chairmanship to study logistic marking and symbol reading. The steering group contacted government agencies and private industry to develop an efficient marking system.

Other subjects of study included procedures for a wartime direct support system of requisitioning, stock levels, and distribution; the compatibility of the repair parts supply system with soldier capabilities; and increasing the return of reparable secondary items from the field to the depot. The Army also came up with a concept for using the National Guard's four transportation aircraft repair shops in emergencies.

During the fiscal year the Army continued reducing base operations support functions in Okinawa. Eight functions were transferred to the Air Force and seven to the Marine Corps; one other minor function will be passed to the Air Force in the coming year.

The location and status of war reserve stocks, especially ammunition, is a major consideration in supply and depot operations. Stocks are validated annually. The United States concentrated on raising South Korea's production capability to meet its

[125]

war reserve requirements. Under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, this year the Army was authorized $224 million to increase South Korea's reserve ammunition stocks. About $99.4 million worth was transferred to South Korea from Okinawa, Honshu, and Hawaii; $67.6 million worth of U.S. stocks already in South Korea was transferred to that government; another $57 million worth was shipped from the United States. These stocks raise the value of South Korea's war reserve to about $758.8 million.

The Army studied South Korea's ammunition requirements in light of the forward defense concept, the withdrawal of the 2d Infantry Division, and the transfer of U.S. equipment to Korean forces. The U.S. Army Pacific review group met during the year to chart the course of realignments in the Pacific for 1978-82.

A Department of Defense joint service team reconvened to expand the Defense intransit item visibility system. Work continued on the terminal operations subsystem and Department of the Army movements management system. One of its elements, visibility of intransit cargo to support theater transportation movements, advanced to formal testing.

The Army began a review of watercraft and terminal unit requirements. As the year closed the structure developed in 1977 to support a corps-size force was undergoing modification to support over-the-shore and fixed post operations. Watercraft disposal fell behind schedule at the storage facility in Okinawa, delaying its closing from September 1978 to January 1979. In Europe, the first of two DeLong piers arrived at Hythe, England, in June; a second one is scheduled to arrive there early in 1979.

The Army leads the Defense containerization effort. A test shipment of ammunition from the United States to Europe in eighteen commercial containers used the Navy's Earle system of internal restraint. The Army published a Container Safety Criteria and Inspection Standards Handbook and regulations for maintaining and marking equipment. Contracts were awarded for lift and handling equipment.

The Army joined the other services in the Military Traffic Management Command's program to induce household goods carriers to submit competitive rates based upon volume economics. The program was expanded to other overseas regions during the year. Steps were taken to improve personal property moving and storage at installations.

[126]

The military construction appropriation represents about 2 percent of the Army budget. The active Army, the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve each receive a share.

In fiscal year 1978 there was a partial moratorium on construction pending an examination of the domestic base structure. Thus the Army asked for $963.1 million for military construction. The President's review requested $646.8 million, and Congress appropriated $617.0 million. The following tabulation shows how it was broken down (millions of dollars):

In May the Army submitted its 1980-84 construction goals to the Secretary of Defense. This five-year plan was based on the Army stationing and installation program. The following table portrays the program (millions of dollars):

The 1978 appropriation provided $26 million in new obligational authority for minor construction projects. Another $16 million from previous years was available for obligation. By the close of the fiscal year all these funds had been committed to approved projects. Actual obligations, however, were about $34 million; the devaluation of the dollar caused bids in Europe to exceed approved costs. Some projects had to be reprocessed late in the year.

The transfer of sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone from the United States to Panama affected military construction. On the eve of the 1978 fiscal year, the presidents of the two nations signed two treaties. One, the Panama Canal Treaty, required the U.S. to turn over certain areas of Fort Amador and Albrook Army Airfield to the government of Panama on

[127]

1 October 1979. Other U.S. property would be transferred later. On 1 October 1980, for example, Panama will take over the facilities housing the Defense Mapping Agency. A year later it will take over medical supply warehouses, and on 1 October 1982, a large air-conditioned Army-Air Force exchange system warehouse. Fort Gulick, except for family housing, will be transferred on 1 October 1984.

The demise of the Panama Canal Company has spurred a number of new construction requirements. On 1 October 1979 the U.S. armed services will assume certain of its functions. The Army will operate medical and retail stores and collect post refuse. The Air Force will run the canal zone's postal system, and the Defense Dependent School System will assume U.S. educational responsibilities.

Before the Senate ratified the treaty, the armed services were constrained from actions that could be construed to assume ratification. As a result, the Army did not design construction for relocating its units. The headquarters of the 193d Infantry Brigade, the 79th Army Band, and the 470th Military Intelligence Group, now located on Fort Amador, will relocate to Fort Clayton and Corozal; the 210th ,Aviation Battalion, with over fifty rotary and fixed wing aircraft, will be moved to the Howard Air Force Base-Fort Kobbe complex. These moves must be completed by 1 October 1979. The installations receiving the relocated units will remain Defense sites for the life of the treaty or until 31 December 1999.

The military construction subcommittee held hearings prior to the ratification vote. The Commander in Chief, Southern Command; testified that the treaty would produce construction requirements in excess of $42 million. Although not permitted to begin design, the Army was allowed to take prudent measures using organic elements to define the project's scope and cost.

When the Senate approved the treaty in April 1978, the Army began designing nearly $35 million worth of construction. Senator Edward W. Brooke's Resolution of Ratification allowed a lapse of one year before the treaty would go into effect. With this added time, the Department of Defense requested a $44.1 million fiscal year 1979 budget amendment. At congressional request, the Office of Management and Budget did not forward the amendment. The Army then sought approval to use the Secretary of Defense's emergency military construction authority for minimal construction to relocate its units in Panama. Congressional appropriation committees consented provided the President would certify its urgency. President Carter did so,

[128]

and the Mobile, Alabama, District Engineer's office contracted with five architect-engineer firms to complete the construction designs. Panama's climate made haste even more critical. To take advantage of the dry season, construction had to start before 1 December 1978.

The Corps of Engineers gave engineering and construction management support in varying degrees to six foreign nations during fiscal year 1978, some under the security assistance program. Construction projects valued at $193.1 million were completed in Saudi Arabia, and design and construction contracts were awarded for about $659 million. The corps helped Jordan develop the design, specifications, and cost estimates for a $62.2 million armor rebuild facility. Engineering and construction contract management assistance continued in Iran; projects costing $7.7 million were completed, and plans were under way to provide design and construction management assistance for facilities that would cost about $1.9 million. The corps was planning to help Egypt design and construct a $5.2 million aircraft flight simulator facility. Engineer assistance to Somalia was planned as well.

Under the foreign assistance program, the Federal Republic of Germany requested and received Engineer aid in designing and building their flammable cargo storage area at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C.

The Army continued working toward the long-range goal of matching facilities to force structure requirements. A data bank on 258 major military installations was completed in 1977; in 1978 the existing capability was evaluated against 1977 force requirements. As the year progressed, capability plans were prepared for sixty-five installations in the United States, similar planning was introduced for overseas installations, and $4.4 million was allocated to fourteen engineer field offices to support master planning.

Army engineers reviewed, tested, and inspected military facilities construction projects. Regulations covering design and construction contracts were tightened to make the contractor fully responsible for the quality of his work. To take advantage of mass-production, the Army developed new procedures for procuring industrialized building systems and new concepts for meeting the functional requirements of facilities. There were advances in estimating costs, writing specifications, and evaluating installation utility plans.

The U.S. Army Facilities Engineering Support Agency provided installation engineers technical assistance not readily

[129]

available in Army installations or major commands. Support teams of eight to twelve persons were stationed at key installations throughout the United States. They made power plant inspections and electrical system infrared surveys, calibrated circuit breakers and protective relays, investigated electrical and mechanical system failures, and provided energy conservation assistance. The agency also managed the nontactical generator program, which would provide large module power equipment and a cadre of trained technicians to support military contingencies.

Design was initiated for modernization of industrial facilities at the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, New York, which makes cannons and cannon components for self-propelled artillery, towed artillery, and tanks. The modernization will cover construction and equipment. At the Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant in Bay St. Louis, the nation's newest munitions manufacturing facility, site development was completed in July and the construction contract for the metal parts manufacturing facility was awarded in September. The project will cost $400 million and take four years to build. It will collocate the manufacture of metal parts and the loading, assembling, and packing of 155mm. improved conventional artillery munitions.

The contract to modernize the Fargo Building in Boston, Massachusetts, was awarded in August 1978. With an estimated cost of over $20 million, the renovation will be completed in 1980 and will provide space for almost 2,000 Defense personnel.

Congress appropriated $50.6 million to construct four research, development, testing, and evaluation facilities: an aeromedical research laboratory, a physical sciences laboratory, an energetics laboratory, and a dynamic test facility alteration. In the program to build housing for synthetic flight training systems for five types of Army helicopters, twenty-one out of forty buildings have been completed, five were in design, and thirteen were in construction planning.

The Army finished installing a granular carbon absorption water treatment pilot system at the north boundary of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. In compliance with the State of California's legal demands, the system will remove contaminants from ground water.

As the executive agent for the Defense recruiting facilities program, the Army completed 1,150 actions toward establishing new offices and relocating, expanding, and upgrading existing ones.

The Army completed a number of design guides for libraries, education centers, recreation and crafts centers, and

[130]

physical fitness centers. Guides are in progress for child care and youth activity centers, and another is planned for community centers. The guides will help tailor new or renovated facilities to local programs. Its child care facility research earned the Army a citation from Progressive Architecture magazine.

The Army updated its health facilities design manual to include new criteria and uniform design procedures. A new design guide for the maintenance facilities of table of organization and equipment units was in preparation. It will be used in the five-year program to design and construct over sixty facilities at a cost of nearly $500 million.

In February the Army inspected the design of the 300-seat unit chapel which was developed for the troop barracks complex at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and later adapted to various locations.

The Corps of Engineers is the construction agent for other Defense elements. The 1978 Air Force program was for $338 million; of which $269 million was actually awarded. Work done for the Navy cost $27 million, and work for the Defense Nuclear Agency, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Mapping Agency, and the Defense Dependent School System cost over $46.6 million.

The Adjutant General's turnkey construction program provides for the design, construction, and equipping of such nonappropriated fund projects as club and recreation facilities. Over $6.4 million in projects were completed by the end of fiscal year 1978, and another $12.1 million in projects were under construction.

The Corps of Engineers continued acquiring land for the civil works program and for other government agencies. Approximately 1,535 acres of improved land were bought for about $8.8 million, most of it to expand clear zones at twenty-seven Air Force bases. To meet Department of Interior requirements, the corps acquired land for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas; in the latter location, the Beaumont project office bought 627 tracts containing 24,000 acres for $21.5 million. This year a total of 73,220 acres comprising 900 tracts was acquired at a cost of $62.3 million.

The Corps helped the Department of Energy obtain a fourth salt mine site for petroleum storage. Major pipeline rights-of-way connecting the storage sites with terminal and dock facilities were a principal element of the land purchases. Land for the St. James Terminal and docks on the Mississippi River was obtained as well.

[131]

The Department of the Army controls approximately 12.6 million acres of military land. With improvements, the land has an acquisition cost of $14.1 billion. From 1 July 1977-30 June 1978, the General Services Administration disposed of 3,071 acres of Army land and improvements in the United States, with an acquisition cost of $10.6 million. An additional 87,153 acres, with an acquisition cost including improvements of $233.6 million, were reported as excess to the General Services Administration.

In accord with Executive Order 11954 of January 1977, this year the General Services Administration scheduled surveys of fifty-seven Army-controlled properties. Survey reports were submitted on thirty-four properties. Fourteen of the reports made recommendations which together declared 2,350 acres as excess. The Army agreed to dispose of 1,409 acres.

The use of Army operations and maintenance funds for real property increased in 1978. Obligated funds for this purpose were over $1.3 billion. Procuring and operating Army utilities systems contributed most to the increase due to escalating fuel and energy costs. The Army's utilities bill for the year was $375 million.

The Army's integrated facilities system (IFS), a multicommand, automated information and evaluation system of managing real property resources, was implemented at seven continental U.S. installations. Over 6,800 installation personnel participated in functional training. A flexible and user-oriented facilities engineering supply system connected to IFS was tested at two installations. The Army expects the system to be approved this coming year and has plans to expand it.

The Army's physical security program aims to prevent unauthorized access to government equipment, facilities, and materiel, and to safeguard them against theft, sabotage, damage, and misappropriation. Every attempt is made to limit the administrative burden of complex security standards, yet at the same time to place responsibility for protection upon commanders down to the unit level. Army-directed security standards are limited to those required by the Department of Defense (i.e. for nuclear or chemical weapons) and to highly dangerous or valuable items. The Army must budget and defend fund requirements for physical security. Functional responsibilities are spread across the Army staff, and a physical security review

[132]

board was established in 1974 to centralize security matters for the Secretary of Defense and the Chief of Staff.

On 1 June 1978 the Department of Defense published DOD Manual 5100.76, Physical Security of Sensitive Conventional Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives. On 5-9 June an international physical security conference was held in Washington, D.C. Representatives of the Army staff and major commands reviewed the Army's physical security program.

Security considerations cut across many areas of Army operation and involve such widely divergent actions as hiring civilian guards and safeguarding nuclear reactors. This year the Army concentrated on reducing the high turnover rate for civilian guards by improving their grade, pay, and promotion opportunities. Security publications were refined to ensure that factors unique to each nuclear reactor site were not overlooked in blanket standards.

The Army published several security documents, including AR 190-52, Countering Terrorism and Other Major Disruptions on Military Installations, and DA Pamphlet 190-52, Personnel Security Precautions against Acts of Terrorism. Program and budget guidance issued in May 1978 identified resources that would permit TRADOC to begin counter-terrorist training in fiscal year 1980. As the year closed, twenty-five Criminal Investigation Command agents received hostage negotiation training with the Nassau County Police Department in New York.

The rise in terrorist activity in the early 1970's induced the armed services to assess security at ammunition and weapons storage areas around the world. The U.S. agreed to finance a long-range security program to upgrade NATO facilities; NATO will reimburse us at a later date. Funding delays forced a cutback in the number of installations earmarked for security improvements. Complexities in international 'competitive bidding and infrastructure funding further reduced the program. Work proceeded in two phases. The first, general construction such as fencing, roads, and guard force buildings, was well along at many sites as the year closed. Contracts were being awarded for the second phase which consisted of special security features such as lighting and intrusion-detection systems.

[133]

Return to Table of Contents

	Return to CMH Online
	Last updated 7 September 2004