Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1981

7

Support Services

The adage "an army travels on its stomach" is an apt reminder that a well-trained, well-equipped, and well-led army may come to naught unless the physical and emotional well-being of the individual soldier is also taken into account. Support services cover a wide range of activities which respond to this need.

Health and Medical Care

Army expenditures for medical services in fiscal year 1981 amounted to $2,016.2 million, $368 million more than for the preceding year. The increase was largely because of military and civilian pay raises, the continuing escalation of health service costs for beneficiaries at both Army medical treatment facilities and civilian facilities, a substantial jump in medical construction, and a rise in medical equipment purchases. The table below shows Army medical expenditures by appropriation category for the last two fiscal years (in millions of dollars):

 

Appropriation    FY 80    FY 81
Military Personnel, Army    640.2    681.0
Operations and Maintenance, Army   828.0    999.0
Research and Development, Army     91.5    90.0
Military Construction, Army    20.3    158.4
Other Procurement, Army    56.2    72.9
Reserve Personnel, Army     12.0    14.3
Total    1,648.2    2,015.6

The patient workload at Army medical care facilities did not reach programmed levels this year, although the actual workload exceeded fiscal year 1980 levels by a small margin. A larger workload would have been attained had it not been for personnel shortages in physician specialties and medical support. The average length of a hospital stay continued to decline-an average of 6.7 days in fiscal year 1981 as compared with 6.9 days in the previous year. The shorter stays were offset by a 1-percent increase in the number of hospital admissions. Both factors reflected national health care trends toward same-day surgery and intensive care units that promote shorter hospital days.

The Army, along with the Navy, the Air Force, and the Uni-

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formed Services University for the Health Sciences (USUHS), prepared to carry out a directive from the Office of the Secretary of Defense that removed restrictions on sickle-cell trait (SCT) sufferers, which had disqualified them for flying, diving, and parachuting duties. The directive also required the services to begin a long-term check on service members with SCT to see if this policy change would have any adverse effects, and to institute mandatory testing for SCT and for glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD). A USUHS-triservice methodology to monitor personnel with SCT during their careers was progressing, while plans to test all service members for SCT and G-6PD were just getting under way as the fiscal year ended. In addition, the Army was preparing to evaluate applicants for flying, diving, and high-altitude low-opening parachuting for increased susceptibility to hypoxia, dehydration, and physical stress-conditions that were believed to be related to morbidity and the sickle cell trait. The Army also considered studying SCT at Fort Bliss, where five of seven Army trainee deaths occurred that may have been related to SCT.

Army Medical Department activities concerning health hazards were centered at the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency (USAEHA), a part of the Health Services Command. In 1981 USAEHA received the mission of validating health hazard assessment (HHA) efforts for nonmedical materiel, developing HHA standards and specifications, and acting as technical adviser on HHA matters to the office of the Surgeon General, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, and developers. USAEHA was also responsible for developing the Army's local occupational health hazard inventory (LOHHI) and served as the central repository for collected data. The LOHHI gave the Army information on hazardous operations and chemicals which the Surgeon General needed in order to advise the Secretary of Labor of potential health hazards within the Department of Defense, information to help physicians develop medical surveillance programs, and data for use in educating and training service members and employees concerning work hazards.

Army installations have had difficulties meeting their responsibilities in the area of occupational health, which include job-related medical surveillance and personnel protection, hazard identification and assessment, prevention and control of occupational diseases and injuries, and feeding data to the Department of the Army for consolidation and overall program evaluation. For the last several years the Army Medical Department has tried

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to resolve problems at the installation level by developing an automated occupational health management information system (OHMIS), but has lacked the necessary resources to carry it through. Safety Sciences, Inc., received a contract this year to conduct an OHMIS study. The objective of the study is to determine the best alternative system for assembling, comparing, using, and evaluating personnel exposure information, baseline medical examination data, periodic medical surveillance data, occupational illness and injury information, workplace environmental monitoring data, personal protective equipment usage, observations of work practices, and hazard awareness education. The study should be finished in the spring of 1982.

Army Nurse Corps (ANC) strength at the end of the fiscal year was near authorized levels, 3,833 on hand compared to 3,859 authorized; however, it was not enough to meet requirements. So, 2,162 civilian registered nurses were employed as of 30 September 1981 to help meet the need for nursing care and services.

In fiscal year 1981 Army nurses participated in a wide variety of Army and civilian educational programs to promote their professional development. The goal of achieving an all-professional corps moved forward with 98 percent of all ANC officers holding baccalaureate degrees.

The Army Medical Specialist Corps (AMSC) expanded its support of the annual REFORGER exercise as two field grade officers, a physical therapist and a dietitian, took an active role in REFORGER 1981. The physical therapist worked at a division clearing station and provided both musculoskeletal evaluations and acute patient care. This was the first time in the REFORGER series that a physical therapist had been in such a forward position. The second officer served as chief dietitian to the 85th Combat Support Hospital.

Dietitians also served with the 5th Combat Support Hospital at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during Operation BOLD EAGLE and assisted the 44th Medical Brigade in support of the Rapid Deployment Force. The dietitian assigned to the 44th developed a "quick-fix" hospital B-ration and subsequently collaborated with a dietitian from the Hospital Food Service Branch of the Academy of Health Sciences and with Natick Laboratories to develop a new ten-day, hospital B-ration.

As noted in last year's historical summary, the 1980 Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act provided for sharp reductions in DOD veterinary activities and their consolidation within the Army over a five-year period. The 1981 DOD Ap-

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propriations Act shortened the consolidation time to three years, ending in fiscal year 1983. Consolidation actions taken as of 30 September 1981 included a 10-percent reduction in DOD veterinary officer positions; disestablishment of the Air Force Veterinary Service; execution of memoranda of understanding and interservice support agreements with the Navy and Air Force; identification of veterinary officer research and development positions that could be filled by civilians; and, as discussed below, development of a warrant officer program in food inspection.

A particularly noteworthy accomplishment resulting from the consolidation was the creation of a food inspection technician warrant officer specialty (MOSC 051A). This action satisfied a congressional requirement to replace 30 percent of veterinary officers who perform food inspection functions with other specialists: The first increment of ten warrant officers was selected in July 1981. Their training in the new specialty will begin in November 1981 at the Academy of Health Sciences. A total of fifty-three warrant officers will replace veterinary officers as operational managers of food inspection functions and will provide day-to-day guidance to noncommissioned officers and specialists who actually perform the inspections. Veterinary Corps officers will serve as consultants to the Surgeon General, warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and specialists for food inspection matters. Because of the diverse functions of veterinarians, further substitution would not be advisable.

One aspect of veterinary services consolidation which the Army considered harmful has to do with a provision of the 1980 DOD Appropriations Act calling for the civilianization of veterinary positions involved in research and development "to the maximum extent possible without jeopardizing legitimate military requirements." Approximately one-third of all veterinary officers were engaged in biomedical and subsistence research for the military. Military veterinary scientists had made valuable contributions to the understanding of such diseases as leptospirosis, meliodosis, viral encephalitis, malaria, scrub typhus, radiation illness and protection, and the development and improvement of surgical prostheses.

Lt. Gen. Charles C. Pixley, the Surgeon General of the Army, opposed civilianization. He pressed his case when the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs directed a reduction of 102 military veterinary research and development positions to comply with the civilianization proviso contained in the 1980 DOD Appropriations Act.

On 8 July 1981, William D. Clark, Principal Deputy Assistant

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Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, hosted a meeting attended by General Pixley; John F. Beary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs; Brig. Gen. Garrison Rapmund, Assistant Surgeon General for Research and Development; Brig. Gen. Frank A. Ramsey, Chief of the Veterinary Corps; and others from the offices of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. The purpose of the meeting was to seek a solution to the problems posed by civilianization. Participants at the meeting pointed out the critical need for veterinary specialists to support essential DOD research and development programs; the inability to hire civilians to replace 102 military veterinarians; the adverse effect such replacement would have on the morale of the 102 incumbent military research veterinarians, who would lose their job space authorizations, and the inevitable attrition of these officers unless space authorizations were restored; and the serious jeopardy to existing and forthcoming programs which would result.

After the meeting the Army sent a memorandum to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs detailing the situation and requesting the restoration of the 102 spaces to the Veterinary Corps. These would be withdrawn one year after the completion of the consolidation of DOD veterinary services, but only as positions were successfully turned over to civilians. The Assistant Secretary had not responded to the memorandum by 30 September 1981.

At the close of fiscal year 1981 the Health Facility Modernization Program had thirty-three projects under construction (twelve hospitals, four dental clinics, six health clinics, and nine health and dental clinics). The value of the projects totaled just under $350.4 million.

Work began on fourteen medical construction projects during the year: eight in Europe, two in the Pacific region, and four in the continental United States. The projects in Europe comprised health and dental clinics at Amberg, Bad Hershfeld, Butzbach, Mannheim, and Wertheim; health clinics at Fulda and Illesheim; and a dental clinic at Heidelberg. The two projects in the Pacific were additions and renovations to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii and to a dental clinic at Yongsan, Korea. Projects in the continental United States involved site work at the new Fort Carson hospital and construction at the Hunter-Ligget health and dental clinic, the Fort Sam Houston troop medical clinic, and the Fort Belvoir health clinic.

The Army completed fifteen medical construction projects

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during fiscal year 1981: dental clinics at West Point and at Forts Bliss, Bragg, Knox, Lee, Ord, Polk, Riley, Sam Houston, and Sill; and, in Germany, health clinics at Baumholder, Karlsruhe, and Schwaebisch Gemuend and health and dental clinics at Bindlach and Mainz.

The Army obtained one hospital and one clinic, following either the closing or the conversion to the local community of eight U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) hospitals and twenty-seven PHS clinics. The clinic, which is located in St. Louis, Missouri, should eliminate the need to build a new clinic in Granite City, Illinois. Letterman Army Medical Center will use the former PHS hospital in San Francisco to satisfy both building space requirements and shortages of mobilization hospital beds.

Religion

From the American Revolution to the present, during wartime as well as periods of peace, Army chaplains have tended to the spiritual and moral needs of the military community. Chaplain activities during fiscal year 1981 had two primary thrusts: soldier support and professional development. Soldier support dealt with the many programs and services directed toward service members and their families. Professional development involved programs and activities to sharpen the skills of Army chaplains and those working with them in performing their duties.

The rapid growth of chaplain-operated family life centers continued during fiscal year 1981. Two training seminars for center directors were held during the year. The first, a weeklong event held in Kansas, trained thirty-eight chaplains in the use of a new program designed to build family understanding and community cohesion and support. The second event, which took place at the Menninger Clinic, gave twenty-two chaplains a one-week refresher course and update on family ministry.

As a follow-up to the 14-16 November 1979 meeting of the Family Life Steering Committee held in Rosslyn, Virginia, a select group of chaplains and other concerned persons assembled at Colorado Springs, Colorado, in April 1980 to discuss new ways to train chaplains for family life ministry. The group recommended a program in which four graduate school students would participate in a supervised practicum at a major installation. The concept was accepted by the Chief of Chaplains in May 1981. Fort Knox was selected as the training site for a two-year test program that will begin in fiscal year 1982.

Army chaplains met with principal planners of the first Army

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Family Symposium early in fiscal year 1981 to share their concerns regarding marriage and family life. The exchange of views led to several program changes, chaplain presentations at the symposium, and increased awareness of family-related chaplain programs. Chaplains gave strong support for the second Army Family Symposium, which will be held in fiscal year 1982.

The use of audiovisual materials to implement chaplain programs has been hampered by a moratorium on new film purchases. The ban does not affect related activities, such as gathering materials and script ideas, coordinating ideas for future films, publicity, script approval, preproduction meetings, and film festival participation, which have continued with minimal expenditure of chaplain funds. One film produced before the moratorium was distributed during the year and six more were almost ready for release. One of these was awarded a silver medal at the New York International Film Festival.

Several actions were taken during the year in regard to religious education programs and curricula. Multiethnic religious education workshops were held at Hampton Institute, Virginia, and San Anselmo Seminary, California, at which new resources, methods, and skills were identified and developed. Pilot workshops at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, Virginia, and at the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia, proved most beneficial to attending chapel activities specialists, directors of religious education, chaplains, and laity in developing practical help to fulfill their roles as teachers and leaders in Protestant religious education. In addition, a revision of the Unified Jewish Curriculum was completed and distributed; development of a new Jewish curriculum was well under way and should be completed in fiscal year 1982.

The 1981 Minority Ministries Training Course, held in Atlanta, Georgia, between 26 April and 1 May 1981, focused on ways both to help chaplains identify multicultural and multiethnic problems and to minister to them. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the keynote speaker.

Army chaplains relied more on internal resources in conducting parish development training workshops this year, as funding for outside civilian consultants was phased out. Twenty-one persons completed the first Parish Development Training Program, which was designed and directed entirely by chaplaincy personnel. The nine-month course covered a broad spectrum of theory and "back-home" projects designed to better equip chaplains, chapel activities specialists, and directors of religious education for performance of leadership roles in such areas as

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training for the parish ministry, consulting, parish council and lay activities, transition sessions, and conflict management.

Several actions were taken during fiscal year 1981 to improve job satisfaction within the chaplaincy. On the recommendation of the Chief of Chaplains and following coordination with USAREUR, FORSCOM, TRADOC, and DARCOM, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel approved changes in Army regulations to permit unmarried chaplains to compete for family housing on the same basis as those who were married. This action has improved the retention rate of Catholic chaplains and has served to ameliorate the severe shortage of Catholic priests in the chaplaincy; only 289 out of a desired level of 506 were in service.

Two initiatives taken during the year were aimed at improving the status of chapel activities specialists. The E-9 staff sergeant major position at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School was upgraded to command sergeant major in May 1981. Furthermore, beginning on 31 July, a chapel activities supervisor was detailed to the U.S. Army Military Personnel Center (MILPERCEN) to provide liaison between the Office of the Chief of Chaplains and MILPERCEN and to ensure that the needs of chapel activities specialists and the Chaplain Branch were met.

Katcoff v. Marsh, a civil suit filed on 23 November 1979 charging that the U.S. Army Chaplaincy violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, remained in the discovery stage of litigation at the close of fiscal year 1981. The plaintiffs propounded 123 interrogatories, questioning virtually all aspects of the chaplaincy. Army lawyers responded to the questions and submitted several interrogatories of their own, which the plaintiffs answered. The plaintiffs also turned in 137 requests for admissions. The Army replied on 31 July 1981.

Casualty and Memorial Affairs

Army morticians overseas processed the remains of 685 bodies at six Army-operated mortuaries, while within the continental United States private mortuaries working under contracts with the Army handled the remains of 1,176 active duty personnel and their dependents. The Army's mortuary workload during fiscal year 1981 numbered 1,861 deceased persons. A Seventh Army mortuary recovered and identified the remains of one World War II soldier.

The Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii identified the remains of repatriated Navy and Air Force personnel. The

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laboratory recovered 101 remains during search and recovery missions to New Guinea, Wake Island, Tarawa, the Philippines, Enewetak, and Peleliu. Of these, nine were individually identified as U.S. World War II casualties.

The Concepts Analysis Agency (CAA) conducted a study of the Army's capability to handle personnel killed in combat for the Troop Support Division, Office 'of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (ODCSLOG). The study addressed the mortuary affairs management structure during both peacetime and major military operations. The study uncovered severe limitations. in the Army's ability to provide graves registration support as well as training inadequacies in cemetery operations, mass casualty burial procedures, and operations in a nuclear, biological, or chemical environment. The study concluded that the mortuary affairs management structure lacked functional integrity and suffered from multiple, sources of guidance, staff supervision, and technical support. Representatives from the ODCSLOG, the Logistics Center, and the Quartermaster School have developed a plan that deals with the problems noted in the CAA study, in support of which a program development increment package for fiscal years 1984-1988 has been prepared. Requested funds cover costs for training, force structure, and equipment that are needed to support a minimal effort.

The Columbarium for cremated remains was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery on 26 April 1980, and the first inurnment took place two days later. As of 30 September 1981, the remains of 846 bodies had been inurned, an average of about seventy per month. Ground burials in Arlington and Soldiers and Airmens Home National Cemeteries numbered 2,823 for fiscal year 1981.

During fiscal year 1981 the Casualty Services Division of The Adjutant General's Center processed 994 active duty deaths; 6,078 retiree deaths; 185 deaths of service members who died within 120 days of separation, discharge, or retirement; and an estimated 450 cases involving seriously ill and very seriously ill individuals in overseas commands. The division also handled 741,000 records of emergency data.

Housing and Homeowners' Assistance

After a one-year delay caused by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) action, the new family housing construction program made rapid headway. Contracts totaling $47.699 million were awarded for 900 family units-500 at Fort Ord, California;

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200 at Fort Polk, Louisiana; and 200 at Fort Stewart, Georgia. One-half of the Fort Stewart units will be smaller than the standard two-bedroom units (750 square feet of living space as compared with 950 square feet) and will be used by soldiers in grade E-4 with less than two year's service or by soldiers in lower grades who have dependents. Heretofore these lower-ranking enlisted members could get family housing only if there was a surplus.

Activity in the Family Housing Maintenance, Repair, and Improvement (MRI) Program picked up during the year. The Energy Conservation Investment Program, one of two programs eliminated by the Office of Management and Budget in fiscal year 1980, was restored, and several projects valued at $27.150 million were undertaken. The Minor Construction Program, which OMB also axed last year, was not restored. Work continued on four projects under the Line Item Improvement program with a total cost of $8.147 million; on one Productivity Enhancing Capital Investment Program project funded at $5.139 million; and on the Maintenance and Repair program, which received $215.338 million in funding for fiscal year 1981.

Acting on a request made by Lt. Gen. Marion C. Ross, the Deputy Commander of FORSCOM, General John W. Vessey, Army Vice Chief of Staff, approved the reestablishment of the Army Housing Committee (ARHOC) in March 1981. The committee, which comprised a steering committee and a working group, reviewed policies, goals, and objectives for housing unaccompanied enlisted personnel and assessed the adequacy of new and modernized facilities in meeting Army requirements. During the late spring and summer of 1981 ARHOC discussions centered on conflicts between guidelines emanating from the VOLAR experiment in the early 1970s and on current needs for unit integrity, cohesion, command and control, discipline, and readiness. The committee firmly rejected a return to open bays or squad bays. By mid-August, after consulting with TRADOC, FORSCOM, and various Army staff elements, it had developed broad criteria for barracks design that included (1) removal of E-7s and above as a "unit barracks" consideration; (2) increased barracks room size from 270 to 400 square feet; (3) two E-6s, three E-5s, and four E-4s and below to a room; (4) a bathroom with shower and tub combination for each room; (5) company day rooms to replace lounges; (6) return of company administration and supply to the barracks; and (7) maintenance of unit integrity at the battalion level and, wherever possible, at the company level. At year's end the Office of the Chief of Engineers was preparing architectural designs and drawings incorporating

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the criteria. These designs will be reviewed by the ARHOC steering committee upon completion. The committee will then submit recommendations and design proposals to the Vice Chief of Staff.

Passage of the Military Pay and Allowance Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-579) granted service members in the grades of E-7 and above without dependents the right to elect to receive basic allowance for quarters (BAQ) rather than to live in government quarters. This right had previously been limited to O-4s and above. Installation commanders may deny service members the right to elect BAQ only if such a choice would have a significant adverse effect on operational requirements, unit discipline, law and order of the installation, health and safety requirements, protection of government property, or other areas of military discipline or readiness.

Administration proposals to terminate the Family Housing Domestic Leasing Program posed a hardship on service members who could face eviction from leased quarters before completion of their normal three-year tour. The Vice Chief of Staff and the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) sought and won relief from the Office of the Secretary of Defense. As a result, the Family Housing Domestic Leasing Program will be phased out on an orderly basis by the end of fiscal year 1983. Because of this additional time, service families will not have to be evicted from current leases.

As executive agent for all military services, the Army paid $1.6 million under the Homeowners Assistance Program to 219 applicants in fiscal year 1981 as a result of base closures and realignment actions. Mortgage assumptions on eleven properties acquired during the period totaled $317,000.

Work progressed on the Housing Operations Management System (HOMES), which was described in last year's report. The Office of the Chief of Engineers submitted a mission element needs statement for approval, and funds to develop and deploy HOMES were programmed for fiscal years 1982 and 1983. In other actions, the Major Command Housing Automated Data Processing Advisory Committee was established to review the development of housing standard operating procedures and housing automated systems, and the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory conducted workshops to review standard procedures for the family housing assignment and terminations and housing referral functions.

In December 1980, the Army published its first comprehensive housing management training plan. The number of centrally funded intern spaces was increased from eighteen in fiscal year

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1980 to twenty-four in 1981. Three intern spaces were allocated for on-site training in Europe. At its 17-19 November 1980 meeting, the Housing Management Career Program Screening Panel reviewed the records of 252 careerists. During the year, 243 careerists were processed for overseas assignments and 176 were processed for duties within the continental United States. The permanent format of the Housing Management Career Appraisal and Individual Development Plan was completed, as was the draft of a new Army regulation covering the Housing Management Career Program.

Food Services

At the close of fiscal year 1981, 1,072 dining facilities were in operation worldwide (655 in CONUS and 417 overseas). Of these, nine were free-standing specialty or short-order facilities, and five were officers' field-ration dining facilities. During the year, 230,746,000 meals were served, valued at $271 million. The one garrison bread bakery in Berlin and the one central pastry kitchen at Aberdeen Proving Ground continued to operate.

The Dining Facility Modernization Program, initiated in fiscal year 1975 and revitalized in fiscal year 1980, provides modern equipment for preparation, serving lines to support regular and short-order or specialty menus, properly equipped self-service areas, and a contemporary dining environment. Major Army commands have identified 221 dining facilities that require modernization at a cost of $183 million during fiscal years 19831987. The Program Budget Committee approved $10 million to modernize thirteen dining facilities in fiscal year 1983. The remainder of the needed funds is included in the Dining Facility Modernization Program Development Increment Package (PDIP).

Based on a major study by the Troop Support Agency of dining facility staffing requirements, the staffing guide for the facilities was significantly changed in August 1981. The need for more cooks and administrative personnel was recognized. Increases of up to 45 percent were authorized for facilities with extended operating hours and extensive field service and for dual serving lines; the need for an additional 25-percent increase was recognized for continuous, full-service operations. This represented an important step toward solving the dining facility staffing problem.

The fiscal year 1981 Military Construction, Army, program

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included the modernization of two dining facilities (one at Fort Lewis, Washington, and one in Korea) at a cost of $699,000. There were no new dining facilities approved for construction in the fiscal year 1981 program.

Development of the Combat Field Feeding System (CFFS) by the Natick Research and Development Laboratories (NLABS) and U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) continued with considerable support from the Troop Support Agency (TSA). CFFS will be a company-level kitchen (tactical field kitchen) capable of operating from a prime mover or trailer. The basic ration for the kitchen will be the T-ration, a shelf stable, fully prepared, heat-and-serve product. The CFFS will provide a hot meal to small groups, squad-sized units, or companies, and when consolidated it can feed battalion-sized units. On 15 December 1980, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army approved the CFFS for further development. The DA Subsistence Review Committee examined the CFFS in February 1981 and provided implementation guidance. The Outline Test Plan, completed on 5 March 1981, specified a 28-day battalion-sized FDTE (force development test and experimentation) test of the CFFS for October 1982. This test will be a major factor in determining whether or not the system will be accepted. A letter of agreement between TRADOC and DARCOM for the development of the CFFS was signed on 13 March 1981 and subsequently amended to provide for HQDA in-process review approval.

An in-process review in March 1981 determined that the Automated Bakery System (ABS), another Natick Laboratories project, did not meet the needs of the Army for the late 1980s, and efforts to field the system were stopped. Actions in support of the field bakery will now be directed toward finding new technical approaches, developing canned bread, and upgrading the present M-1945 Field Bakery.

Two of the numerous, ongoing food service research and development projects have Army-wide significance. The first project deals with a method for determining quality standards for food and food services operating under commercial contracts. To date, Natick Food Engineering Laboratories has surveyed the quality assurance practices of twenty-two nonmilitary hospitals, emphasizing methods and procedures used to measure the final food product and food service quality. Four food service contract companies were also contacted for information on their quality assurance programs. Based on survey results, a prototype quality

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assurance and evaluation program will be developed that can be monitored by government personnel.

The second project of significance is a revision of the hospital B-ration menu to include components of both existing and new shelf stable foods for use in a field environment without refrigeration. Natick Laboratories is developing recipes for a ten-day menu based on both the Army's ten-day plan and diet requirements for the 1990s.

The first U.S. Army hospital food service contract has been developed for application to Fitzsimons Army Medical Center; bids are currently under review. This action will be closely monitored as a feasibility test for contracting out Army hospital food service operations. Clinical dietitians will remain military to ensure that mobilization requirements are met.

During fiscal year 1981, five Food Management Assistance Teams of the Troop Support Agency provided dining facility management and technical assistance to active Army and reserve component commands and installations and food service personnel worldwide. The teams visited fifty-seven active Army commands and installations, including lengthy stays at Germany, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Far East. They toured 511 dining facilities and contacted and assisted 7,267 food service personnel. A total of 223 reserve component dining facilities and 1,580 food service personnel at separate brigades and armored cavalry regiments in eighteen states were assisted.

The Army Food Management Information System (AFMIS) is an automated system for controlling the head count, dining facility, and troop issue subsistence elements of the Army food program. The system is being developed as a totally integrated Class III system in accordance with prescribed Army life cycle management policies and procedures. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Logistics, and Financial Management) approved the mission element needs statement on 9 September 1981. Developmental work was then initiated on the AFMIS product manager charter, the functional description, and the economic analysis.

Commissary and Subsistence Supplies

At the end of fiscal year 1981, 72 domestic commissaries and 7 annexes were operating within the fifty states and Puerto Rico. There were also 70 foreign stores and 27 annexes in operation. A new store opened at Fort Irwin, California; new annexes began operations at Fischbach, Germany, and Camps Casey, Edwards,

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and Stanley in South Korea. Plans moved forward for opening new stores in Cairo, Egypt, and a new annex at Kirchgoens, West Germany.

Significant progress has been made during the past three years in reducing commissary losses. At the end of fiscal year 1978, 68 of 141 Army commissaries reported "out-of-tolerance" grocery losses, with the worldwide average loss set at 1.3 percent of sales. By the end of fiscal year 1981 only 33 stores had out-of-tolerance grocery losses, and the worldwide average grocery loss was down to .52 percent of sales. A significant factor in reducing losses has been the Command Inspection Program. It will be supplanted in fiscal year 1982 by inspections of the Troop Support Command Inspector General.

In compliance with Office Management and Budget Circular A-76, the Army initiated cost studies at the commissaries at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. Conversion to contract will occur only if the cost study indicates an advantage to the government that is equal to at least 10 percent of personnel-related costs. Commissary food prices will not be affected.

Participation of commissaries in the Department of Agriculture's special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children increased significantly during fiscal year 1981. Twenty-eight commissaries in thirteen states were involved. Food sales per month under the program averaged $17,526 for each store.

The Automated Commissary Computer Entry Store System (ACCESS) underwent two pilot tests and a demonstration during the year. The contractor's product did not meet requirements, and alternative plans were being considered. The test of scanning equipment at the Fort Lee, Virginia, commissary in September 1981 has, thus far, won favorable comment from both customers and cashiers. A six-month evaluation of the application of scanning devices will be conducted before a decision is made on whether to expand their use to other commissaries.

In the area of subsistence, contractors completed deliveries of two million cases of meal ready-to-eat (MRE) rations in August 1981. This included shipments of annual replacement stocks to Europe and Korea. The Defense Personnel Support Center awarded contracts for four million additional cases of these rations, with delivery scheduled from January to December 1982.

The Subsistence Review Committee (SRC) was created in late 1971 to improve the Army's food program. Committee meetings in recent years have been limited to establishing priorities for the Army commissary construction program. To achieve improved

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control over the commissary system and other important areas of the food program, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (DCSLOG) expanded the scope of the committee to include monitoring and reviewing major ongoing projects as well as critical problem areas in food service, subsistence supply, and commissary operations and helping the DCSLOG to resolve matters requiring a major effort at Department of the Army level.

The Academy of Health Sciences (AHS) hosted a conference on subsistence management in a chemical-biological-radiological (CBR) environment in late January 1981. Conferees concluded that a workable subsistence management system could probably function using existing capabilities with no significant loss of individual or unit effectiveness resulting from contamination of subsistence by CBR agents. Following the conference, the academy distributed a draft concept for the care of subsistence products threatened by CBR agents, which was being reviewed by interested agencies as the fiscal year ended.

Laundry and Dry Cleaning

Field laundry and bath operations received considerable attention during the year. A plan of action to identify and overcome shortcomings was adopted, and milestones were established to ensure timely completion of the task.

The practice of providing laundry bundle support was reviewed. The major Army commands responding wanted to continue or expand this service. Standardized pricing was also considered, with mixed results received from major Army commands. A decision will be made early in 1982 whether or not to continue this program.

Clothing and Personal Equipment

The Army took several initiatives in fiscal year 1981 involving uniforms. Black shoulder marks were approved for wear by enlisted personnel in grade of corporal and higher; a maroon beret was authorized for wear by soldiers in airborne units; black braid was added to female officers' green slacks; a black pullover wool sweater, approved last year, was fielded; a maternity uniform shirt was approved; and washable Army-green trousers with washable braid were approved.

The Army terminated the policy of granting exceptions to appearance standards based on religious beliefs for wearing beards, unshorn hair, turbans, or religious jewelry. This change

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followed a review of the effect of these exceptions on the soldier's mission, health, and safety. Soldiers already in the Army may continue to enjoy the previously granted exceptions as long as they are otherwise eligible for service.

The temperate camouflage battle dress uniform (BDU) will be introduced as the Army's field-garrison uniform on 1 October 1981. The BDU has a wood (forest like) color pattern, is infrared reflective, has reinforced elbows, knees, and seat, and is made with fabric that is 50-percent cotton and 50-percent nylon. The BDU includes a coat, hat, and trousers and represents the second phase of a multistage transition to all-camouflaged individual clothing and equipment. The first stage was the introduction of the desert camouflage BDU as an organizational item. It will be used mainly by the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) in a desert environment. During fiscal year 1981 the RDF was completely outfitted in both day and night editions of the desert BDU.

Both the temperate and desert BDUs are part of the Army's Battle Dress System (BDS). This system includes three camouflage uniforms which will allow the Army to operate in temperate, desert, and arctic environments. Conversion to this system will require the modification of many existing items of individual clothing and equipment as well as the introduction of new items.

C.A.C.I. Inc.-Federal received a contract in September 1981 to examine existing Army personal-organizational clothing and individual equipment management procedures and to recommend a more cost-effective way of doing business. The study should be completed by mid-1982. A study advisory group has been established to monitor the contractor's progress, clarify requirements, and supply guidance.

Heraldic Activities

The Institute of Heraldry continued to provide heraldic services for the armed forces and other government agencies during fiscal year 1981. The emphasis of this year's work, however, was on Army items. These included the design and development of the Army Achievement Medal, Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon. To meet the needs of Army units, 158 distinctive unit insignia and 28 shoulder-sleeve insignia were designed and developed during this period. In the area of research, the institute is continuing its program of evaluating various materials and methods of manufacturing flags in order to provide alternative, less costly items and to broaden the procurement

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base. The following statistics reflect, in part, the accomplishments of the institute: design of 510 items; completion of 1830 paintings and drawings and 174 sculptured items (molds, models, and casts); development of 130 items-some new and some modified which were placed in the procurement system; and inspection of 134,508 items under the optional-purchase quality-control system during visits to fifty-five posts and base exchanges. In addition the institute performed 1,750 research and engineering support actions to assist the Defense Personnel Support Center.

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