Last updated 30 October 2003
Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1993
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Logistics
The Louisiana Maneuvers facilitated the development of logistics initiatives to readily trace parts and equipment while in transit. In FY 1993 Army logisticians intended to use the Knowledge Based Logistics Planning Shell to develop ammunition and petroleum distribution plans. Other systems, such as Turbine Engine Diagnostics, which earned the 1993 American Defense Preparedness Association Logistics Artificial Intelligence Application Award, will help maintain the Army's readiness by applying artificial intelligence to detect problems in tank engines. During the fiscal year Army logisticians also worked on the Total Army Inventory Management program, which was designed to reduce the excess inventory of spare parts the service maintained to help it respond to unanticipated needs. As the Army's force structure decreased, so did its requirement for spare parts. The Army's goal was to maintain adequate stocks without adversely affecting readiness. New and existing automated systems were combined to create Total Asset Visibility, an attempt to improve materiel management throughout the life cycle of an equipment program or system. In FY 1993 Total Asset Visibility allowed managers to track 600 weapons systems and more than 210,000 products, repair parts, types of ammunition, and medical supplies that supported those systems and kept them ready.
During the fiscal year new business practices and logistics planning helped the Army reduce procurement costs. For example, the Army decreased its bureaucratic requirements and specifications and began challenging questionable vendor prices. More efficient distribution also helped reduce costs. One new business practice, the Single Stock Fund, will improve logistics and financial processes in the Army Working Capital Fund, Supply Management Army (AWCF-SMA), business area. It will merge current wholesale and retail elements of the AWCF-SMA below departmental level into a single, nationally managed fund. Another initiative, the Objective Supply Capability, allows the Army to track supplies on a post or within a geographic area and allows customers to place orders on the wholesale supply in order to reduce time spent on complet-
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ing requisitions. During the fiscal year logisticians also changed the basis for war reserve stocks from support for a global war to sustaining two major regional contingencies and began relocating logistics resources to support probable operations.
Several other major logistics efforts in FY 1993 were devoted to increasing support for contingency operation deployments. The Army continued its Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), which allowed logisticians to contract for construction and some support services during deployments, thereby reserving vital strategic lift assets for other troops and equipment. LOGCAP also helped alleviate the impact of recent force structure cuts on logistics services. It was used successfully during Operation RESTORE HOPE. The Army sought to improve its overall cost-effectiveness by contracting for these services on an as-needed basis instead of retaining the capabilities in its permanent force structure.
The Army adopted the Aviation Restructure Initiative (ARI) as a framework to correct the structural design deficiencies of the Army of Excellence tables of organization and equipment, which were first published in 1985, and to modernize the Army's aviation fleet. ARI also sought new economies by reducing logistics requirements and keeping costs within the Army's shrinking resources. The DCSOPS designated the Commander, U.S. Army Aviation Center, at Fort Rucker, Alabama, as the executive agent responsible for implementing ARI and the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM) at St. Louis, Missouri, as the logistics planning agent. USAREUR and FORSCOM were the first MACOMs to adopt the ARI structure as their units prepare for conversion during fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Both MACOMs established implementation teams to manage the ongoing inactivations and conversions to ensure a smooth transition and to match ARI actions with the requirements of the Army's continued drawdown.
Several issues required resolution before ARI could be fully implemented. The TOEs for the Aviation Intermediate Maintenance (AVIM) companies and their parent battalions were slowly being developed and documented. The ARI plan as submitted to HQDA consolidated all UH-60s into a General Support Aviation Battalion, but ODCSLOG's Aviation Logistics Divison did not support the consolidation and wanted the utility aircraft restored to the AVIM companies (each AVIM company was authorized two UH-1Hs or UH-60s). MACOMs also expressed their desire to retain some displaced equipment, such as aviation special tools and test equipment, until all ARI requirements are documented.
In FY 1993 both ATCOM and the project managers worked to identify new locations for the equipment. The Army directed MACOMs to secure all aviation assets to ensure that they were not sent to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO). Disposition instructions
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had to be distributed in time to eliminate excessive storage and maintenance expenses for displaced equipment. The Army also developed the Aircraft Retirement Action Plan to address major issues including funding, storage, transfer, safety, liability, and the impact on aviation industry sales. An HQDA Aircraft Retirement Conference is scheduled for FY 1994 to review the retirement program and to begin developing plans to rectify problems.
During the fiscal year the Army spent $227 million on the Army Strategic Mobility Program (ASMP) to improve transportation infrastructure. The improvements included upgrading rail track, rebuilding bridges and roads, and constructing mobilization warehouses for contingency equipment and supplies. ASMP funds also allowed the continued development of important movement control systems and for specific ports to conduct Fast Sealift Ship (FSS) training. Other ASMP-funded projects reconstituted four ships in the Army Pre-Position (PREPO)Afloat Program, procured powered causeways and other watercraft enhancements, and continued upgrades for facilities and equipment that assist Army deployments. The Army programmed $367 million to continue and expand ASMP projects, such as container procurement and sealift deployment training exercises, for the next fiscal year.
During FY 1993 a significant achievement in producing the Army's FY 1996-2001 POM was the additional funding for the ASMP over the POM years, resulting in a total ASMP POM-funded program of $3.220 billion. Funding was added for railcar procurement, movement control, and watercraft enhancements. The additional funding was an acknowledgment of the critical role of strategic mobility in the post-Cold War Army, but there was still an unfunded requirement of $195 million programmed for CONUS infrastructure upgrades.
Strategic sealift made great progress in FY 1993. The Navy announced on 30 July the award of two contracts for the conversion of five container ships to the Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR) configuration. After shipyards in Newport News, Virginia, and San Diego, California, complete the conversions, the LMSRs will help replace seven Ready Reserve Force (RRF) Roll-on/Roll-Off ships and one auxiliary crane ship that the Maritime Administration activated in July 1993 at the Army's request as part of the service's PREPO Afloat Program.
Until completion of the LMSRs, the Army plans to use the seven RRF ships as an interim measure to pre-position enough equipment and supplies (from inactivating units in Europe) to outfit a heavy brigade. Equipment loading is scheduled to begin in November 1993 in Rotterdam and is scheduled to be completed by May 1994. The Navy estimated that the five converted LMSRs would be ready for PREPO Afloat by December 1995, providing space for more than a million square feet of Army equipment. At
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least four new LMSRs are scheduled to be constructed under two Navy contracts, with each contract shipyard having the option to build five more LMSRs. Also, the Maritime Administration procured twelve additional RO/RO ships for the Ready Reserve Force during the fiscal year.
In FY 1993 the services and DOD continued planning, testing, and execution of the PREPO Afloat Program to support the immediate goal of deploying a heavy brigade in early FY 1994. In September 1993 the Deputy Secretary of Defense announced the selection of the Charleston Naval Weapons Station as the site for the PREPO Afloat Maintenance Facility. Sea Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercises began in FY 1993 and were highly regarded by participants. Strategic airlift benefited from the June delivery of the first C-17 to the first operational squadron stationed in Charleston, South Carolina. The Air Force plans to declare the unit operational no later than January 1995.
During the fiscal year the Army worked with the other services to help simplify logistics procedures and increase strategic mobility. The Army continued its participation in the Joint Intermodal Containerization Working Group, which was chaired by the U.S. Transportation Command. In support of the Joint Intermodal Containerization Master Action Plan, the Army worked to develop joint doctrine and policy and conducted a comprehensive review of Joint and Army-unique containerization doctrine, policies, and programs. The Army also refined its acquisition requirements for containers for the Equipment Deployment Storage System and for twenty-foot containers needed in unit deployments. The service also developed requirements for installation container and materiel handling equipment.
The nation's railways continued to constitute an important link in the Army's logistics system during FY 1993. When the Army's mechanized and armored divisions deploy overseas from their home stations (most of which are located some distance from the coast), much of the units' equipment and vehicles must be loaded onto trains and moved to the nearest port. In August 1993, under the Army Strategic Mobility Program, ATCOM contracted with a Canadian corporation, AMF, to supply the Army with 187 new rail flatcars at a cost of $13.8 million. Under the contract, AMF agreed to supply ninety-three 68-foot railcars and ninety-four 89-foot railcars, with delivery to begin during the third quarter of FY 1994. The new railcars are expected to be positioned at key deployment installations: Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Hood, Texas. Using ASMP funding, the Army also replaced obsolete and unserviceable locomotives and bought boxcars for intra-installation ammunition movements.
In FY 1993 significant events in the Army watercraft program included progress in completing the Army Watercraft Master Plan (AWMP). The U.S. Army Transportation School continued work on the fourth iteration
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of the plan. The initial draft review was completed in December 1992. The Transportation School consolidated comments and is expected to continue to work on a revised AWMP draft.
The Army made continued headway in procuring watercraft assets in FY 1993. With a congressional appropriation of $18 million, the Aviation and Troop Command awarded a contract to Moss Point Marine Shipyard for the construction of a sixth Logistics Support Vessel (LSV). Construction of LSV-6 began in July 1993. During FY 1992 Derecktor, Inc., the company with the contract to build large tugboats for the Army, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded a new contract to Trinity Marine, Inc., and a federal bankruptcy judge approved this action in September 1992. The new contract calls for completing and delivering six tugboats in fiscal years 1993-94. Contract problems affected the procurement of two modular causeway ferries during FY 1992. The contract needed an approved Operational Requirements Document, which TRADOC completed and approved. A contract was awarded to Lake Shore Inc. in December 1992, but another bidder filed a protest with the GAO and delayed further action. Settlement of the contract dispute is expected in FY 1994.
During the fiscal year the Army continued the Refurbishment/Standardization (R/S) Program, which repaired and restored 300 of the oldest UH-60 helicopters to Army standards prior to redistributing them to Army Reserve and Army National Guard units. The Army expected to procure 300 UH-60Ls as part of the FY 1992-96 production buy. The R/S Program takes aircraft produced between 1977 and 1982 and standardizes the various modifications to the 1989 configuration. The older UH-60As marked for the R/S Program came out of "first to fight" priority units as the newer UH-60Ls began fielding. The program calls for sixty-eight aircraft to complete the program each year at Corpus Christi Army Depot in Texas and National Guard Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depots (AVCRAD) at Fresno, California, and Groton, Connecticut. The R/S Program calls for the Corpus Christi depot to receive five aircraft into the program each month (sixty per year) and each of the AVCRADs to receive four per year. Refurbishment includes a 500-hour phase airframe inspection, preventive maintenance, and replacement of all "time between overhaul" (TBO) items that have less than 500 service hours remaining. Standardization involves the application of more than thirty modifications and engineering changes. The first aircraft is scheduled to be refurbished in December 1993, and at least fifteen are expected to be completed by mid-1994. The average repair
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cycle time is projected to be approximately six months, and the average cost per aircraft refurbishment is calculated at $1.536 million. The Army hopes to complete the refurbishment and standardization by FY 1997, barring significant cuts in depot maintenance funding.
In FY 1993 Congress directed the Secretary of the Army, in coordination with the Chief, National Guard Bureau, to identify the specific components of a UH-1 Huey Service Life Extension Program (SLEP). During the fiscal year the Army position was to procure new UH-60s in concert with the Army's modernization plan, which includes a strategy to replace older, more technologically obsolete aircraft with fewer but more capable systems. The Army's ultimate goal is to reduce the number, types, and models of rotary-wing aircraft, thereby cutting operating and support costs while maintaining an equivalent war-fighting capability. The objective is a rotary fleet consisting of the RAH-66 (for armed reconnaissance), AH-64 (attack), UH-60 (combat support), and CH-47 (combat service support). The ARNG supported an initiative for a SLEP UH-1 to perform the mission of a light utility helicopter until a new one was identified. The Army, however, did not believe that there was a proper requirement and opposed a UH-1 SLEP. The Army study on whether a UH-1 SLEP is required is expected to be completed by July 1994.
The Army established the Special Technical Inspection and Repair (STIR) Program to solve safety and readiness problems that aviation equipment developed during operations in Southwest Asia. Prolonged exposure to the high salt content and the very fine composition of the region's sand created problems for the helicopters' rotors, engines, and avionics and threatened to shorten their service lives. Due to a shortage of funds, only aircraft in the modernized aviation force (AH-64, UH-60, CH-47D, and OH-58D) were included in STIR. Using $439 million in Operation DESERT STORM finances, which expired on 30 September 1993, the program was originally funded to repair 911 aircraft, but additional funding is needed to complete this project. During the fiscal year plans called for STIR funding to continue using credits generated from the turn-in of depot-level reparables.
Four Army MACOMs (AMC, FORSCOM, SOCOM, and USAREUR) deployed aircraft to Somalia in FY 1993. At FORSCOM's request, ATCOM sent a team to Somalia in August 1993 to evaluate the effects of the environment on the deployed aircraft. The team confirmed that aircraft and components suffered extensive corrosion damage. Based on ATCOM's evaluation, FORSCOM, and later USAREUR, determined that a maintenance refurbishment program was needed to restore the aircraft to Army standards. Under the Somalia Aircraft Refurbishment Program (SARP), aircraft were returned to their home stations. There, ATCOM teams refurbished the aircraft at either the Installation Director of Logistics AVIM
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facility or the unit's facility. The SARP included comprehensive and expanded inspection, cleaning, servicing, and corrosion treatment and prevention for each aircraft. When appropriate, outstanding modification work orders were carried out during the SARP to provide the most current aircraft configuration. FORSCOM and USAREUR provided centralized control, coordination, and funding for the program. FORSCOM estimated that it would cost $35.5 million to refurbish sixty-two aircraft, and USAREUR estimated a $2 million bill for six aircraft.
Tactical water supply is critical to sustaining any operation, especially in the desert or in developing areas where potable water is scarce. DCSLOG, AMC, FORSCOM, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) combined forces to improve sustainability for the many and varied elements of water support equipment that had been prone to problems in FY 1993. Within a few months the organizations reduced costs for critical consumable supplies by adding more suppliers and removing unnecessary packaging requirements. During the fiscal year the DCSLOG continued to reconstitute the Army's water operational project stocks, but significant deployments, such as Operation RESTORE HOPE, set back the reconstitution effort. Assets such as 150,000 gallon per day and 3,000 gallon per hour Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPU) and the associated storage and distribution systems had to be restocked and remained a DCSLOG priority. The Army awarded a contract to Keco Industries on 30 December 1992 and successfully kept funds (starting in the FY 1995 budget) to purchase seventy-eight 3,000 gallon per hour ROWPUs. These additional units, however, would not meet the service's overall requirements. Through close coordination between DCSLOG, DCSOPS, FORSCOM, NGB, and CAR, the Army realigned the distribution of its tactical water supply assets with the current force packaging concept. This redistribution gave early-deploying units the capability to sustain the force and still provided other units with increased opportunities to train using ROWPU equipment. Coordination also produced agreements that would make FORSCOM's Salt Water Purification Training Site, located at Fort Story, Virginia, operational during the third quarter of FY 1994 and provide active Army and reserve component units the opportunity to train crews on salt water purification while they operate in a beach environment. This training site is expected to incorporate lessons from Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM and RESTORE HOPE and is expected to help test new techniques and procedures.
In FY 1993 the Army adopted an initiative to standardize ground fuel. In September 1993 TRADOC and the Armor School agreed to use JP-8
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as the single fuel for the battlefield. The Army had been using two redundant Army ground fuels, JP-8 and DF2, because of the Vehicle Engine Exhaust Smoke System (VEESS). VEESS using DF2 produced militarily ineffective smoke above 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and JP-8 was too clean to smoke. Under the new arrangement, combat vehicles such as the Abrams M1 main battle tank, Bradley M2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle/M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle, M88 medium armored recovery vehicle, Combat Engineer Vehicle, and Armored Vehicle-Launched Bridge will use an "under armor fog oil reservoir" that would feed into existing VEESS hardware. This modification would double smoke production and fit into the various mounted fleet system modernization programs. Standardizing JP-8 fuel ensured that DOD would embrace JP-8, which is safe and clean, as the standard fuel for land-based operations and greatly simplify petroleum supply and distribution.
The Force Provider program is intended to give the frontline soldier a brief but necessary respite from the rigors and dangers of combat. A Force Provider system contains all the material necessary to provide quality food service, billeting, laundry, shower and hygiene services, and morale, welfare, and recreation for 550 soldiers. Six Force Provider modules could be combined to support a brigade-size force. Improved soldier support systems such as Force Provider provide the Army with increased capabilities for force projection, theater reception, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and peace support operations.
During FY 1993 AMC and TRADOC completed substantial portions of the Force Provider program. The Army approved the operational requirements for Force Provider on 23 June 1993. Plans call for an evaluation to be conducted at Fort Bragg, followed by a Type Classification-Standard scheduled for May 1994. Procurement of the first Force Provider modules is expected to begin in FY 1995. The module used at Fort Bragg for the concept evaluation will remain on the post for use by the Force Provider company that is scheduled to activate there in FY 1994. The Army also substantially completed the first of two Interim Support Packages (ISP) to use until the state-of-the-art Force Provider modules are fielded. The ISPs are assembled from the Army's existing inventory and provide quality food, billeting, and laundry and improved hygiene for a brigade-size force. The first ISP was scheduled to be placed on the Army's expanded PREPO Afloat ships during the second quarter of FY 1994, and a second ISP was scheduled for completion and positioning at the Sierra Army Depot during the fourth quarter.
In addition to improving the living conditions of soldiers, the Army sought to improve the variety of its field rations. In the wake of the Persian Gulf War, the Armed Forces Chaplain Board requested development of a multifaith ration for soldiers who had unique religious dietary require-
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ments. The HQDA Subsistence Review Committee approved the request and developed nine Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MRE), menus to meet special religious and dietary needs. Two multifaith MREs would be in each MRE box. Although any soldier could eat these rations, priority selection would go to those with special dietary requirements.
Soldiers frequently provided meals to hungry civilians while they deployed on one of the growing number of humanitarian assistance missions. During relief operations in Florida after Hurricane Andrew, and in Somalia and the Balkans, the Army used stocks of standard MREs to fill this need.
The Army's International Military Education and Training (IMET) Program grew from three countries in FY 1991 to twenty-one countries in FY 1993, as nations from Eastern Europe, Albania, and the Commonwealth of Independent States received new assistance totaling approximately 21 percent of the IMET allocation. Technology transfer issues continued to be an important concern during the fiscal year. The declining budget forced the Army to put more emphasis on affordability and to consider how growing international sales of weapon systems would affect the United States' shrinking defense industrial base. American vendors faced a sharp increase in foreign competition in international markets as the former Soviet Union and some old Warsaw Pact allies made a concerted effort to flood the available market with cheaper and less advanced weapons. Key technology transfer issues during the fiscal year included the release of Third Generation Night Vision Technology, Advanced Tank Ammunition, and the transfer of 120-mm. smooth-bore cannon technology to the Republic of Korea.
The Army also improved regional security in FY 1993 by helping other nations develop their judicial systems. During the fiscal year Army lawyers participated in military-to-military programs with emerging democracies throughout the world. These programs ranged from information exchanges to assisting the host nation's military to institutionalize concepts such as human rights training, civilian control of the military, and fair and effective military justice systems. In Moldova, for example, Army lawyers assisted in drafting legislation to establish a volunteer military. In Peru, Army judge advocates assisted the Peruvians with developing a program to institutionalize human rights training for the military and national police. This effort resulted in the publication of a handbook entitled "The Ten Commandments of Human Rights," which was adopted as the primary human rights training manual for Peru's security forces and used to instruct more than 56,000 Peruvian soldiers.
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The Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force and the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps signed a memorandum of understanding in May 1993 to streamline the provision of legal training services to foreign countries. Under its provisions, an Inter-Service Committee on International Legal Education was established to act as a "single reception point for proposals and requests for educational exchanges and programs." During the fiscal year the committee worked at creating a database to preserve teaching materials and lessons learned from its activities.
Research, Development, and Acquisition
Army spending on research, development, test, and evaluation (RDTE) increased slightly during FY 1993 to nearly $7.7 billion, compared with $7.4 billion the prior fiscal year. FY 1993 RDTE projects included integrating Longbow missile and fire control systems into Apache AH-64 attack helicopters and continuing development of the Comanche RAH-66 armed reconnaissance helicopter. The Army also funded continued development of the Advanced Field Artillery System (AFAS) and the Future Armored Resupply Vehicle. The RDTE budget fully supported all the Army Advanced Technology Demonstrations and Science and Technology Objectives under the DOD Science and Technology Thrust Program.
In November 1992 the Army issued the FY 1993 edition of the Army Science and Technology Master Plan (ASTMP). The ASTMP was the fourth in the series (earlier editions were entitled Army Technology Base Master Plan). ASTMP links DOD technology planning and the technology plans of the Army's individual major commands, major subordinate commands, and laboratories. The plan laid out the strategic blueprint for the Army's Science and Technology (S&T) program through two hundred Science and Technology Objectives. Each objective contained a description of a specific, measurable, major technology advancement to be achieved by a certain fiscal year. New to the FY 1993 ASTMP were TRADOC's post-Cold War doctrinal concept of Battlefield Dynamics and the establishment of six Battle Labs as a means of developing capabilities for a force-projection Army. The Battle Labs are expected to refine requirements and permit examination of emerging doctrine, training, leader development, organizations, and materiel. The labs are expected to have close ties with industry and with each other through an advanced distributed interactive simulation network.
During FY 1993 the Army Science Board (ASB) conducted forty panel meetings in support of its study efforts and issued three reports: "Command and Control on the Move ," "Land Warfare Combat
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Identification," and "Research, Development and Engineering Centers, Army Materiel Command." The ASB, a federal advisory committee organized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, serves as the Army's senior scientific advisory body. It makes recommendations to the Secretary of the Army; the Chief of Staff of the Army; the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development, and Acquisition; the Army Staff; and major Army commanders on scientific and technological matters of concern to the Army. At the end of FY 1993 four ASB reports were pending publication: "Innovative Acquisition Strategies for the '90s," "Missile Defense Programs," "System for Soliciting and Processing New Ideas/Concepts/Technologies," and "Technology for the Future Land Warrior."
During FY 1993 the Board on Army Science and Technology (BAST) continued advising the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology by designing, conducting, and supervising the National Research Council's Army-related studies of scientific and technological issues. This work was accomplished through member meetings, study groups, and standing committees that examine specific issues and narrowly focused topics. During FY 1993 BAST held one meeting on each of the following topics: DOD simulations, information warfare (peacekeeping), and information warfare (Advanced Technology Demonstrations and Advanced War-fighting Demonstrations), respectively. Four BAST committees were active during FY 1993: Strategic Technologies for the Army; Alternative Futures for the Army Research Laboratory;Alternative Chemical Demilitarization Technologies; and Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program (also called the Stockpile Committee).
The Army completed five Advanced Technology Demonstrations (ATD) in FY 1993. These included AirLand Battle Management (ALBM), Soldier Integrated Protective Ensemble (SIPE), Advanced Air Defense Electro-Optical System (AADEOS), Multi-Role Survivable Radar (MRSR), and Component Advanced Technology Testbed (CATTB). The ATDs were risk-reducing, integrated exhibitions conducted in an operational or simulated environment rather than in a laboratory. They are expected to assist materiel developers and the Army in assessing operational capability, technological maturity, and cost effectiveness.
The ALBM ATD demonstrated advanced computer planning and battle-monitoring decision aids that reduce operational and tactical planning times and allow decisions to be made well ahead of the enemy's decisions. Automated reasoning capabilities and supervisory tools for the commander and staff managed large volumes of data that had to be processed and analyzed to yield combat decisions. Key to this ATD was the integration of artificial intelligence, simulation modeling, soldier-machine interface, and dis-
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tributed database technologies. Results of this ATD supported Army modernization objectives to win an information war using systems that included the All Source Analysis System and the Maneuver Control System.
The SIPE ATD demonstrated that a modular, head-to-toe, individual fighting system will greatly increase soldier combat effectiveness. The concept of providing the soldier with an Integrated Headgear Subsystem, an Advanced Clothing Subsystem, a Microclimate Conditioning/Power Subsystem, and a Soldier's Computer proved to be feasible and very effective, providing dismounted soldiers with a technological advantage over potential adversaries. Some specific enhanced capabilities included improved target detection at night, even through obscurants or when wearing NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) gear; improved target engagement, especially at night; ability to engage unexposed targets; improved command and control within a squad (soldier communications, data, and video transmissions); and the interoperability and modularity of equipment. The ATD identified areas that require further technological advances and provided a good baseline for the Generation II Soldier ATD and the Land Warrior development program.
The AADEOS ATD demonstrated an automatic search and track capability to detect helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in atmospheric or terrain clutter at ranges commensurate with Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) engagement requirements. The technologies demonstrated included dual band infrared focal plane arrays, intrascan clutter rejection/ target detection algorithms, wide field of view coverage, advanced infrared optics, and automatic target acquisition and tracking.
The MRSR ATD demonstrated a multifunction, track-while-scanning, continuous-wave radar capable of operating in the presence of antiradiation missiles and electronic countermeasures. The MRSR is a mobile sensor in a single vehicle configuration capable of supporting FAAD, corps, and theater air defense systems in contingency operations.
The CATTB ATD demonstrated the feasibility of integrating advanced vehicle components and subsystems, such as integrated propulsion, external suspension, more durable track, and standard Army electronics architecture on a combat vehicle testbed (modified Abrams tank chassis). The ATD successfully examined CATTB's integration of lethality, mobility, and durability features. The testbed spotlighted the latest in propulsion, track, suspension, fire suppression, electronics, and NBC protection technologies. It demonstrated the Army's capability to meet its needs through the application of integration techniques and generated the foundation for the development of the digital electronic battlefield to facilitate future Army operations.
Advanced composites, because of their high strength and light weight, are the potential candidate materials for the Army's High Technology
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Light Division (HTLD) equipment, battlefield shelters, bridging, and numerous aerospace applications. Composites using recycled materials also are candidates for many Corps of Engineers and Federal Highway Administration infrastructure construction projects. The long-term service life of many of these materials in below-freezing environments, especially under high-strain-rate loading, is largely unknown. Low-temperature-induced brittleness in some materials can cause catastrophic failure. To analyze composites at low temperatures, in FY 1993 engineers began a comprehensive testing program to evaluate the civil and military applications of composite materials at these cold temperatures. Data from these tests are expected to provide design input for fabricating structures for cold environments.
Seismic and acoustic waves are effective for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) surveillance and targeting by smart weapons sensors but are greatly affected by ground conditions, especially in cold regions. During FY 1993 Army researchers conducted a theoretical comparison of acoustic wave propagation in porous media with different pore fluids. The comparison demonstrated that the energy transfer of a wave to a water-filled medium was only slightly frequency-dependent, whereas in an air-filled sand medium it was highly frequency-dependent. These results justified modeling air-filled soil and snow as a modified fluid. This approach was commonly used to model saturated undersea sediments and provided the foundation for understanding the impact of snow cover on acoustic propagation relevant to the changes in the performance of smart weapons sensors, such as the Wide Area Mine, operated in a winter environment.
In FY 1993 tactical Army commanders gained an unprecedented ability to display and exploit knowledge of the digitized battlefield with a demonstration of AirLand Battlefield Environment (ALBE) software. The demonstration, conducted in Germany, allowed soldiers to evaluate the impact of terrain and weather on various military functions, such as planning, command and control, and logistics. When combined with digital maps or reconnaissance imagery, the software enabled commanders to visualize the battlefield in a three-dimensional perspective, plan avenues of approach, identify limitations to mobility, find likely minefield sites, and perform many other functions critical to combat operations. Following the ALBE tests, the U.S. Army Engineer School recommended fielding the ALBE software to troop units. The software operates in a garrison environment using commercial 486-microprocesser personal computers and on several military computer systems. Ten terrain teams in Germany and several topographic elements in Korea had ALBE installed on their computers and received appropriate training by the end of the fiscal year.
In April 1993 the Army type-classified the Digital Topographic Support System (DTSS). Developed for the Program Executive
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Office-Command and Control Systems, DTSS is expected to provide tactical terrain analysts with the ability to create, update, and manipulate digital tactical terrain data and eventually to support all Army Tactical Command and Control Systems. The intent is to give commanders an advantage in obtaining up-to-date information about the battlefield environment much faster than current capabilities permit. Upon achieving type classification, the DTSS entered into the production phase of the Army's materiel acquisition process. Successfully completed software Preproduction Qualification Testing resulted in the release of the DTSS software. This software, which became the baseline for the first series of preplanned product improvements, was installed on the two DTSS-prototype (non-shelter configured) systems located at the 555th Engineer Company and 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
During FY 1993 DTSS personnel provided crisis support to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) by reformatting Defense Mapping Agency-generated Digital Topographic Elevation Data and Interim Terrain Data. This effort supported ongoing DIA activities in Bosnia. In addition, DTSS personnel loaded these data on the 555th Engineer Company's and 1st Cavalry Division's DTSS prototypes. Coordination with FORSCOM resulted in finalization of the DTSS Materiel Fielding Plan. FORSCOM became the first major command to field DTSS and scheduled the first fielding of DTSS (with the 555th Engineer and 1st Cavalry) for March 1994.
In FY 1993 the Corps of Engineers conducted Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) tests to develop standoff demolition techniques using military applications against bridges, walls, and bunkers. The EFP test results led to improvements in shaped-charge slug cohesion and terminal velocity that exceeded Corps of Engineers objectives. The Army scheduled the EFP for fielding in FY 1996.
During FY 1993 the Army developed a new revetment unit to meet the requirement for a highly stable revetment with a simple and easily moldable design. The new unit, ELBLOC, is expected to greatly aid in the protection of shorelines and water way embankments. The ELBLOC consists of combined units that form a matrix with sufficient porosity to allow drainage and pr event excessive water pressure under the units. Another development in FY 1993, CORE-LOC, which can be placed on steep or shallow slopes, provided improved concrete units for protecting coastal structures.
In FY 1993 the Construction Productivity Advancement Research (CPAR) program opened an avenue for cost-shared research between industry and the Corps of Engineers to improve productivity in the U.S. construction industry. Participation in the CPAR program was open to any nonfederal entity, including state and local governments, colleges and universities, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, and trade asso-
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ciations. CPAR focused on the functional areas of planning and design improvement, improved construction site productivity, and advanced materials. During the fiscal year significant CPAR program advances were made in trenchless technology for pipeline rehabilitation, the use of rubber as an aggregate in asphalt paving, and effective antifreeze admixture to allow placement of concrete at below-freezing temperatures.
In FY 1993 the Dredging Research Program designed a new drag head for use by hopper dredges, developed a new comprehensive management technique for dredging operations, and developed a dredge navigation system for positioning and surveying that employs Global Positioning System technology accurate to within a decimeter (4 inches). These innovations significantly increased dredging efficiency and reduced operating costs.
During FY 1993 the Repair, Evaluation, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation Research Program issued guidance on using rapid-setting repair materials for concrete structures and using nonlinear pulse-echo systems for nondestructive testing of concrete. The program also issued guidance on optimizing solutions to machinery icing problems when major rehabilitations are planned and on maintenance and repair alternatives to pr event recurring problems with coating failures for metal structures.
In FY 1993 the Magnetic Levitation Transportation Pilot Program issued a report recommending pursuit of magnetic levitation transportation development. The report recommended continuation of federally supported research on specific problems that had arisen and postponement of the demonstration phase of the program.
The Army continued to modernize the force during the fiscal year, despite the continued decline in funding for procurement. Expenditures for procurement totaled $11.8 billion in FY 1993, compared with $12.5 billion in FY 1992 and $16.1 billion in FY 1991, representing a 27 percent decrease over two fiscal years.
The Army funded the production of 43 M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 87 M119 light howitzers, and 242 120-mm. mortars and financed modification programs for Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Abrams Tank Ammunition Support Vehicles. Procurement funding included the beginning of a four-year upgrade program to reconfigure M109 155-mm. self-propelled howitzers to the M109A6 Paladin version. Other procurements included 144 Avenger short-range air defense systems and 44 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). To improve the antitank capabilities of its light infantry forces, the Army began low-rate initial production of the Javelin antitank missile system. The TOW missile continued to furnish Army ground forces with a long-range antitank capability. More than 8,000 TOW IIB missiles were purchased during the fiscal year. To provide fire support capable of striking deep into the enemy's rear, the
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Army purchased 351 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles. Army aviation benefited from the procurement of fifty-two Black Hawk UH-60 utility helicopters and sixty-three newly adopted TH-67A Creek training helicopters. The Army extended programs to field the Chinook CH-47D transport helicopter and to retrofit thirty-six Kiowa OH-58 helicopters to the OH-58D armed version.
Continued funding and procurement of the Family of Medium and Tactical Vehicles, the Palletized Loading System, and the HMMWV ensured that the Army would carry on with efforts to improve its logistics and transportation capabilities. The Army purchased equipment to improve its leading command, control, and communications abilities by funding modernization of the Defense Satellite Communications Systems, the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System, and the Single Channel Objective Tactical Terminal.
The Integrated Helmet and Display Sight System is a Class VII accountable item that has been treated by aviators as individual equipment since 1986 under a special HQDA authorization. The permission to do so was granted because organizations needed special kits to fit and align the helmets, and the kits were not available. Since then the kits have been fielded to all Apache (AH-64) attack helicopter units. In 1992 the Army Audit Agency reported that the special accountability procedures authorized in 1986 were ineffective and not being followed. The Army had lost accountability of 379 helmets, and it decided in FY 1993 to terminate the 1986 regulatory exception and begin accountability procedures during FY 1994.
At the end of World War II the Army had had so much equipment stockpiled in Europe that it granted authority for local disposal of the surplus stocks. The rapid drawdown of Army troops in Europe after the Cold War created a similar problem, leaving USAREUR with massive stockpiles of ammunition and equipment far in excess of its needs. Using modern automation and communications, the Army determined that it could maintain an accurate inventory of the material and avoid local disposal. The Army established a program entitled RETROEUR (Retrograde of Material from Europe) to ensure stewardship of the valuable material during the continued force reductions and to return ammunition and vehicles from USAREUR to CONUS for refurbishment and redistribution throughout the Army. A Vice Chief of Staff directive for ODCSLOG led to the creation of the RETROEUR Task Force in November 1992. The task force functioned as the point of contact for issues and actions related to the retrograde of supplies and equipment from Europe and synchronized and coordinated all actions between CONUS and MACOMs outside CONUS required to accomplish the mission.
By July 1993 USAREUR had identified 55,000 excess vehicles for redistribution or disposal. Of these, nearly 2,000 would stay in Europe to
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fill in-theater requirements and 11,000 would eventually accompany units leaving Europe for restationing in CONUS. Two active Army repair facilities, together with National Guard and Army Reserve facilities, repaired and refurbished vehicles to Army standards prior to redistribution. Of the 11,000 vehicles identified for return to CONUS, approximately 3,400 were retrograded in FY 1993, and 7,600 were scheduled for return during the next fiscal year to complete the vehicle retrograde program. The balance of excess USAREUR vehicles is expected to be redistributed through Foreign Military Sales, the NATO Equipment Transfer Program, the United Nations, or the Defense Reutilization Marketing Office.
Ammunition retrograde was also successful in FY 1993. USAREUR shipped 137,000 tons of ammunition during the fiscal year and had funding to ship 110,000 tons in FY 1994. Ammunition retrograde remained on schedule and is expected to be completed in FY 1995 with the return of the remaining balance of 73,000 tons. In FY 1993 the RETROEUR Task Force helped reestablish the Lexington Bluegrass Army Depot, which had formerly been an active depot in Kentucky, to receive excess Class II and Class VII nonrolling stock retrograded from USAREUR. The Kentucky National Guard is scheduled to operate the depot, expected to be operational in FY 1994. The facility is to act as a clearinghouse to redistribute Class II and VII equipment items to fill shortages throughout the Army.
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Last updated 30 October 2003
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