Army rebuild and reclamation program items by category, close of World War II through October 1951-Continued Army rebuild and reclamation program items by category, close of World War II through October 1951-Continued Senator FERGUSON. Might I inquire, while you are interrupted, is this program going on, for instance, in Japan, where we have some old material? Mr. BENDETSEN. Yes, sir, it is going on in Japan. Mr. BENDETSEN. Yes, and in the United States. Senator FERGUSON. All right. Mr. BENDETSEN. I have expanded on that to some extent in the course of my statement, but I merely alluded to brief extracts here, Senator Ferguson. Senator FERGUSON. We can ask you later about that. COPPER Mr. BENDETSEN. Yes, sir. I should like to point out that the conservation of equipment and its rehabilitation is only half of the story. In September of 1950, the Army initiated a second program to save scarce raw materials through substitution and simplification in their design. There have been continuing tests and experimentation. These have resulted, for instance, in an estimated saving of 4,393,000 pounds of copper in the second quarter of fiscal 1952 alone. This is accomplished, for example, through reductions in weight of from 75 to 25 percent in communications equipment. We now have a carrier cable for the transmission of a number of messages at the same time, which has three times the message-carrying capacity of the older type, but 35 percent less copper. FERROUS SCRAP The Army is also contributing about 49 percent of the total ferrous scrap being collected by the services. In Korea we make every effort not only to reclaim salvagable material, but also to collect and turn in all scrap that would be of any utility in the defense economy. Another aspect of the savings drive is the Army's cost-consciousness program for the elimination of all waste that we can identify and find. We welcome the suggestions of the committee in this program which was inaugurated last spring for the purpose of indoctrinating every soldier with the importance of supply economy from his initial day in basic training to combat. This campaign was launched with an appeal from Secretary Pace who said: I urge you to look for ways in which our mission can be performed more efficiently and at less cost by the elimination of waste. Waste is a crime against our country and may affect our future freedom. In this connection, as the best measure of what can be said about the program, if I may, Mr. Chairman, I would like to introduce into the record an article that appeared in the New York Herald Tribune, Monday, February 4, 1952 on progress in the First Army alone, and an editorial that appeared on the same subject in the Herald Tribune today. Chairman O'MAHONEY. That may be received. (The article and editorial referred to follow :) [New York Herald Tribune, Tuesday, February 5, 1952] THE ARMY'S WAR ON WASTE When the United States Army began an economy drive 6 months ago, the dubious were quick to point out that military establishments were inherently wasteful and that an Army base was no place to begin saving money. Nevertheless, the first reports are now in, and they seem to prove that money can be saved by the Army, and that its efficiency can thereby be improved rather than impaired. At least so says the evidence submitted by the First Army, which encompasses the New York area. The First Army reports it has saved several million dollars and some 100,000 man-hours since the drive on waste started, and this is something to cheer about at a time when rising costs and increasing expenditures seemingly are regarded as the basic law of the land. Psychological warfare constitutes an important aspect of the economy campaign, for soldiers are constantly reminded, through the printed and placarded word, that they and their families are helping pay the costs of maintaining an army, and that they themselves can help keep such costs down. But even more important are the determined efforts being made to eliminate red tape and duplication, to get rid of methods that are as expendable as they are expensive. For example, Camp Kilmer found it possible to cut out or consolidate half its form documents. Fort Dix was able to reduce its gasoline consumption by 20,000 gallons a month and its fuel use by 740 tons of coal. Fort Devens, in Massachusetts, emerged from an intensified salvage program with a $300,000 contribution to the Government. Many of the suggestions that helped save time and money came from soldiers and civilians at the bases, who evidently are fascinated by the prospect of doing a job inexpensively and well at the same time. The interesting thing about the program is that officers feel that efficiency has actually been increased through the new methods. Trainees no longer have so many forms to fill out, presumably they do not have to stand in line as many hours as did the GI's in World War II. It is an eye-opening experience to discover that ingenuity can often accomplish more than extravagance. The Army seems to be making this discovery; if other branches of the Government would follow suit many of our fiscal problems might turn out to be a good deal less insurmountable than we like to pretend. SURVEY SHOWS BIG SAVINGS ON SUPPLIES, MAN-HOURS, WITH ARMY-WIDE PROGRAM ONLY 6 MONTHS OLD (By Earl Mazo) The Army's world-wide program to make all ranks conscious of the cost of equipment-inaugurated 6 months ago by Secretary Frank Pace, Jr.-has so far saved several million dollars and at least 100,000 man-hours in the New York area's First Army alone, an Army survey indicated yesterday. A considerable amount of red tape also has been eliminated, Army officials said, and they emphasized that the program is just getting into high gear. At Camp Kilmer, where the combined reception, processing, training, and hospital centers make for an unusually large amount of administrative paper work, more than half of the 1,000 locally reproduced forms, from mess-hall passes to medical examination reports, are being abandoned or consolidated. The annual saving accomplished was put at $70,000, including the cost of 5,000 manhours of work by clerks and statisticians and 4,500 reams of paper and cardboard. Not included in this money and man-hour figures are the countless hundreds of hours of "filling in" on clerical tasks heretofore required of soldiers who are now free for more important work and training. At Fort Dix gasoline consumption has been cut 20,000 gallons and $3,200 a month (the aim is to double that saving) and dozens of men have been relieved of driving duties by such devices as consolidating 55 message center "runs" into 6, rescheduling normal truck deliveries and busses, moving an ammunition dump closer to the shooting range to eliminate numerous daily round trips of 27 miles and retraining motor-vehicle drivers. Each month a saving of 740 tons of coal, the services of more than 200 firemen and coal-truck drivers is made possible by a conservation plan that will reduce the annual bill for heating the post's 2,300 buildings by more than $250,000. The red tape and examinations that go with processing trainees have been concentrated into a 2-day period, where it formerly took 5, by having three-man processing teams come to the units, instead of bringing the 220-man units to the teams. The resultant saving is about $1,000,000 in soldier services every 14 weeks, plus more time for the men to learn to shoot and protect themselves in combat. At the outset of the economy campaign in August, Lt. Gen. Willis D. Crittenberger, First Army commander, wrote each of his subordinate commanders: "In this day of tremendous military budgets and necessarily rising taxes, it is absolutely essential that every member of the Army become cost-conscious." GENERAL TAKEN AT WORD The results to date show that the general was taken at his word, and there are indications that Army commands throughout the world have been as energetic about the program as the First Army, since the responsibility for the program has been delegated down to every Army installation and unit commander and every United States soldier. There are six armies in America, one in Korea, one in Germany, and Army commands in Japan and elsewhere. Under the program, recruits and veterans must be as thoroughly conversant with the cost of every item of equipment they use as they are with the articles of war-in posters, pamphlets, lectures, and on the drill field and firing range, the cumulative effect of waste is stressed, and the fact is driven home that virtually every one, including the serviceman and his family, is a taxpayer. Supply economy has become a principal item in the efficiency rating of officers. Inspector general personnel have been directed to concentrate, in 1952, on costconsciousness in every investigation. Questions dealing with matériel cost, waste and manpower conservation have been included in qualification examinations at every level. And the system of giving awards to military and civilian personnel for acceptable suggestions has been expanded. Fort Dix personnel formerly made one or two suggestions a month. 125 SUGGESTIONS IN MONTH In January, there were 125 suggestions and 25 were accepted, including one to improve the system for drying immunization needles (the post uses 15,000 of them a month) at an annual saving of $2,500. A suggestion at Fort Monmouth that a forecasting chart replace a cumbersome file system to compute maintenance parts requirements reduced the cost of this operation by $10,000. A Camp Kilmer civilian employee figured a way of replacing parts of troublesome heating units instead of the entire units, saving the post $2,000. Army officials stress that economy plus efficiency is the big aim of the costconsciousness program, and not economy alone. Soldiers will not do without things they need for the sake of saving money. The officials contend that a certain amount of waste cannot be prevented in war and that in the rapid building of a huge war machine economy must often be secondary to performance. But the cost-consciousness program aims at 94846-52-4 |