Evening star., 1949-09-25
Military.Saves
By Unifying!

| By Unifying|
By P. D. EIdred
SAN FRANCISCO. - Unifica-
ton of Army, Navy and Air Force
projects in the nine Western
States already has effected a po-
tentlal annual saving Of $14,496.-
750.
But. as Gen. Mark w. Clark
sees it, 1--WE have just begun to
scratch the surface"
AS commander of the 9Th Army.
with headquarters at the Preside
of San Francisco. the tall, hard
working Gen. Clark. who has just
stepped up to chief of Army field
forces at Fort Monroe, Va, has
been directing pilot model for
armed forces unification.
This involved recommending
and putting into effect every prac-
tical means by which the services
can eliminate duplication, waste
of manpower, rental outlays and
uneconomic use of equipment and
supplies. AS such, the 9Th Army
area sets the pace for the rest
of the country, according to the
Army Digest, monthly publication
I'VE have made real progress"
Gen. Clark reported after a year
of painstaking, often trying, eff.
fort to make the controversial
economy program work.
However, we have just begun
to scratch the surface. In my
opinion, there are millions upor
millions that can be saved, judg-
ing from what we already have
accomplished"
Good Cooperation
The problems of obtaining a
common working ground for the
diverse customs. regulations and
needs of the Army. Navy and Air
Force were attacked by a special
organization known as armed
forces headquarters for unifica-
tion of facilities and services,
Western area. This was estab-
lished at the Presidio a year ago
to study and recommend consol-
idation measures. It is made up
of two senior officers each from
the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Cooperation of these officers has
been surprisingly good and, on
those rare occasions when they
have run up against a really tough
problem, Gen. Clark usually man
aged to resolve it. Occasionally,
policy issues 60 up to Wash
ington.
"Unification plans adopted must
not only result in economies. but
the basic missions of the three
must do so without jeopardizing
services" Gen. Clark explained.
Occasionally, obstacles are en-
countered in Federal laws enacted
years ago. For example, in many
cases funds accruing to one mill
tary service for work performed
for another service must be re-
turned to the National Treasury
and no part of the funds can be
used to pay for additional labor
or material in performing the
extra service, even though it
means an overall saving.
Mobilization q u i r m n t S
must ever be in mind. Consolida-
ton providing only for peacetime
operations would be false, danger
GUS economy unless it is capable of
rapid adaptation to mobilization
conditions.
Save on Rentals
Recruiting is one example of
what has been done in the 9Th
Army area. Consolidation of serv-
ice recruiting Offices already has
reduced annual rentals $50 9.637.
Duplicated quarters have been re-
leased for civilian use.
Rentals for years have been a
costly item in service operating
expenses. It was found that the
Army's Corps of Engineers could
save $141.755' in San Francisco
alone, and at the same time re-
lease two commercial Office build
ings. The engineers were moved
across the bay to the Oakland
Army Base.
Automotive repair and mainte-
nance was consolidated as much
as possible. The annual saving
came to $4,000. The staff is
on more consultations.
Cold storage facilities in San
and Seattle have been
consolidated. with resulting
saving Of $707,000 per year
largely through release Of COM
mercial facilities In San Fran
cisco and use Of Government space
Ia Seattle.
An Army-Navy working agree
ment has consolidated ammuni-
lion handing and storage at Mare
Island Navy Yard and Benicia
Arsenal. Joint use Of common
facilities already has saved about
b8 900.
"A long-r1ngc program Is being
lEAA TINIEICATION Para C-S