Evening star., 1952-09-01
|Lovett 10 Crack Down
On Empire Building
In Military Supplies
By John A. Giles

week will issue far-reaching Or
ders covering procurement. pro-
|duction, warehousing and diStri-
button of supplies which will call
a halt to much military empire
building"
The Army. Navy and Air Force
have been studying the proposed
regulations three weeks and will
have their suggestions as to-
changes in Mr.. Lovett's hands
today. He must issue the orders
by September 8 under a congress
sional directive.
Service Budgets Expected.
There will be these other de-
velopments at the Pentagon this
week:
/. The armed services tomor-
row will give Mr.. Lovett their FIRST
rough estimates" of how much
money they will need in the next
fiscal year to continue the build
up as presently outlined. These
requests are always trimmed con-
siderably within the Defense De-
lpartment before submission to the
Budget Bureau and finally to Con-
lgress. If the Joint Chiefs of Staff
later decide greater forces are
needed. adjustments then are
made.
: ?. Mr.. Lovett is expected to
name high-ranking civilian COM
mittee to find out why American
military forces need more men to
fire gun than the Russians. He
was said to have experienced some
difficulty in getting acceptances
for the 11-member group.
The new regulations are ex-
pected to 60 a long way toward
Eventually eliminating costly
competitive buying practices. They
will stop construction of dupli-
eating commercial-type facilities,
such as bakeries, laundrieS. coffee
roasting plants. etc. A large but
Undetermined number Of military
personnel is engaged in CONNER
cial-type operations not ordinarily
associated with military missions.
Congress has questioned the value
of such operations except in iso-
lated areas and under special
circumstances.
Air Force Is Accused.
A key provision of draft submit
: ted to the services and which
would go a long way toward curb
ing the empire builders prohibits
additional or expanded supply sys-
TENS without the Defense Secre-
Itary's approval. A House Expendi-
lures Subcommittee has charged
the Air Force planned to withdraw
common items from Army chan
Inels throughout the world and to
construct or lease additional depot
facilities to handle those items.
a.. Regardless of any prior in
ter-departmental agreements and
without the necessity Of any i'm
plementing directive :. no addi-
tional independent or expanded
supply facilities for common-use.
standard-type items of supply shall
be created without prior approval
of the Secretary of Defense" the
section reads. SIS .'>.~'' ~
One single supply and inventory
control point would be set up for
each armed service. This could
bring an eventual end to separate
purchasing of much material and
;. equipment by the Army's seven
technical services. Within the
Army depots through the world,
each technical service in large
measure carries out its individual
supply mission as though oblivious
to the remaining technical
branches, not to mention the Navy
and Air Force. There have been
Instances of competition in buying,
overstocking, excessive use Of per-
sonnel. space and facilities. etc.
Review Agencies Planned.
Requirements review agencies
directly responsible to the service
secretaries also would be set up
within the three military depart
ments. Before bids were asked for
large quantities Of common type
items their urgency would be re-
viewed. Thus, exceeding large
Overnight orders which upset the
industry involved would be spaced
over longer periods instead.
The orders also propose a cut
in the duplication of facilities and
multiplication of costs by sys-
tenn of cross-servicing, wherein
one service or activity may draw
its supplies from any other ada
cent service or activity. The armed
forces have preferred to keep
cross serving on an emergency
basis rather than to accept it as
a matter of principle.
Congress members and high
Defense Department officials cite
the shipment of supplies to Pen
sacola (Fla.) Naval Air Station
as an outstanding example of the
savings that could be realized
from cross-serving. The Army has
a large medical depot at Atlanta,
Ga, but medical supplies have
been shipped to Pensacola instead
of from the Navy depot l, 400 miles
away at Edgewater. N. j.
General Purpose Items.
In the Air Force, and to some
extent in the Army. military per-
Esonnel assigned to supply func-
tions have regarded these assign
ments merely as changes of duty
and hence have failed to develop
and apply energetically modern
techniques. The Lovett draft di-
rects effective supply training pro-
grams for military and civilian
personnel. The Navy has a supply
corps and the Army's Quartermas-
ter Corps personnel remain in
that branch.
The regulations as first drafted
defined common use items as those
used for the "same general pur-
Ipose." This would eliminate the