Evening star., 1955-07-04

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|bedspreads., The school has it
own dining room. Coffee break
are frequent during the day. Al
S pm. the bar opens for tn.
cocktail hour. It was though
that a little stimulation woult
be q good thing to keep the tail
going.
The success OF the school de
pended ON whether the prepares
cases would promote discussion
in the morning classroom ane
in the smaller groups meeting IL
the afternoon and evening.
What happened in the frs
class which started In November
and has happened since was that
q discussion started in the morn.
ing would sometimes spill ovel
into the afternoon and into the
late hours Of the night.
Everyone wanted to give hi.
ideas and experiences bearing or
the case in point. Mai. Gen
Cornelius E. Ryan, a participant
in the first class and at the time
commanding general Of the 69tt
Infantry Division at Fort Dix
N. j.. complained that he was
not getting enough sleep.
The consulting firm had
brought back from the field de.
bates going on at Army post.
over the Army's new accounting
system, which attempts to in.
tegrate the 80 unrelated &C.
counting systems as noted by &
committee of Congress. An OH.
Ger must have some familiarity
with accounting to join the dis.
cussions. Sample worksheets ar,
included in the ease" material
So the debate is transferred tx
the school. Officers back from
directing the Army in its primary
function in Korea are a little re.
luctant to interest themselve.
in these economic details. They
realize, however. that they havt
the responsibility. Their ad.
vancement depends on familiar.
ity with this operation IS well a.
on q good combat record.
Line officers in command uues.
ton the necessity or usefulnes.
OF financial property accounting
daily inventory reports of the
dollar value Of material on hand
What good does it do the
post?" they ask. It may not de
the post any good. is one answer
But it provides an easily under.
stood signal-the dollar signal
for control from above.
It was not long ago that q posi-
commander was issued weapons
uniforms and food for his mer
without any dollar charge
Heavy, bulky supplies such al
furniture used to be shipped
from warehouses more thar
l, 900 miles away. Now the posI
commander has an "industria
fund.-" working capital with
which he can make purchase,
locally If it Is more economical
to do so.
Helps Congressional Relations
The most important thing
about the change is that it helps
the Army in its relations with
Congress. Congress wants cost
accounting, wants to know com.
parable figures on the cost ol
training troops. including issu.
ance Of weapons, clothing, food
cost Of housing and assignment
of officers and enlisted men te
conduct the training. Command
today. therefore, requires some
knowledge Of business admins.
tration.
The ease" under discussion
when this reporter visited the
morning class with all SO partic.
ipants attending, had to do Will
one Of the Army's constant prob.
lems-the relationship between
officers and civilian employees
While substitute names wer,
used. the personalities and func.
tons Of those involved were de-
scribed in detail.
Briefly. it seems, that this hap.
pened In the office Of the con.
troller Of a military establish
ment In the Midwest which wa,
"satellited" on a larger estab.
lishment rs miles away.
Col. Broderick was the con.
troller. A Mr.. Somers, q civiliar
employe In the office. handled
many day-to-day details with tn.
larger establishment over Ions
distance, telephone. This was al
right with Col. Broderick. But 9
Maj. Hickey arrived as deputy
controller and Col. Broderick be.
came seriously Ill. leaving tn,
major in charge Of the ofiice.
The major, aware Of Mr.
Somers' long distance calls
issued q directive requiring tina
an abstract Of each long distance
can be given to him. A weel
passed and Mai. Hickey had re.
|ceiyed no abstracts Of long dis