STORAGE. Providing the necessary warehousing, and care and preservation services, for the innumerable individual items of supply until they are issued to consumers requires a well organized depot system. Involved are the receipt, classification, segregation, placement in storage, periodic inspection, care and preservation, and shipment of materials. As the number and complexity of supplies and equipment have increased, the methods for care and preservation have changed to keep pace with this trend.

Before the expansion of our Armed Forces that preceded World War II, the Army's depots were required to support combined ground and air forces totaling only 135,000. Also, military equipment was much less complex than it is today. The depot system was therefore a relatively modest affair. In the war years it grew enormously. At the peak of World War II, 127 major depots were in operation. After the war, in this as in other fields, there was deflation followed by reexpansion. In 1954 the Army had 73 major depots with 121,000,000 square feet of floor space, storing 8,000,000 tons of general supplies. Consolidation and other economies have reduced the 73 depots to 48, cut down covered storage space by 21,000,000 square feet, cut the strength of civilian depot personnel from 70,000 to 41,000, and cut annual operating costs from $313,000,000 to $246,000,000. Funds for storage are expected to become tighter in the ensuing years. Because of this and for reasons of national self-preservation, the DCSLOG staff has recently concluded that further changes are re

quired. The present 48 depots will not be operated as in the past. The trend is toward smaller, widely dispersed, general depots in place of existing specialized depots, to provide some passive defense against nuclear attack.

DISTRIBUTION. Getting the supplies into the proper hands at the right time is the mission of the distribution system. Because the Army is largely deployed outside the continental United States, the crux of the problem is oversea distribution.

In World War I, oversea commands requisitioned directly upon technical service supply sources in the Zone of Interior. This resulted in some confusion and poor control of the flow of supplies from the depots to the ports. Railroads and ports were clogged with all types of cargo. Repetition of the difficulty was averted in World War II by the establishment of the Oversea Supply Divisions at the San Francisco and New York Ports in 1942. The present U. S. Army Oversea Supply Agencies at New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans are outgrowths of that action. They operate directly under the Director of Supply Operations in the Office of DCSLOG, and form the rear echelon of the oversea commands' supply system. Their task is to ensure that all supply requirements of the oversea commands are filled adequately and promptly. They receive and edit requisitions, extract the requirements to appropriate supply sources, and follow through to see that the supplies are delivered on time.

The Army, on occasion, sells as well buys. It is continuously checking and reviewing its stocks to make sure that only usable property, for which there are current or foreseeable needs, remains in its possession. Personal property (ie., property other than real estate), which becomes excess because

of changes in national defense needs, or becomes unsuitable for Army use because of wear and tear, and which is not needed by any other Government activity, is declared surplus and made available for sale to the general public or otherwise disposed of.

A Department of Defense pamphlet

entitled "How to Buy Surplus Personal Property" contains information of value to prospective buyers. It lists the military installations, in the United States and overseas, from which surplus property may be purchased, and gives details on types of property available, methods of selling, and conditions of sale.

In its selling as well as its buying the Army maintains bidders' lists. Prospective purchasers of Government surplus need only to write to the Property Disposal Officer of the military installation with which they wish to deal in order to be placed on its surplus property bidders' list. Those wishing to deal with more than one installation would benefit by writing to one or more of the headquarters listed below, asking

Real property no longer needed by the Army is leased, or within certain limitations sold, by the Corps of Engineers, through its District Engineers.* Such property as grazing lands, Government-owned industrial plants, and inactive Army installations may be leased by interested agencies. Other items of real property, such as standing timber or buildings which the Government wishes removed from land that it is retaining, are sold by the Corps for

removal. Sales are by competitive bid.

Outright sale of excess Army-owned land is handled by the General Services Administration, Washington, D. C.

Detailed information on the sale or lease of real property may be obtained by writing to the Chief of Engineers, Washington, D. C., or to the Division Engineer of any of the Divisions listed in chapter 12 with respect to property located within the limits of his Division.

During the stresses of World War II and the Korean War, the emphasis in the Army supply system was on getting the goods to the troops when and as needed. Management was appraised almost solely on this basis; tonnage figures were often taken as an indicator of performance. If inefficiency resulted, the end attained was considered to be worth that price.

Today, with our nation involved in the continuing military effort of the "cold war," such a policy is not acceptable. Results are of course the basic thing; but the dollar sign looms large,

4 For a list of these see chapter 12.

and management is evaluated in terms of the economy with which it achieves its results. The present Army supply system has been designed, and is constantly being modified and improved, with this end in view. Supply economy, through efficient management and control, is the watchword.

Below are summarized some of the programs of improvement which are now in effect.

FEDERAL SUPPLY CONTROL SYSTEM. Every supply organization must have some system of nomenclature and cataloging, by which the items it handles

can be identified and kept track of. Up to World War II the identification systems were largely determined by the technical services which supplied the Army, and varied from service to service. The need for a standard method of nomenclature and cataloging, which had been recognized as long ago as World War I, was partly met, beginning in 1947, by the Munitions Board, and was reemphasized and speeded up by Congress in 1950.

The present Federal Supply Classification System breaks down all items of supply into 537 Federal supply classes." Each item is assigned a Federal Stock Number, which not only identifies the item but shows the group and major class to which it belongs. Technical service assignments are made by class, and no item can be assigned to more than one technical service or military department. This has resulted in better management, reduction of the number of items in the system, and avoidance of unnecessary procurement. The Army completed the conversion of its cataloging to this system on 30 June 1957. STANDARDIZATION. The standardization program was developed to conserve money, manpower, time, production facilities, and natural resources. The Army has been assigned 239 Federal supply classes for such action. Considerable reductions have been made in the number of like items in the system by the standardization of materials, components, and processes utilized by all of the services. The standardization of engineering practices and procedures, and of the procurement, preservation, and preparation for delivery of items of military supply are other aspects of the program. Ends being sought are: a minimum number of items; maximum interchangeability of components; development of a common "supply language" for all the Armed Services; and the provision of equipment which is the best that can be devised, and also the most easily maintained.

INVENTORY CONTROL POINTS. As a result of experience gained in World War II, and the problems that existed after the cessation of hostilities, it was recognized that something had to be done

to manage and control more effectively the supplies in the system. National Stock Control Points, National Supply Control Points, and in some cases National Maintenance Points were established for this purpose, and were fairly effective. However, they had some shortcomings, such as the fact that they were concerned with continental U. S. control only.

As more and more emphasis was placed on economy of operation, and as the need for better stock control and supply control became evident, the National Inventory Control Points were devised, and directives have been written providing for their establishment. It is proposed that some 24 ICP's, under the direct control of the chiefs of the technical services, will be organized to provide for the management of worldwide materiel inventories by commodity-type, functionally integrated offices. Commodity managers will be appointed and given overall responsibility for specific items or groups of items. The responsibility will include timely identification, leading to cataloging; computation of quantitative requirements; and procurement direction, stock control, rebuild direction, and disposal direction. This will place the entire worldwide picture for any specific item at the fingertips of one individual.

MINIATURIZATION. Following World War II there was a concerted effort to cut down the size and weight of communications equipment and other items. Drastic reductions have been made with respect to some items, notably radios. At the same time reliability, maintainability, and transportability have been increased. Outstanding contributions to the program are the printed circuit and the development of the transistor, which not only have great military significance but have been widely accepted by, and are of much value to, the civilian electronics industry.

INTERSERVICE SUPPLY SUPPORT. The Armed Services, by joint agreement, have established interservice supply support groups and committees to avoid waste and duplication of effort by using their material assets to the fullest extent for the common good. This is a

worldwide program, started in December 1955. As of June 1957, 94% of all cataloged items of supply were under surveillance, and about $300,000,000 worth of materials and logistic services had been exchanged among the Services.

THE SINGLE MANAGER CONCEPT. Concurrently with the establishment of interservice supply support, the single manager concept was put into effect. Under this system, one of the Secretaries of the Armed Services (Army, Navy, or Air Force) is designated as manager for all three of them with respect to a specified field of supply. His task is the computation of net requirements, procurement, distribution, and inventory accounting. The system makes interservice supply support within the designated fields virtually automatic. It also provides for better utilization of transportation resources and eliminates costly cross- and back-hauling of supplies. The Secretary of the Army has been designated as single manager for subsistence, clothing and textiles, traffic management, etc. In the near future, other commodity groups or common services will be brought under this concept.

FINANCIAL INVENTORY ACCOUNTING. The Department of Defense and Congress have directed a revision and improvement of supply accounting at depots, posts, camps and stations. To attain this end the Secretary of the Army has set up the Financial Inventory Accounting Program. It puts the Army's accounting on a business-like basis by using dollars as the common denominator to measure and record the status of its supply operations, and by integrating a dollar-accounting system into the item-accounting system. Besides improving budgetary practices and supply management, it furnishes needed financial data to Congress, the Department of Defense, and other Federal agencies.

MODERN ARMY SUPPLY SYSTEM (MASS). This was established in 1956, to test out a new plan for supplying troops with repair parts for military equipment under the conditions of mod

ern war. The plan is to make such parts promptly available to our oversea forces when needed, but at the same time to limit the stockage of these parts to a bare minimum, so as not to hamper the mobility of the oversea maintenance organizations. It has four major elements: (1) Selective stockage of parts that have a high usage rate, up forward with the combat elements. (2) Use of improved methods of communication. (3) Use of electronic dataprocessing equipment. (4) Rapid transportation service, including delivery of nonstocked items direct from continental U. S. supply points to the consumer overseas. In one oversea command alone, a repair parts inventory of 400,000 has been reduced to 40,000, and combat capability has increased. The system is being extended to other oversea areas.

STOCK FUND. The Army Stock Fund is a revolving fund, established to fnance certain designated inventories, mainly repair parts and consumable supplies. It provides working capital to the "consumers" for procuring, holding, and selling the items in question. Under the system, appropriated funds are allotted to the consumer, who buys from the stock fund. With such supply on a commercial basis, items are procured only as needed and not yearly on the basis of appropriations. The Fund buys for all components of the Army, and also for the other Armed Services. The system has produced sizable economies and better budgetary control.

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING. The Army has recently stepped up its progress in making use of electronic computers wherever time and money can be saved thereby and efficiency increased. Nine automatic data processing machines are now in use in the one field of supply management operations. An Army-wide personnel information system and manpower control operation, utilizing automatic data processing systems, will eventually enable Army commands around the world to report vital personnel data to the Department of the Army automatically.