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the enlisted men, and that something would be done to take care of the bachelor officers who are forced at the present time to live in town. Thank you very much. And thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator STENNIS. Thank you, Senator. I have been to Malmstrom and I was impressed there with its need and with its possibilities, and I was very glad to see this additional missile installation go in there, which is now in the process of beginning construction. It is the only one that was authorized last year.

Now, the Air Force did ask for an additional airmen's dormitory, auto maintenance shop, and an auto storage shop this year, and they were dropped out of the budget when it went before the Secretary of Defense for review.

We assume they will ask for them again next year, and then we have a list of the other items they are going to ask for Malmstrom in future programs, addition to the present clinic, a chapel with an educational annex, a commissary addition, civil engineer facility.

What is that?

General CURTIN. It is the facility used by the base civil engineer responsible for base operation and maintenance.

Senator STENNIS. That is the $970,000. Mr. Nease says they are operating in a bunch of shacks now. Mr. Nease, our clerk, has been out to look at the base this year.

Senator MANSFIELD. Yes; I have discussed on several occasions the situation at Malmstrom with Mr. Nease, and he was out there just a few weeks ago looking into this, among other things.

Senator STENNIS. And the headquarters group air base is the way this is listed, and an air police facility. That is all coming up, as we understand it, in the 1967 program. And then here is a list, a whole page of items that the base is going to request for 1968. So it seems that they are getting around slowly, and I think you have been helpful to them.

Senator MANSFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator STENNIS. We hope this does develop, because it is a fine place and well run when I was there.

Senator MANSFIELD. Yes.

Senator STENNIS. I appreciate your coming in. You are a member of this committee too. Can you stay with us?

Senator MANSFIELD. I have to attend to some other things.

Senator STENNIS. If there is nothing further, we will consider that matter closed and go back to these other items. Call your page. Colonel FENLON. Yes, sir. Page 60, we were on Grand Forks.

GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N. DAK. (RESUMED) Senator STENNIS. All right. Grand Forks.

Colonel FENLON. I was to the sixth item, Mr. Chairman.

Senator STENNIS. Proceed.

Colonel FENLON. The budget will provide adequate space for a base education program. The University of North Dakota in 1961 established an extension center on base, and has indicated the possibility of removing their program unless adequate classrooms and related facilities are made available.

Senator STENNIS. That is enough on that one.

The next item?

Colonel FENLON. The seventh item will provide an addition to the base central heating plant so that an additional boiler can be installed to furnish heat for the new dormitory and other facilities under construction.

The last item is a repetitive item, to provide an adequate water supply to the base. This is a connection charge, the Air Force is providing for the expansion of the city of Grand Forks water system, so it will be able to handle the doubled daily volume of water supplied to the base.

Senator STENNIS. That is $2.5 million. That is a lot of money. You are paying the city now. You are getting the water from the city; is that right?

General CURTIN. That is correct, Mr. Chairman. You may recall we had an item in the program last year for about $900,000, which we withdrew so that we could further study this. Actually this question of water at Grand Forks has been a problem between the Air Force and the city since 1956.

We definitely have an arrangement with them where they will provide a maximum demand of 1.25 million gallons per day, at a rate of 28 cents per thousand gallons. However, starting in 1960 they levied a 50-percent rate increase on this, which the Air Force would not go along with, and since that time we have been working back and forth with the city to adjudicate this thing.

Also what has happened in the interim is that our demand requirements have gone up from 1.25 to 2 million gallons per day. This has been coupled with the rate structure study. We have worked with the city I feel rather patiently, and we have finally come to an agreement where they are now agreed to 35 cents per thousand gallons, which we feel is more equitable.

Senator STENNIS. What are we paying now?

General CURTIN. Twenty-eight cents per thousand gallons, under the old contract.

Senator STENNIS. You are negotiating on that and may have to pay more later for that same water.

General CURTIN. The additional water and the rate is all combined in this one negotiation. They had asked for 42 cents per thousand gallons. We felt something about 35 cents was more equitable. They are now willing to negotiate finally on this arrangement, and therefore we feel that going ahead with this connection charge now is in the interest of the Government.

Senator STENNIS. What assurance do you have that the $2.5 million expenditure will meet your requirement and get the water you need?

General CURTIN. This has been designed out. It has been studied by architect-engineers, both by the city and the Air Force, Mr. Chairman. The technical part of it, there is no question about. The question that has been under dispute for some time is the rate structure. Senator STENNIS. With this money you can get the water; is that right?

General CURTIN. Yes, sir. The city will expand its facilities with this connection charge, and provide us the 2 million gallons per day at an agreed rate.

Senator STENNIS. Is the city going to spend this money or are you going to spend it?

General CURTIN. No; we will furnish the money as a connection charge to the city. The city is now furnishing us water through a line that they own out to the base. The base is, I think, some 14 or 15 miles from the city. The city will expand their pumping and treatment capacity so that they can provide us this additional quantity of water at the adjusted rate.

Senator STENNIS. They will own the expansion, of course, too?

General CURTIN. That is correct. And this will be a connection charge. It is the normal thing where we are dealing with a commercial entity.

Senator STENNIS. Senator Cannon, do you have something?

Senator CANNON. I was just going to comment that seems like a pretty high connection fee, Mr. Chairman.

Senator STENNIS. It is a lot of money.

General CURTIN. Actually this fee we feel will finally be negotiated to something about $2 million as opposed to the $2.5 million requested in this program.

Senator STENNIS. Let's just cut it down to $2 million now.

General CURTIN. It will be agreeable with us, because we feel confident that we can make this, Mr. Chairman. When we were in the negotiation stage this was the upper limit of the figure. The figure originally I think was $2.7 million that they had asked for.

Senator STENNIS. It is still a lot of money when you are not going to have anything to show for it if you should decide to discontinue there. I don't anticipate you will, but if you change your plans in the next year, about all these activities, you would be out that money, of course.

General CURTIN. You realize we have also got the MINUTEMAN going in there, and this water supply problem here has been a critical one for the last couple of years. I would have hoped to have had the negotiations completed so it could have been in last year's program. Senator STENNIS. Why didn't you put this missile where there was some water already?

General CURTIN. You can't always do that, sir.

Senator STENNIS. All right. If there are no other questions, we will proceed.

Senator CANNON. Mr. Chairman, do I understand that the feeling of the committee is that we would not approve more than $2 million? Senator STENNIS. That is right. We take them at their word quickly. The clerk has already reduced that one; that is right, Senator.

All right. Next item.

HOMESTEAD AIR FORCE BASE, FLA.

Colonel FENLON. The next base, sir, is on page 69, Homestead Air Force Base, located 20 miles south-southwest of Coral Gables, Fla. The use of this installation is for a Strategic Air Command heavy bomber squadron and an air refueling mission, a tactical fighter wing, an Air Defense Command fighter interceptor squadron, a radar squadron, and a Reserve troop carrier wing and an air rescue squadron. The program requested is for $1,714,000.

The first item is a repetitive item. It is an addition to the existing five-stall line structural fire station.

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Senator STENNIS. All right. I think that one is satisfactory. Next item.

Colonel FENLON. The second item is for construction of a 2,940square-foot addition to the existing training building to provide space for the F-4C flight simulator.

Senator STENNIS. Training crews?

Colonel FENLON. Crew training, yes, sir.
Senator STENNIS. All right. Next item.

Colonel FENLON. The third item is a repetitive item required to provide an adequate refueling vehicle shop.

Senator STENNIS. It is not large, but why do you need so many refueling vehicle shops? This need has come up often. It seems you should have plenty of them by now.

Colonel FENLON. Sir, we don't have the facility here on this base for a refueling vehicle shop. We can't do the maintenance and repair on these vehicles in the normal vehicle shop because of the hazards there. We would have to totally depurge all fuel from the vehicle, which is a considerable waste of time. Therefore we need a separate facility that has exhaust equipment and explosiveproof fixtures, which makes it a special-purpose facility.

Senator STENNIS. These have the tanks on them for the fuel?

Colonel FENLON. Yes, sir. This is for the maintenance of the trailer portion as well as the vehicle.

Senator STENNIS. I have known them to explode in civilian areas, privately owned units of that kind, and kill people right there in the garage or shop.

Colonel FENLON. Yes, sir.

Senator STENNIS. The next item.

Colonel FENLON. The fourth item is for air conditioning the dining and serving area of three dining halls. The average humidity for a 12-month period, according to the Weather Bureau, is about 75 percent in this area.

The fifth item is a repetitive item, the construction of a 600-seat chapel and an education annex.

The next item is a repetitive item. It is an alteration and addition to the existing commissary.

The seventh item is a repetitive item. It is for the construction of an NCO open mess.

Senator STENNIS. What does "open mess" mean?

Colonel FENLON. That is an NCO, sometimes referred to as an "NCO club," Mr. Chairman, a dining and recreational facility.

Senator STENNIS. That is another case where you could make it much simpler for us if you would use terms that we are familiar with. I thought I knew what it meant, but I wasn't certain. Now you have had a great increase in your workload at Homestead, haven't you, since the Cuban matter?

Colonel FENLON. Yes, sir; a considerable increase.

Senator STENNIS. And you consider this more of a major installation than you did?

Colonel FENLON. That is correct, sir. At that time it was purely a SAC heavy bombardment base.

Senator STENNIS. This open mess, deficiency replacement, does that mean that you do not have enough space?

Colonel FENLON. Mr. Chairman, I was in this particular facility a few months back. It is an old building. It is, as you say, too small square-foot-wise. Also it is not constructed compatible with this type of facility, and it is impossible, from the standpoint of the site, to expand it.

General CURTIN. The present facility is 10,500 square feet, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CANNON. Mr. Chairman?

Senator STENNIS. Yes, Senator.

Senator CANNON. Does that term "open mess" mean that it is open to any personnel who want to go in there and eat?

General CURTIN. Any of the NCO's.

Senator CANNON. They don't have to belong to the club?

General CURTIN. That is correct. That is the significance of the word "open."

Senator CANNON. I just wanted to make that point for the record. Mr. Chairman, one other observation on this. When I first started sitting in on these hearings, we were concerned about dispersal of activities for security reasons.

Senator STENNIS. Yes.

Senator CANNON. Now this is a good example because of these closures where you are putting everything on one base. Soon I guess we will be talking about getting all of them on three or four bases, everything we have. I don't know how they could get any more consolidated activities than they have on this one. If you get one base knocked out, you have certainly suffered a blow.

Senator STENNIS. It all came as a result of these computers, you see. Those of us here on the committee are just behind the times. I appreciate the point you have made.

Anything else on that item? Go to the next one.

K. I. SAWYER AIR FORCE BASE, MICH.

Colonel FENLON. Page 77 K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, in Michigan. This is used for strategic air command heavy bombardment squadron, a heavy refueling squadron, and an air defense command fighter-interceptor squadron. The total program requested amounts to $148,000.

The first item is required to provide safe and adequate space for the base fuel supply section. The proposed 1,600-square-foot building would provide space for administration, fuel quality control, laboratory

Senator STENNIS. Let me interrupt you there. I thought we had finished up all of our POL requirements here some years ago, but this is just quality control.

Colonel FENLON. Yes, sir.

Senator STENNIS. Just explain that part of it.

Colonel FENLON. The main purpose here is a quality control laboratory where we check the fuels for safe quality, coming into storage.

Senator STENNIS. All right.

Colonel FENLON. The second item provides for construction of an addition to the existing cold storage building. The present facility is completely inadequate in size to store sufficient quantities of perishable items for proper operation of the dining halls and the commissary.

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