Mr. SHEPPARD. What is the average number of enlisted men actually housed over the past 12 months period in the south post barracks!

General SEEMAN. We will have to get that figure up to date for you. I just have the total strength of Fort Myer but what number are in barracks and what number are married, I do not have.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Supply it for the record then.

(The information requested follows:)

The average number of enlisted men in the units to be housed in the new barracks actually housed at south post, Fort Myer, during the past months is 729.

Mr. SHEPPARD. How does the average barracks occupancy at north post in existing facilities compare to the capacity of these barracks? General SEEMAN. The north post barracks are highly utilized, sir. Mr. SHEPPARD. Could you supply the average?

General SEEMAN. We will supply the exact figure for the record, sir. I do not have Myer in my list.

(The information requested is as follows:)

The average barracks occupancy by enlisted men at north post, Fort Myer, during the past 12 months is 1,086. There are 981 existing permanent barracks spaces at north post, thus, temporary barracks at north post are being used in addition to the permanent barracks.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Has the total cost of this expansion of the Arlington Cemetery been made known to responsible budget officials within the DOD?

General SEEMAN. Yes, sir. It has been made known in general to the Congress, sir. As of last fall the Under Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Hugh Milton addressed a letter to Senator Murray of the Interior and Insular Affairs of the U.S. Senate of the necessity eventually to evacuate the south post for the cemetery expansion. Mr. SHEPPARD. What cost figures did they use, if you know? General SEEMAN. At that time they did not get into cost figures, sir. They gave figures of the acreage and the number of burials per year and the necessity to expand the cemetery but this was the indication that they would start the budgeting by this planning money for the Quartermaster Civil Functions Act. Did I say $50,000 in this year's budget?

Mr. SHEPPARD. Can you give us the total cost factor having to do with the entire situation, Navy and everything else involved, including housing, as it is presently conceived?

General SEEMAN. I cannot, sir.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Is the information available so it can be supplied for the record?

General SEEMAN. To my knowledge it is not. I will ask the DOD to supply the information.

(The information requested follows:)

The total cost of relocating the overall military facilities now located on south post at Fort Myer has not been developed. However, a study is underway encompassing the total DOD requirement in the National Capital area which will include the south post relocation. Upon completion of this study, the cost factors requested will be available.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Are there questions upon this particular item?
Mr. WHITTEN. No questions.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Mr. Laird?

Mr. LAIRD. No questions.

CHEMICAL CORPS

Mr. SHEPPARD. We shall pick up the next item for consideration which has to do with the Chemical Corps. We shall insert page 205 in the record, Mr. Reporter.

(The page referred to follows:)

Mr. SHEPPARD. We shall address ourselves to the Army Chemical Center. Insert page 208 in the record.

(The matter requested may be found on following page.)
(The following information was submitted for the record:)

The three items we are requesting for this installation are described in detail on pages 209 through 214 of the justification books.

The first item, "Supertoxic laboratory," $3,584,000, is required to relieve overcrowded, unsafe condition in facilities being used for research and development activities in the field of nerve gases and other lethal and incapacitating compounds. Existing laboratories consisting of 25,200 square feet in three separate permanent buildings provide only 134 square feet per person as contrasted to the 250 square feet per person considered acceptable in industry. In addition to being overcrowded, these buildings, by virtue of their design based on state of the art of chemical warfare of 20 years ago, are also unsafe for conducting the type of work in progress today. The nature of agents on which research is conducted today dictates that the minimum number of technical personnel be isolated in closed systems and in laboratory facilities integrated with change and shower rooms, isolated modules, emergency exits, facilities for scrubbing of effluent gases, and increased fume-hood exhausts. The lack of these features in the existing structures constitutes a definite hazard to both the scientific and administrative personnel working in these buildings and significantly impairs the efficiency of these vital research operations. The proposed laboratory building of specialized construction will incorporate the features required for research and development on supertoxic agents. These features are not found in any existing facilities at any Chemical Corps installation or in any facilities at other Department of Defense installations since the Chemical Corps is the only service engaged in such a program.

The design of this project is 10 percent completed. Cost to date is $17,000. The second item, "Dispensary and dental clinic," $445,000, is required to provide adequate medical and dental facilities to serve personnel of this installation. The dispensary serves the total post population of 7,611 plus 200 retired military personnel residing in the area. The dental clinic serves all military personnel (1,831) and their dependents (1.693), plus 140 civilian employees, the nature of whose work requires frequent dental checks. The design of this project has not yet begun.

The third and last item is for $430,000 for a post signal building. This item is required to provide adequate space for a communications center, a central telephone exchange, telegraph, teletype, and crypto systems and all photographic and other signal functions performed by the post signal office at this installation. The requirement to provide signal services to all normal post activities,

including NIKE Air Defense groups, has overloaded the present plant capacity of 2,000 circuits. Two hundred additional circuits are required to relieve the overload and provide 75 requests for service which cannot now be filled. (The present system is operated at 92 percent of capacity as contrasted to the 88 percent considered critical by the Signal Corps.)

Expansion of existing facilities is neither feasible nor desirable.

Siting of the proposed facility outside the manufacturing area will eliminate the safety hazards and will permit geographical centralization of cable distribution. Upon completion of construction of this item, existing facilities will revert to other uses as follows:

Five hundred square feet, plus vault, now used for communication center in post headquarters will revert to post staff operational use; 2,000 square feet administrative area in air operations building will revert to post transportation; 5,167 square feet used for illustrative/photographic operations will be used for procurement activities; 5,014 square feet now housing central telephone exchange and radio repair will revert to warehousing of reconditioned fire bombs now in open storage. All presently used buildings are structually acceptable for housing respective activities. Postponement of this project will result in further overtaxing of present system, inability to furnish additional required service, and increased equipment maintenance costs.

The design of this project is 20 percent completed. Cost to date is $3,700. The architect-engineer is the Baltimore district engineer.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Your justification states that you have not selected an architect-engineer for the supertoxic laboratory. What is the basis for this cost estimate you are presently presenting, if you have not gone through this source of procedure?

Mr. NORWOOD. We have selected an architect-engineer, Mr. Chairman. The architect-engineer was Howell, Lewis & Shay Associates, of Philadelphia, Pa.

Mr. SHEPPARD. How far along are they with their preliminary planning?

Mr. NORWOOD. They are about 10 percent along, Mr. Chairman. Mr. SHEPPARD. I can only assume from the length of time which you have had them under study that the major portion of your dollar request is predicated on an assumptive figure as against a definitized figure; is that correct?

Mr. NORWOOD. Yes. The price is based upon rule of thumb and the planning that has been accomplished by the using service, in this case the Chemical Corps with the District Engineers.

Mr. SHEPPARD. In July of 1960 a special study of the Army's biological and chemical programs made certain recommendations including that the Army limit expansion of its in-house research and development activities and make greater use of industrial and private laboratories.

I believe that the laboratory here was directed to place approximately 90 percent of the expanded programs with industrial and private laboratories. What have you done or what are you doing in this regard and how does this relate to your request for a new laboratory? General SEEMAN. I can speak with the words of the Chief of Research and Development on this, sir: Their policy is that in relation to the in-house facilities and non-Government facilities that they have four criteria: First, to maintain a proper balance between the research effort conducted in-house and those by contract; second, to implement any increases over current research by use of non-Government facilities under contracts and grants; third, to acquire additional research in-house facilities only when non-Government facilities

are not available or when it is necessary that there be both Army and non-Government research facilities in a given field for a balanced control and then, fourth, to dispose of any Army research facilities that are not necessary.

They say that the continuation of existing research facilities and acquisitions of additional facilities under the conditions enumerated above are essential to an effective R. & D. program.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. SHEPPARD. Pursuing the laboratory aspect, I understand that one of the main costs in this building is the matter of air conditioning. At the present time you have at CRDL a scrubbing system to cleanse the air. I believe the Chemical Corps has also developed a charcoal filter program which could be adapted to the needs of this laboratory. What study have you made as to the relative cost of the two systems, and I add to that question, are both of the systems equally compatible, one with the other?

Mr. LOGAN. I do not know that I can supply the answer to that, sir. Mr. SHEPPARD. When the record comes down will you kindly have it referred to a source of information that can give us the information there, please?

General SEEMAN. Yes, sir.

(The information requested follows:)

The difference in cost between a charcoal filter air cleansing system and a scrubbing system for this building is relatively small. The preliminary esti mates are $212,000 and $208,000, respectively. The filter system is far more efficient than the scrubbing system.

Mr. SHEPPARD. You have included an auditorium in your plans here to seat some 200 people. Why is this auditorium necessary?

Mr. LOGAN. The request for an auditorium is based primarily on security-type conferences that are held periodically for the dissemination of information to interested parties. That is the primary function of this auditorium.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Am I mistaken in the information that I have picked up more or less extemporaneously, of course, that the auditorium will also be used for seminars wherein chemical laboratories within the Nation are brought in for discussions in the R. & D. aspect?

Mr. LOGAN. That is correct. That is part of this function.

General SEEMAN. It is really a threefold team: Academic and research type people, people with the Chemical Corps, and your defense industry team for manufacturing.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Who conducts the screening process for that kind of seminar? Do you in the Chemical Corps hold that responsibility? General SEEMAN. The screening of other available facilities?

Mr. SHEPPARD. No; the screening of the personnel that is brought into the seminars.

General SEEMAN. That is done by the security people. They feed in their requirements and the forms with the biographical data are handled first by Army intelligence people and through the national agencies.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Is the press allowed at these seminars?

General SEEMAN. Not to my knowledge unless it is an unclassified subject.

Mr. SHEPPARD. How is this particular requirement met at this time, gentlemen?