WEDNESDAY, July 26, 1950. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WITNESSES MAJ. GEN. G. H. DECKER, CHIEF, BUDGET DIVISION, OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER COL. J. B. HESS, CHIEF, ESTIMATES AND FUNDING BRANCH, OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER COL. R. S. MOORE, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, COMPTROLLER MAJ. GEN. C. E. BYERS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G-1 MAJ. GEN. A. R. BOLLING, DEPUTY ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G-2 MAJ. GEN. R. E. DUFF, DEPUTY ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G-3 MAJ. GEN. W. O. REEDER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G-4 LT. COL. D. S. DALEY, BUDGET OFFICER, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G1 Mr. MAHON. Gentlemen, we will resume our hearing on the supplemental budget request for 10.5 billion dollars. Yesterday we had the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of Army, Navy, and Air Force and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others to testify in connection with over-all policy. Today we will consider the requirements for the Army. We will place in the record the appropriate parts of House Document No. 657. (The matter referred to is as follows:) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CONTINGENCIES For emergencies and extraordinary expenses arising in the Department of Defense, to be expended on the approval or authority of the Secretary of Defense and such expenses may be accounted for solely on his certificate that the expenditures were necessary for confidential military purposes; $50,000,000. EMERGENCY FUND For transfer by the Secretary of Defense, with the approval of the Bureau of the Budget, to any appropriation for military functions under the Department of Defense available for research and development or industrial mobilization, to be merged with and to be available for the same purposes, and for the same time period, as the appropriation to which transferred, $190,000,000. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY EXPEDITING PRODUCTION To enable the Secretary of the Army, without reference to Revised Statutes 1136, as amended, to expedite the production of equipment and supplies for the Army for emergency national defense purposes, including all of the objects and purposes specified under each of the appropriations available to the Department of the Army during the fiscal year 1951, for procurement or production of equipment or supplies, for erection of structures, or for acquisition of land; the furnishing of Government-owned facilities at privately owned plants; the procurement and training of civilian personnel in connection with the production of equipment and material and the use and operation thereof; and for any other purposes which in the discretion of the Secretary of the Army are desirable in expediting production for military purposes; $125,000,000. For additional amounts for appropriations under the Department of Defense for the fiscal year 1951, as follows: "Ordnance service and supplies, Army", $1,438,221,000; CHEMICAL CORPS "Chemical service, Army", $31,853,000; ARMY TRAINING "Army training", $2,667,000; CIVILIAN COMPONENTS "Army National Guard", $17,648,000; "Organized reserves", $6,506,000; "Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps", $9,000,000; DEPARTMENTAL SALARIES AND EXPENSES Salaries, Department of the Army: "Office of the Secretary of the Army: Secretary of the Army, Under Secretary of the Army, Assistant Secretaries of the Army and other personal services", $163,137; "Office of the Quartermaster General", $1,412,202; "Office of Chief of Chaplains", $11,520; "Contingent expenses, Department of the Army", $7,011,000. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY-CIVIL FUNCTIONS Alaska Communication System: SIGNAL CORPS "Operation, maintenance, improvement, etc.", $3,717,000; General Decker, we will rely upon you to arrange and supervise the presentation of the Army. How would you like to proceed? General DECKER. Sir, I would like to proceed first of all by giving the general picture of the problem we face in the Army and the steps we have taken to solve it. I have with me the representatives of the various general staff divisions of the Army who will be prepared to elaborate on whatever I have said to the extent that the committee desires; following which I expect to call the estimating agencies in turn to defend in detail their own appropriations. Mr. MAHON. Do you have a prepared statement? General DECKER. I have, sir. Mr. MAHON. I note you have some charts before us. Will you use those charts in connection with your prepared statement? General DECKER. I shall. Mr. MAHON. Would it be any convenience or in the interest of orderly procedure for you to complete your statement before we have a question period? General DECKER. I would much prefer to do so; yes, sir. Mr. MAHON. All right, gentlemen. Let us permit General Decker to proceed to the completion of his statement after which we will interrogate him. You may proceed, General. GENERAL STATEMENT General DECKER. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen: The Department of the Army is presenting to you today its first supplemental budget estimate for fiscal year 1951. This estimate is to provide for operations caused by the emergency situation described by President Truman in his message to the Congress on the 19th of July. The total amount requested in the military budget is $3,059,154,000. This figure, when added to our regular 1951 estimate as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee, totals $7,147,531,521. The additional funds requested are intended to accomplish two main purposes. Namely, to enable the Army to meet the immediate situation in Korea and to provide for an early increase in its combat readiness. I believe that it would facilitate understanding of these estimates if I mention briefly certain areas in which they are intended to improve, at least partially, our military posture. These areas are those involving strengthening of our combat forces and equipping our troops with the most modern equipment. At the start of hostilities in Korea there were 10 divisions in the Army's troop basis. However, with the exception of two, these divisions had an authorized strength considerably below that provided in Tables of Organization. In the Far East Command each infantry regiment except one was short an infantry battalion, or a total shortage of 11 in the 4 divisions in Japan. There was also a shortage of 11 field artillery firing batteries in those divisions. Army-wide, including the Far East Command, insufficient combat and service support units were available to back up our divisions and sustain them in combat. Shortages in numbers of units were aggravated further by the Army being 40,000 under its budgeted strength of 630,000. Because of a rapidly changing concept of the steps that should be taken, it was necessary to develop by increment the estimates of funds necessary to improve the Army's unit and equipment status and to enable it to carry on operations in Korea. I have a chart which I have prepared which I believe will be helpful in understanding the procedure which was followed. On the chart the black indicates the amount of the regular 1951 estimate; and the rest of the chart indicates the additions to it. On July 6 the JCS recommended to the Secretary of Defense that the Army strength be increased. A few days later they recommended an additional increase. This total increase was approved by the Secretary of Defense and the President and is shown on the chart under the heading "Expanded Army." The explicit purpose for which these spaces were provided are as follows: To bring Army units now in FECOM to war strength; to bring to full strength those units in ZI being shipped to FECOM; to replace in the general reserve the units shipped overseas. This includes activating an additional division, bringing the total to 11; to provide for the activation of two additional replacement training divisions; additional spaces to provide a steady flow of replacements to the combat area. The fund requirement for this increase is $495,000,000. This includes all maintenance and operation costs connected with this personnel. It provides for only limited major procurement. The next subdivision on the chart pertains to the support of the forces operating in Korea. The supplemental estimate provides for logistic support of these forces including supply of equipment, ammunition, food, clothing, medical care, transportation, communications and everything else needed to sustain them in combat. The estimates also provide for replacement of critical items withdrawn from our present reserve stocks. The fund requirement for this increment is estimated at $1,743,000,000. The final increment identified on the chart as "Expended Army, third increment" provides for an additional augmentation of Army strength and the logistic support incident thereto. Fund requirements for this increment are estimated at $832,000,000. Referring to the other side of the chart I shall show the areas in which the Army expects to spend the funds requested. The area shown in black indicates the funds in the regular fiscal year 1951 appropriation. The hachured segment of the bar indicates the increase provided in the supplemental estimates. MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION The first item is in the field of maintenance and operation which covers generally costs incident to the use of forces in carrying out assigned missions, including costs of modification and repair of equipment and facilities and costs necessary to maintain them in serviceable condition or to restore them to serviceability. $885,000,000 is to be utilized in this area. This amount will provide for: (a) Activation and operation of two additional replacement training centers; (b) overhaul and rebuilding of equipment to replace combat losses and to equip units to be deployed to the Far East command; (c) renovation of ammunition to fulfill combat needs and increase training requirements; (d) acceleration of production scheduled through contracts with private industry; (e) increase in depot operations due to the expansion of the Army and activities in support of the Korean task force and an increase in supply levels from zone of the interior depots to depots in Korea; (f) increase in communication services incident to augmentation of the Army and supply of the task force; (g) increase in zone of the interior and ocean transportation due to augmentation of forces in the Far East and increased tonnages to support combat operations; (h) increase to permit maximum utilization of indigenous labor in Japan and Korea to support the Korean task force. MILITARY PERSONNEL COSTS The supplemental estimate for "Category I, military personnel costs," is $475,269,489. Military personnel costs include costs for all Regular officers and enlisted personnel, Reserves on extended active duty with Regular forces and Reserves on continuous active duty for training Reserve forces. These costs include "Pay and allowances," "Subsistence," "Individual clothing," "Permanent change of station travel," and other military personnel activities such as "Welfare and morale." The supplement will provide for: (a) An increased Army strength. (b) Increased cost of combat field and operational rations, issue of combat items, and combat losses. (c) Current increased cost of subsistence, increase in subsistence pipeline for the Korean task force and operational costs of increased subsistence sales. (d) Disposition of remains of deceased personnel. In connection with military personnel costs, this next chart indicates the deployment of our military personnel at the time the trouble started and what we expect it to be after we have built up FECOM to the strength now believed necessary to accomplish our purposes in Korea. MAJOR PROCUREMENT AND PRODUCTION For "Category III, major procurement and production," the supplemental requirement is estimated at $1,650,000,000. We group in this category costs of acquisition of items of particular planning or budget |