REASONS FOR RESTORATION REQUEST

This barracks building is required to provide permanent housing for the enlisted medical detachment. It will be located adjacent to the new hospital which will eliminate the necessity of transporting these personnel 6 miles round trip. The cost of providing this transportation is estimated to be $60,000 per year.

In afterduty hours when emergency situations arise, it is necessary to augment the staff on duty with surgical technicians, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, ambulance drivers, and other medical personnel as the situation requires. With these technicians located 3 miles from the hospital, round-the-clock standby transportation will be needed to preclude degrading quality of emergency care. If these personnel are living in barracks adjacent to hospital, their services can be obtained with the minimum delay. The promptness of the response of the medical personnel to these emergency situations results in better patient care. Long delays resulting due to the wide separation of the hospital and the barracks could have an adverse effect upon the health and welfare of the sick or injured patient. In a recent 6-month period there have been 537 emergencies requiring technicians to be called from their barracks.

The medical detachment is presently located in 1 permanent barracks building which has the capacity of 132 men. The building would be used to house other enlisted personnel now in temporary substandard barracks when the new medical detachment barracks are constructed. Four temporary buildings of World War II mobilization design will then be demolished. These temporary buildings have a capacity of 180 men. There is a deficit in permanent barracks spaces on the installation. There is a requirement of 19,998 spaces and only 10,080 spaces are in existing adequate barracks of which 1,296 are in temporary barracks improved in 1958. Equivalent permanent space for these enlisted personnel will therefore have to be built at any rate.

Construction of barracks with mess at a different location would cost more than barracks without mess at the hospital; the hospital dining facilities are already designed to accommodate all the medical enlisted personnel, on or off shift. Transportation to and from work for normal shift changes and emergency calls would still be necessary.

Providing these barracks will allow for better and more efficient patient care. Also, there will be transportation savings which should amortize the structure in less than 10 years.

HOUSE REPORT STATEMENT (P. 7)

"The request of $508,000 for enlisted men's barracks at this latter location is denied. Existing permanent facilities in use for this purpose are adequate to meet the requirement."

FEMALE BOQ

Major General SHULER. The next project, sir, also at Fort Sill, on page 122, is for a female bachelor officers quarters, for 50 women, estimated to cost $383,000. This item has prior authorization, Public Law 87-554.

This is needed to house 46 nurses and 4 Women's Auxiliary Corps officers. They are presently housed in four buildings 3 to 4 miles from the new post hospital.

Three of these buildings are inadequate temporary World War II structures, and will be demolished upon completion of this requested construction.

With the difficulty we have in gaining and retaining qualified nurses in the Army, sir, this is a very worthwhile project. This is a prior authorized item, authorized prior to this year, sir.

Senator SYMINGTON. Will you proceed?

FORT WOLTERS, TEX.

Major General SHULER. On page 23, we come to Fort Wolters, Tex. This is where we do our contract primary helicopter training.

We are asking for one line item, $257,000, for 33,070 square yards of parking apron. The additional student load in primary helicopter training and implementation of the new observer helicopter pilot course have dictated a 65-percent increase in the number of helicopters assigned.

This project will overcome improvised parking on the runway, and the section of adjacent road that has been temporarily closed to alleviate our very crowded condition.

Senator SYMINGTON. This is another airbase?

Major General SHULER. Fort Wolters has been established for some time as our primary helicopter training base. It is rather small, but it is in an important station.

Senator SYMINGTON. Very well. Will you proceed?

Major General SHULER. We now come to 5th Army, sir. And the first station is Fort Carson, Colo.

Senator SYMINGTON. Just a minute.

Fort Wolters: Is that a contracted out base?

Major General SHULER. Yes, sir.

Senator SYMINGTON. Who has the contract?
Colonel RAWLS. Southern Airways, Inc., sir.

CIVILIAN CONTRACT

Senator SYMINGTON. Is it a contract with a civilian?

Major General SHULER. Yes, sir.

That is correct; is it not?

Colonel RAWLS. Yes, sir.

Major General SHULER. I was just checking to be sure I was absolutely right, sir.

Senator SYMINGTON. How many years has this base been in operation under civilian management?

Colonel RAWLS. I will have to check that, sir, but it is about 4 years.

Senataor SYMINGTON. Before that, was it operated directly by the Army?

Colonel RAWLS. No, sir. Fort Wolters was an Air Force station, and it was made into the primary helicopter school, as it is now, afterward.

Senator SYMINGTON. What did the Air Force do with it?

Mr. FOSTER. It is my understanding, Mr. Chairman, that they were using it for basic training.

Colonel RAWLS. The pilots were.

Senator SYMINGTON. I might say these questions are pretty detailed, General, and I am admiring the amount of detail you and your staff are able to give the committee. There is no reason for you to know all these details, but it is useful to have them in the record.

Major General SHULER. I appreciate that, sir. The next station is Fort Carson. It starts on page 126.

We are asking a total of 13 line items, 9 of which are in support of Army aircraft.

UNITS AT FORT CARSON

As the chairman will recall, the 5th Division was added to the Army force structure in the spring of 1962, and this is the division

at Fort Carson. Prior to that time, we did not have a division there, and therefore we have a considerable requirement for a few years, until we catch up, to support this very important division. Senator SYMINGTON. What do you do there?

Major General SHULER. It is the 5th Mechanized Infantry Division, sir. It is a STRAC unit, and a very important unit.

On page 130 is the first item. This is a request for a crosswind runway at Butts Army Airfield. It provides a crosswind runway of 2,450 feet by strengthening and extending a temporary taxiway.

With the turbulence and rarefied air at this mountain site, operating aircraft is deemed hazardous nearly one-third of the time, and landings are precluded 10 to 15 percent of the time.

Provision of the crosswind runway will allow the fixed-wing aircraft optimum flying time in support of the division, insofar as wind conditions are concerned. This will allow us to get in and out with a less dangerous situation.

Senator SYMINGTON. A very logical request to make.

Major General SHULER. Page 131, sir, is the next item, for 107,000 square yards of airfield paving and associated lighting.

The present facilities include substandard surfaces, such as landing mat and old light-duty blacktop. The inadequacy is now acute, with 26 fixed wing and 97 rotary wing aircraft authorized at this post. Provision of adequate ground facilities is necessary to protect our investment in materiel and aviators.

As I said before, sir, we just did not have the facilities here for division aviation, and this is what we are trying to get now.

Senator SYMINGTON. Very well. You may proceed.

FUEL STORAGE

Major General SHULER. On page 133, we have an item for 100,000 gallon aircraft fuel storage and dispensing facilities, costing $148,000, also located at Butts Army Airfield."

The existing bulk storage amounts to half the needed capacity in 20year-old tanks lacking even marginal dispensing facilities.

The proposed facility will provide safe storage of aviation gasoline and JP-4 fuel with rapid dispensing to accommodate newly authorized aircraft.

The old tanks, which have been relocated at least once already, are of debatable salvage value, and will probably be filled with earth and abandoned.

This JP4 fuel, again, is for our Iroquois, Mohawk, and Chinook type aircraft.

Senator SYMINGTON. You are putting a good deal more money into Carson than you have into any others so far.

Major General SHULER. Yes, sir, except possibly for Fort Jackson, where we have our first increment of permanent construction.

Senator SYMINGTON. I was not here when that came up.

Major General SHULER. At Fort Jackson, sir, we are on our first barracks complex, which runs around $11 million-odd, and I think it compared somewhat with the amount here.

Senator SYMINGTON. $23 million, plus.

AMOUNT REQUESTED

Major General SHULER. We are asking, here, sir, at Fort Carson, $7.355 million.

Senator SYMINGTON. That is not what I have, on page 125.
I beg your pardon. I see.

Major General SHULER. That is the total 5th Army request.
Senator SYMINGTON. You are right. I am wrong.

Sorry.

Major General SHULER. Quite all right, sir. On page 134, sir, the next item is for navigational aids at Butts Army Airfield, for $39,000. The required facilities are in general either lacking or makeshift in keeping with the 20 aircraft previously authorized. With the high density of 123 aircraft now assigned, a rotating beacon, a lighted wind indicator, GCA, and related items constitute a very modest safety expenditure, in our view, sir.

Senator SYMINGTON. All right, sir.

OPERATIONS BUILDING

Major General SHULER. On page 135, the fifth item is the airfield operations building, also at Butts Army Airfield.

An old relocated Quonset hut now serves as an expedient, with the usual inadequate space, light, and heat inherent with such structures. Less than 1,000 square feet are available, which is about one-eighth of our requirements.

The proposed structure will house operations, command, air weather, which includes the flight surgeon, pilot flying room, parachute storage, lockers, briefing space, waiting, and ready rooms.

We feel that these activities are essential for efficient, functional airfield control, and we feel they should be under one roof, if possible. Senator SYMINGTON. Thank you.

Major General SHULER. Page 136. The next item is for a fire and rescue station, also at the airfield, for $90,000.

And this we feel will assist in protecting our investment in aircraft and aviators.

Presently the firemen and trucks are housed over one-half mile from the runway, in improvised temporary facilities. A truck with turret nozzle cannot clear the door to get inside, which is especially undesirable in the winter.

This new proper structure will put the men in better readiness in case we have a runway accident.

AIRFIELD STRUCTURES

Page 137, sir: The next request is for an instrument training building at Butts Army Airfield, at a cost of $121,000.

The present structure can house only two trainers. It does not lend itself to expansion.

The new structure will properly accommodate the required six trainers to support about 160 aviators.

Senator SYMINGTON. Proceed.

Major General SHULER. On page 138, we are requesting $701,000 for a new hangar at the airfield.

The hangar now used for aircraft maintenance is a windowless, ill-heated, poorly lighted, temporary Butler-type building, with less than 60 percent of the needed space. Continued use, especially with the increased aircraft, would adversely affect our maintenance.

The new facility we feel should reduce our aircraft downtime, and contribute to flying safety.

On page 139, sir, we have the last item requested here in connection with the air mission.

This is for an airfield service road and vehicular parking at the airfield.

At present there are no all-weather roads to the site. The vehicles for the 700 men to be assigned for duty, plus transit vehicles, plus trucks servicing the complex, require a hard-surface access and parking for the year-round functioning of the airfield.

We have some pretty rugged weather there in the wintertime, sir. Senator SYMINGTON. Very well.

Major General SHULER. The next item, sir, is not at the airfield, but is for the post proper, at page 140.

Senator SYMINGTON. What is your total investment at Carson? Major General SHULER. The total investment there, sir, is $66,684,000. That includes the land and all the cost of constructing what we have there now.

MOTOR REPAIR SHOPS

This next item, on page 140, is for four-motor repair shops and facilities.

The existing World War II shops, with narrow doors, thin slabs, and old marginal-type wash and grease racks, and other related facilities, cannot support either the size or number of track and wheeled vehicles now authorized.

Over 1,000 wheeled vehicles plus about 700 track vehicles require these new facilities for unit level maintenance. Such maintenance performed outdoors is especially difficult, and often erratic, during the bad weather we have there during the winter.

Again, sir, we are very desirous of having our combat equipment at tiptop operating shape, and we feel that proper maintenance facilities are a necessity to accomplish this.

Senator SYMINGTON. Very well. We will proceed.

AMMUNITION STORAGE

Major General SHULER. On page 142, sir, still at Fort Carson: This item would provide six ammunition storage igloos for $439,000. At present, about two-thirds of the high explosives are in open storage and subject to deterioration from the elements. The remaining third is covered space, and it violates safety-quantity distance criteria.

Some of the present igloos are shored to prevent them from collapsing.

Over 125 tons of high explosive and chemical ammunition must be stored to train the 5th Infantry Division and its supporting units. Senator SYMINGTON. Very well.