The U. S. Army Aviation Systems Support Center (USAASSC) provides heavy,
fixed-base aviation maintenance support to USAREUR aircraft and processes
aircraft components and avionics into and out of USAREUR. Facilities
now used by USAASSC at Sandhofen are pre-WWII structures which are
grossly inadequate for its mission. Shop facilities are widely dispersed,
plant layouts are antiquated, and the supporting runway does not meet
minimum safety standards. Inbound/outbound processing of aviation items
must be supported at the Ramstein Aerial Port which is 65 miles from
Sandhofen.

USAREUR can improve its aviation maintenance by utilizing the existing hangars, runways, shops, and other facilities at Sembach Air Base. Sembach is only 12 miles from the Ramstein Aerial Port. Approximately $7.2 million MCA funds would be required to provide adequate facilities at Sandhofen. Facilities vacated at Sandhofen will be used by aviation units which currently have inadequate hangar space.

If this project is not approved, Army aircraft maintenance in Europe will be adversely affected and a more efficient shipment of aircraft components between the aerial port and the maintenance facility cannot be obtained.

This project is required to provide JP-4 aircraft fuel storage and dispensing facilities at the Hanau POL supply point, which furnishes day-to-day fuel. supplies to US Army aviation units in the Frankfurt-Hanau area, Germany. US Army aircraft that now use AVGAS are being replaced with aircraft using JP-4 fuel.

The monthly JP-4 fuel requirement to support 8 aircraft units with a total of 105 aircraft plus additional transient aircraft is 385,000 gallons. The additional storage requested would increase the level of supplies to approximately 10 days.

The present storage capacity of 47,000 gallons constitutes three days of supply. Additional storage capacity is urgently needed to meet both mission and safety requirements. Without the additional storage it may become necessary to store and dispense fuel from railroad tank cars positioned adjacent to inhabited buildings which is a safety hazard and an uneconomical operation.

Fuel shortages will limit the operational capabilities of these aviation units and will increase the turn around time for rail tank cars.

Prefinancing is not planned for this project as it is not within an established NATO Infrastructure category for common funding.

This project is required to prevent contamination of waterways as a result of drippage and/or accidental spillage which sometimes occurs at POL and vehicle servicing areas. The listed installations do not have adequate equipment to prevent petroleum products from being washed into adjoining bodies of water along with storm run off or vehicle wash. water. Installations requiring new oil separation equipment are located at Grafenwoehr, Sandhofen, Kaiserslautern, Ludwigsburg, Gross Auheim, Bad Hersfeld, Friedrichsfeld, Bamburg and Augsburg. Failure to construct these improvements will result in continued violation of the pollu- · tion control standards of the Federal Republic of Germany and/or appropriate local authority.

The status of Forces Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany
(FRG) and the US Government requires compliance with the pollution
control requirements of either government, whichever is the most
stringent. Currently the FRG requirements are more stringent than those
of the US concerning oil pollution. At each of the installations in
this project oil-saturated earth has had to be removed to a depth of
as much as 2 feet and trucked to an appropriate disposal area. In
addition many POL storage areas do not have containment dikes, which
is a requirement of the FRG. Civilian firms are required to provide
concrete dikes for such facilities.

Serious high level complaints have been made and pressure exerted to have deficiencies corrected at each of the installations in this project. Disapproval of the project can only lead to continued complaints, harassment and adverse publicity against the US Army.

This project is required to provide administrative space for the HQ
EAMTMTS presently located at the Military Ocean Terminal, Brooklyn,
N. Y. MOT Brooklyn is excess to DOD requirements and is only partially
utilized by DOD activities for administrative functions.

Alternative uses of the area and facilities include Postal Service plans for a large modern mail handling plant and City of New York plans for modernization and expansion of the water front. Each of these activities will generate additional investment and employment and optimize utilization of a potentially valuable and limited strategic resource.

The current annual cost of operation and maintenance of facilities under the present austere basis is 1.9 million. If the DOD activities remain at MOT Brooklyn, major rehabilitation of the utilities systems must be accomplished. Numerous power outages and water line breaks have disrupted operations repeatedly. Additional expenditures are required to correct serious hazardous conditions. Minimum rehabilitation will add .7 million a year to the annual operating costs for the next five years.

Consolidation of the activities in existing facilities at MOT Bayonne will permit a savings of $1,840,000 annually by reduction in civilian and military manpower spaces, equipment rental costs, and maintenance costs for unoccupied facilities. The cost avoidance of $3,500,000 for rehabilitation of MOT Brooklyn (prorated at .7 million for five years) brings the annual savings to 2.5 million a year.

Emergency repair and maintenance continue to occur. The hazardous concrete spalling condition that was reported last year is under repair at a cost of $186,000. An additional dangerous condition now being surveyed for project submission is the 66 feet by 740 feet glass skylight in building B. Because of age and deterioration to the metal framing, glass panels, two feet by five feet have fallen to the work dock below. There are 86 panels, broken. cracked or missing. Many steel support members are rusted out. Minimum austere repairs to correct this hazard is estimated at $182,000. Estimated repair requirements for the next five years is $500,000.

Approval of this project will thus result in a total savings to the Government of $2,500,000 annually, elimination of extremely poor and hazardous working conditions, and an opportunity to generate considerable new employment and economic development in the New York port facility.

Installation: Military Ocean Terminal, Bayonne, N. J.

This line item is related to Line Item 37 Administrative Facilities for Relocation of DOD Activities. The cost of this project is included in the savings listed on Line Item 37 Justification Sheet.

This project is required to provide electric power to a warehouse building proposed for conversion to Administrative Space (Line Item 37). The electric services required are to operate office lighting, office equipment, accounting machines, computer and communications equipment, new passenger elevators and air conditioning.

The requirement for power to support the relocation exceeds the capacity of the existing electrical system at the installation.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

STATEMENT OF REAR ADMIRAL J. R. FISHER, CEC, USN, NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND

ACCOMPANIED BY:

CAPTAIN P. J. WATSON, USN, NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEER-
ING COMMAND

COMMANDER J. W. WEIR, CEC, USN, NAVAL FACILITIES EN-
GINEERING COMMAND

COMMANDER J. B. GROFF, CEC, USN, NAVAL FACILITIES EN-
GINEERING COMMAND

DR. S. L. FRIESS, NAVAL RESEARCH, MEDICAL RESEARCH
INSTITUTE

PREPARED STATEMENT

Senator YOUNG. The Department of the Navy is next. You have a short statement.

Admiral FISHER. I am Rear Adm. J. R. Fisher, Civil Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

It is a privilege to review the Navy's fiscal year 1973 military construction appropriation budget request with the committee.

Brig. Gen. M. T. Jannel and other personnel, as shown on the witness list, are available to assist in the presentation of the program.

NAVY PROGRAM

Prior to discussing specific projects, I would like to briefly review this year's budget request. The budget requested new military construction authorization of $540,869,000 and appropriations of $554,200,000.

APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

The majority of projects for which appropriations are requested were reviewed by this committee during the hearings held jointly with the Military Construction Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The portion of our program remaining to be reviewed consists of: Three projects previously authorized for which funding is requested this year, three projects for continuing authorization, and four projects for which funding is requested under the restoration of damaged facilities authority of 10 U.S.C. 2673.

The program books before you include justification data for reviewing these projects.

SUMMARY

The projects included in this year's military construction budget are all high priority projects. We, therefore, solicit your support for a fully funded Navy military construction program.

We will be pleased to answer any questions of the committee, or we are prepared to start reviewing the projects.

Snator YOUNG. Are you asking for funds that are not authorized? Are all the funds that you are requesting authorized? Admiral FISHER. Yes, sir.

Senator YOUNG. What are you doing out at Bethesda ?

Admiral FISHER. It is a project for an Environmental Health Effects Laboratory.

Dr. FRIESS. We are in the first phase of the project, where we plan to acquire the long leadtime high pressure chamber complexes. The architect-engineer is on schedule on the 2d phase, and the laboratory building design is reaching the final stages of completion. As designed, it looks like a good building.

Senator YOUNG. This is a new building?

Dr. FRIESS. It is a new building.

This mission of the building is to do fundamental and applied research related to underwater biomedical studies, to do concussion and vibration studies and studies involving the effects of nonionizing radiation on man.

Senator YOUNG. This is for environmental problems?

Dr. FRIESS. All of this deals with environment problems associated with the imposition of military stresses on man, and how he accommodates to them.

MINOR CONSTRUCTION

Senator YOUNG. How much funding was received in fiscal year 1972 for minor construction projects?

Admiral FISHER. Ten million dollars.

Senator YOUNG. Were these funds sufficient?

Admiral FISHER. We had to reprogram $2.5 million. We also used from prior years unobligated funds of $3.1 million.

Senator YOUNG. What was the $2.5 million used for?

Admiral FISHER. To authorize various minor construction projects. We reprogramed funds from our regular military construction pro

gram.

Senator YOUNG. What was the estimated value of these projects? Admiral FISHER. $13.6 million.

Senator YoUNG. That was total cost?

Admiral FISHER. Yes, sir.

Senator YOUNG. How many projects including those approved in prior years were funded in fiscal year 1972 ?

Admiral FISHER. Eighty-seven projects, sir, at $11.8 million.
Senator YOUNG. Do you expect this trend to continue?

Admiral FISHER. Yes, sir; we do.

Senator YOUNG. At about the same level?

Admiral FISHER. Yes, sir; about the same level as it has been in the past.

Senator YOUNG. What were the factors that led to the funding of so many projects in fiscal year 1972 ?