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"PRIME” EXAMPLE*
Captain Walter S. DeLany, Jr., U. S. Navy Associate Editor
130 "Prime” Example
By Captain W. Robert McDowell,
U. S. Navy
135 Ocean Mining
By Manfred G. Krutein
140 Retention of Enlisted Men
By Captain Robert W. Dickieson,
U. S. Navy
142 The Role of the Maintenance Support Office
By Lieutenant Commander Chester R. Oberg,
U. S. Navy
As a highly important part of the Navy’s over-all Project Prime concept, the Naval Air Training Command (CNATra), was selected as the field-test complex for a one-year evaluation of the Resources Management System (rms). Commencing on 1 July 1967, with the Naval Air Station, Pensacola (NASP), participating as the designated pilot-program activity, the principles of Project Prime received their first realistic application in an operating environment. For Navy personnel, including those who may not normally identify themselves with such aspects of management control, the results are significant and promising. (The author was Commanding Officer of NASP, during the pilot program.)
NASP, an industrial station with 3,100 military and civilian personnel, supports 20 tenant activities, including the Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF), the largest, employing approximately 5,000 persons. The Station’s total working population is approximately 15,000, half military and half civil service. Services provided by the Station range from boat and air field operation, to supply and data processing.
Experience with RMS over the past year has emphatically pointed out the Navy’s urgent need for a manpower data collection and reporting system. One of the most significant problems in manpower management in the Navy has been the lack of a common-use performance and requirements reporting system. Numerous workload and resources evaluation systems have been applied segmentally in the Navy, but unfortunately, there has been a considerable lack of uniformity 111 application and a dearth of widely used standards. Furthermore, these systems have
I
* See R. H. Guinn, “Project Prime 69,” pp. 50-57, this issue.
been unrelated to the primary controlling factor—the operating budget.
The Resources Management System provides this urgently needed manpower management tool. Its vast superiority over any other performance-measuring system, used to date in the Navy, lies in the fact that it effectively brings together financial data and work units, plus manhour measures. Under RMS, reports of performance compare actual output and expenses within the limits of the operating budget. RMS is a fully integrated system, Which provides data to support current plans, future budgets, and workload and manpower Projections.
Under the Department of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy, there are nine major RMS programs: (1) strategic forces, (2) general purposes forces, (3) special activities, (4) airlift-sealift, (5) guard reserve forces, (6) research and development, (7) logistics, (8) Personnel support, and (9) administration. The Naval Air Training Command falls into category (8), personnel support. This category is further broken down into three program elements: command and staff, special training, and flight training. CNATra falls Under flight training.
The Chief of Naval Air Basic Training Command (CNABaTra), which is a functional command under CNATra, further develops the personnel support category with five “responsibility centers.” Pensacola is one °f the five. As a responsibility center, NASP has 14 “cost centers,” which are divided into f45 sub-cost centers. Through this organizational chain, the data which are collected by Job orders, through the sub-cost centers, are assembled, consolidated, and then fed back as Part of major program Number 8.
The cost centers at NASP are aligned with the Station’s normal departmental organization. The Comptroller is the RMS officer. The departments perform the input functions and the computer does the work. RMS does not require a computer to support the system, but at a large station like NASP, with the numer- °us cost centers and sub-cost centers, computer support is essential.
NASP performs the RMS accounting and data processing for all of CNATra, which in- ciudes Advanced Training and Technical Training, and the Basic Training Command.
Difficulties encountered in the implementation of RMS were not great. The new system required training of personnel to enter inputs, and to use the reports effectively. As in most transitions to data processing, there was a reluctance to place reliance on the machine reports and drop the manual records; consequently, there had to be an educational process. It was most advantageous therefore to talk RMS with the department heads on a continuing basis.
Under RMS, an accelerated degree of management awareness was achieved at all levels. The extensive visibility, or awareness, provided by RMS will make better managers because the use of resources is completely identified, and measured in terms of efficiency, and too, the weak manager is quickly identified. Moreover, at NASP, vastly improved fund control was also realized. Not only were weekly balances available to the cost centers, but the reliability of these balances has been significantly improved over previous methods. This is due to the manager’s ability to verify charges against his account each week.
Because RMS provides the means of identifying the effects of adding or retracting funds from cost centers, the commanding officer is better able to recognize varying needs and to shift resources to meet higher priority workloads. Without this type of management ability, activities might well state a new high priority workload, beyond their capability, while continuing to perform a much lower priority function. An example at NASP was the substantial increase in data processing reports required by higher authority, to support other commands such as the NARF, Air Systems Command, and Supply Systems Command. Where earlier, the Data Processing Department was producing 450 reports per week, the requirement has grown to 1,200 with practically no additional supporting military or civilian billets provided to cope with the new workload. Consequently, it was the Command’s responsibility to reassign, to the degree feasible, station resources from lower priority functions to be applied to data processing.
Under the test program, several working documents are produced by the computer, for the Station:
• The Weekly Fund Status Report. This is like a check book account, showing, by cost center and sub-cost center, the resources consumed, material, and labor, by job order. New balances are brought forward. This report eliminates paper and pencil records and permits cost centers to verify charges against their account. The importance of this verification cannot be over-emphasized, because it is the foundation for validity within the entire system.
• The Monthly Job Order Summary. This report summarizes all costs, material, and labor, for the past month, by job order. It also totals the cost, by job order for the fiscal year, to date. This job order system provides the command with almost unlimited flexibility. For example, NASP has four tugs. If the command desires to know the labor and material costs for maintaining the bilges, a job order is established. The cost of maintaining the bilges is then carried as a separate job order under the operating costs of the sub-cost center of the Port Services, under the cost center of the Operations Department. If at any time the command wishes to terminate this lower increment of cost-capturing, the job order is eliminated, and the costs will be applied a level higher, at the sub-cost center.
Getting into too much detail could be overimplementation of RMS, and would not be
worth the effort. In most cases, however, the command can control, and avoid, this undesirable feature of over-implementation.
Two new monthly reports have been implemented because they were considered extremely important to effective manpower management. They are the Operating Budget and Expense Report, an example of which is seen in Figure 1, and the Performance Statement, Figure 2. The latter actually breaks down further, or continues, the first report.
An important item to note is that under RMS, whenever the military-on-board count exceeds the activity’s military allowance, the dollar value of the military services over the authorized allowance is recaptured at the CNO level. As a result, the activity’s operating budget is reduced. The reduction in operating funds then requires the activity to re-program funds in the areas of civilian labor, material, and supplies or commercial contracts.
For the first time in the Navy, there is a capability of reducing the manpower requirements to zero base. Through the breakdown of functions into cost accounts with associated work units, the manpower required to maintain the activity in a caretaker status can be defined.
Figure 2. Performance Statement
BUDC | ET CLASSIFICATION | EXPENSES | WORK UNITS | |||||||
FUNC/SUB FUNC CAT | COST ACCOUNT | DESCRIPTION | ACTUAL | ANNUAL BUDGET | NORM 13% TO BUDGET | ACTUAL | ANNUAL BUDGET | NORM 13% TO BUDGET | ACTUAL UNIT COST | standard UNIT COST |
ID | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | (8) | (9) | (10) | (11) |
D 1 D 1 | 1C 40 1C 50 | ACCOUNTING PAYROLL | SI 3,660 | $74,000 | 19 | 1,303 | 7,239 | 18 | $10.44 | $9.52 |
Figure X. Operating Budget and Expense Report
|
|
|
| MAN | CUMULATIVE EXPENSES | |||||||
FUNC CAT | ACCOUNT |
| UNITS |
|
| MILITARY | CIVILIAN |
|
| OTHER | TOTAL EXPENSE | UNFILLED ORDERS |
|
|
|
| MILITARY | CIVILIAN | SERVICES | LABOR | & SUPPUES | CONTRACTS | |||
(D | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | IT) | (8) | (9) | 00) | 01) | 02) | 03) |
D 1 D 1 | 1C 40 1C 50 | ACCOUNTING PAYROLL | 1,303 | 1,900 | 2,400 | $6,500 | $7,110 | $50 |
|
| $13,660 | $102 |
For example, NASP, in a caretaker status, would not require such cost centers as Industrial Relations, Comptroller, Data Processing)
Supply, Dental, and Operations. However, Cost Center Security would be required 'ytth the cost accounts police and fire divisions. Also, the cost center facilities functions "'Quid be required with cost accounts limited l° such areas as the maintenance of fences, 'valls, and gates, the contract supply of electricity, water, and sewage, and the maintenance of fire-fighting and police equipment a°d vehicles.
When the desired degree of operation of the Nation, above caretaker status, is defined, then the cost in manpower for each function t° be added through the established work 1,1111/cost account system would be identified.
A major advantage of RMS is that total c°sts are presented, including material and Contracts, as well as military and civilian Manpower, and it provides a standard system, Navy-wide. RMF moves the manpower requirements justification from an area of general terms, in round numbers, to relating tte requirements to specifics. This process is actually resolved to only three debatable fac- tors'—the number and category of work units to be accomplished; the standard unit cost for each category of work unit; and the environmental deviation factor for the work unit at a particular station. Most important is that all three are quantitative measures that readily bring into focus any area of disagreement in defining and justifying manpower requirements.
To provide a common line of communication down to the sub-cost centers and the first line supervisors, NASP has incorporated a Work Unit Performance Chart, an example of which is provided in Figure 3. It is maintained at the subcost center level, with data from the RMS Performance Statement Report.
Understanding and involvement at the subcost center level in these uncomplex, but essential elements, are required to produce the improved management that is required. Line managers, at all levels, are better able to self-analyze their performance. A common language is now available in determining manpower requirements, and authorizing or disapproving overtime. Temporary shifting of employees, from low workload areas to surging workload areas, is better understood. A line of communications, in a common language, has been established, from the workshop up the line of control. Line managers will not only recognize when they have a problem, but also will be motivated to take corrective action, or request assistance as necessary, from the Position Management Staff.
Obviously, the work in progress by the NASP Position Management Staff is extremely important to the proper implementation of RMS. Work units, as set forth by the RMS Manual, are being studied for their validity and reliability. It is essential that the work units effectively represent the workload, and recommendations for additions or changes to the work units may be submitted to the Navy Comptroller (NavCompt). Of the 154 Nav- Compt work units applicable to NASP, 105 have been reviewed. Eleven will require modification for greater effectiveness.
Manhour formulae are being developed for each category of work unit. The establishing of time allowances for the various work units is essential to permit the translation of workload into required manpower.
Standard work unit costs are being developed, and the NavCompt instructions state that they may be prescribed later by higher authority. It is considered highly desirable that Navy-wide standard work unit costs be established to the degree feasible. This could provide the much needed norm in developing manpower requirements.
With the information now available in the RMS system, it is apparent that there is an excellent base for forecasting manpower requirements under varying workloads. Manpower forecasting planning factors for each category of work units, however, must be developed.
Two major factors affect the workload for NASP—the pilot training rate and the industrial work load. Therefore, two forecasting planning factors are required for each work unit at Pensacola. For example, work units for the BOQ are closely related to the pilot training rate, but independent of the industrial workload. Too, work units in Supply are more directly affected by changes in the industrial workload, than by changes in the pilot training rate. And, while work units for fire protection are relatively stable, and independent of changing workloads, the work units in the Pay Office are closely related to both the pilot training rate and the industrial manning level.
Planning factors for each area of work units will provide an excellent Resources Requirements model, which will compute the resources required to support various workloads- As mentioned earlier, we now have the ability to determine our “zero base” requirements. Properly determined planning factors will eliminate all those functions not required for a station in caretaker status, and will indicate those which are essential. The Resources Re' quirements model will build the costs, by work units, as tasks are added to the station.
Although not a requirement of RMS, experience in managing an industrial station has proven that the commanding officer must continuously be aware of the stationwide priority of functions being performed. The most effective means of achieving this is to maintain a list of 5 per cent each of the military and the civilian billets, in order of lowest priority. Without such analysis, there is too high a probability that a station will take the position of being unable to perform a neW higher priority task, while continuing to expend resources in an area of much lower priority.
Axiomatic to effective operations in the federal government, as well as in civilian industry, is the goal of increased productivity; and at NASP, the results of this effort are encouragingly evident. During the period
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from August 1966 to May 1968, the pilot training rate was increasing 60 per cent com currently with an increase in the industrial workload of approximately 50 per cent. Most of the new workload could not be supported by new resources from higher authority. Therefore, it was essential that the Station significantly increase productivity, in all areas, in order to reassign resources to accomplish this new requirement. A vigorous management engineering program was conducted by the NASP Position Management staff, with the result that 136 civilian positions and 10^ military billets were reassigned to areas of higher priority and heavier workload. The reassignments of these positions were in addition to those reassignments identified by the line managers. In addition, requests for an
additional 72 civilian and 24 military positions by departments were voided through Position Management action. While the absence of the type work units, still being devel- °ped, prevents a precise calculation of the '"creased productivity, the best measures bailable indicate that a 24 per cent increase lr> productivity was realized by the Station °ver this 22-month period. The normal expected increase in productivity at an industrial complex should be approximately the same as for civilian industry, that is, three per cent per year.
Standardized implementation at other stations is highly desirable, and can be achieved by developing deviation factors to provide for environmental differences. For example, a smaller station may not have the mechanization or facility to produce a work unit at the standard unit cost. Therefore, the deviation factor could measure this difference for each aPpropriate work unit. Therein would be provided a recognized quantitative measure. Once Navy-wide standard unit costs are established, problem areas in efficiency of °Peration are readily identified.
One disadvantage of RMS could result from the high degree of “upward” visibility it proves, and possible loss of command control over resources; however, this should not occur tf there are effective managers at the station fevel. To be effective managers, they must have the visibility, the feedback on employment of resources compared to the plan, the flexibility, and the identification of areas of efficiency, or inefficiency, provided by RMS.
Through the RMS, commanding officers "'ll! be able to identify and reward the efficient manager. At present, this is practically llTlpossiblc, owing to the lack of adequate standards. Through the Work Unit Performance chart, the interest, motivation, and '"'demanding provided at all levels of management, including the employees performing 'he work, should produce the most significant c°st reduction program in the Navy. The commanding officer will also have, for the "rst time, a recognized quantitative means of relating new tasks and workload to the additional resources required to accomplish the Vv°rk. When fully operational, RMS more clearly places the responsibility on higher authority, either to provide the additional resources for accomplishing a new workload, or to identify whichever present tasks are to be reduced or eliminated.
For those who may logically anticipate an involvement with, and substantial benefits from, the early Navy-wide implementation of RMS, the significant improvements recorded during this pilot-program at NASP should be heartening evidence that here, in fact, is the urgently needed management tool which the military has been seeking. All the elements needed to produce an effective manpower management program are now at hand—■ from this point on, the success of the program will be measured by the perceptive application of these elements at every level of responsibility throughout the Navy.
OCEAN MINING
Mining, one of man’s earliest efforts to obtain natural resources, has moved into the sea. No longer restricted to the land mass of our planet, mining has entered a new era as technology enables man to advance into the ocean to tap its tremendous resources. And while his current progress can be likened to limited, exploratory scratching, there is sufficient evidence of his capability for exploitation to warrant a review which may be used as the basis for evaluation of future potential.
Not considering offshore oil exploitation, which is receiving wide attention of late, ocean mining can be placed in three categories: extracting minerals from sea water, dredging minerals from the sea floor, and mining underground below the sea floor. Understandably, these operations are undertaken in many areas of the world, as shown on the chart on page 137.
Three main questions that are often asked about ocean mining, and which cannot be fully answered because of the lack of information are: How are minerals mined from the ocean floor? What do ocean mining vessels look like? What boats are used for ocean mining surveys?
Extraction of minerals from sea water does not require use of ships. This process is accomplished in plants ashore, by pumping huge quantities of sea water through pipelines for chemical treatment. Underground mining below the sea can be done from the land, by extending the land mining field to areas under the sea. However, underground mining below the sea from ships through the water, requires much development.
The mining methods used for collecting minerals from the sea floor are, in general, the same methods that have been used to dredge harbors and rivers during the last few decades. They are summarized here:
Dredging and Ocean Mining Methods
Type | Working Depth | Nature of Bottom |
Bucket Ladder | {in feet) -150 | Medium Hard Rock |
Dragline | -150 | U nconsolidated |
Clamshell | -200 | Unconsolidated |
Hydraulic | -100 | Medium Hard Rock |
Hydrojet | -200 | U nconsolidated |
Air Lift |
| Unconsolidated |
Ocean mining operations are still restricted to relatively shallow depths (50 to 150 feet), and take place near the coast. The dredges are usually of the bucket ladder or suction (hydraulic) type, which are, in principle, the same as those built at the beginning of this century. However, small improvements have made them very useful devices, but only in calm weather and close to the coast.
In some areas, grab dredges are used. Their clamshells, which resemble two bucket halves, are lowered into the water, where they bite into the ground and then lift the material to be dumped into a barge. Bucket ladder or hydraulic dredges are preferred because of continuous and almost uniform output. For their effective use, however, the ship’s motion must be precisely continued in order to maintain constant contact with the sea floor. Hydrojets, which are often connected to the lower end of the suction pipe, act as boosters and allow hydraulic dredges to work at higher efficiency levels, or to permit deeper dredging. Airlifts, which use compressed air, pumped down into the suction line to raise water and solids to the surface, have been tried on various occasions. They have shown less efficiency than other methods and have been replaced.
The selection of the best dredging method depends upon many factors, including environmental conditions of sea and ocean floor and operating requirements, such as production rate and on-board processing. Clamshell dredges have the lowest mining rates, because lowering and hoisting require the most time in the operation cycle, and output decreases with greater depth. In general, clamshell dredges allow 100 to 500 cubic yards per hour. Bucket ladder dredges are built in many sizes, and their mining rate ranges from 50 to 700 cubic yards per hour- Buckets with a capacity of one-to-18 cubic feet are used, although their number and the resulting weight can be a disadvantage. Ladder and buckets on board the world’s largest tin dredge Bangka /, weigh about 700 tons, restricting operation of the dredge to calm seas. Suction dredges are also available in many sizes, with outputs that vary from 100 to 5,000 cubic yards per hour.
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The machinery on board dredges requires powerplants of up to 4,000 h.p. for bucket ladder dredges, and up to 10,000 h.p. for hydraulic dredges. The vessels supporting dredging equipment move slowly, and often swing back and forth to guarantee optimum bucket-filling. For this reason, they can be simply built, often consisting only of rectangular barge bodies with minimum freeboards. However, if they are also used as transport vessels to carry the mined material to shore, they must be built as regular shaped ships for cruising at higher speed. This latter hull configuration also improves seakeeping properties for the proper mining work. Ocean mining ships are tailored to their specific intended use. The non-self-propelled tin dredge Bangka I, built in 1965 at Glasgow, Scotland, was towed more than 9,000 miles to Indonesia, where it is working some 10 miles off the coast. The dredge is designed to dig and treat 420,000 cubic yards of material per month of 600 hours or about 1,000 tons of
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lln per year, at a maximum dredging depth °f 130 feet. To maneuver during dredging, the craft uses several anchor lines, a winch 'vith eight drums, and another winch for bucket ladder depth control. The hull of the dredge is 300 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 16 ^et deep. The bucket ladder is 230 feet long and carries 142 buckets, each of 18-cubic-foot Opacity. It is operated from a control room, 'vhich is in a raised position on the starboard Slde forward. The winches are controlled Pneumatically, and the bucket drive by electrical switch-gear. Automatic recording Sear includes ladder depth, bucket stoppage, and speed indicators. The operator is linked by telephone to the powerhouse, engine room, Screen, and main drive platform, and shore contact is maintained by radio telephone. The tin ore is concentrated aboard the dredge a complex processing plant. Overflowing 'vaste passes directly through the tailings discharge chutes and back into the sea.
Similar in appearance, is the suction dia-
mond dredge Pomona. Her hull is 285 feet long, 60 feet wide, and she has a 16-foot draft. Her powerplant consists of two 4,480- h.p. diesel engines and two smaller 750-h.p. engines, and provides power for the dredge and digging water pumps for the extensive equipment of the diamond recovery plant, and for the accommodations of the 120-man crew. Pomona has a maximum digging depth of 100 feet. The vessel is moved by winches and anchor lines during the dredging operation, but there is an emergency propulsion plant, capable of driving her at 2 knots. The barge is also equipped with a heliport. In diamond dredging, diamonds are obtained almost in their final form. This permits the discharge of waste materials, which are more than 99 per cent of the material actually dredged, back into the sea.
Another type of diamond dredge is the self-propelled Ontginner I, which is 190 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 16 feet deep. The dredging of diamond-bearing gravel takes
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place while the ship moves slowly between four heavy mooring buoys. This enables the vessel to cover the complete area between the buoys. The dredge is fitted with four warping winches for this purpose, and special navigation equipment gives the ship’s location within two feet of her actual position.
The dredging gear consists of a 14-inch suction line. This pipe dredges the material, after it is loosened by a heavy water stream coming out of pressure nozzles. When the
dredged material, consisting of 20 per cent j ful solids and 80 per cent water, is brought to the ; Ves;
surface, it enters a 30-ton weighing, sorting; > ls
and de-watering screen drum. Diamonds are suc separated from the dredged material, and the the waste is dumped overboard. lr°
Magnetite sand (more commonly called an iron sand), containing 56 per cent iron, ts , ^
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iron sand suction dredge is used. The 'essel measures about 196 feet by 50 feet, and ls equipped with a 1,000-h.p. cutter-type Suction system, which dredges the ore from !he sea floor and pumps it to shore. The lr°n is used for the production of sponge iron, and the dredge tailings are sold for land reclamation. Fifty million cubic meters can be P'Ped to fill in 12,250 acres.
Another project, which also takes place off Japan, is where sand and gravel are dredged
from the ocean floor for a huge industrial project. Twenty-two million cubic yards, dredged from the sea floor about 100 miles away, are being used for reclamation in the Osaka South Harbor.
Oyster shells are mined for cement production. Typical oyster shell mining operations are in San Francisco Bay, Galveston Bay, or Faxa Bay in Iceland. Oyster shell dredge operations generally do not include treatment of the material on the dredge vessel. The shell material is lifted from the sea floor, dumped into barges, and is transported to the cement plant ashore. A special dredge, the Mermaid II, which has been used for dredging gold in Alaska, is a converted minesweeper. She is 185 feet long, 33 feet in beam, and has a draft of 10 feet. Some dredging gear was installed for mining goldbearing sands, but the operation was unsuccessful.
The Kelmar, stationed in San Diego for harvesting kelp, is 118 feet long, 32 feet in beam, a draft of 10 feet when loaded with about 300 tons of kelp. This industry, one of the most unusual industrial developments of the present era, is the result of much research and scientific experimentation. Off the coast of California, there are large areas of sea vegetation which assimilate and store the valuable elements of the sea in high concentrations. With proper harvesting methods, there is a continuous supply of giant kelp for year-round operation. Trimming kelp at the surface permits the life-giving rays of sunlight to reach the young plants. Modern kelp harvesting takes the tops of the adult plants, cleaning the surface, so sunlight can promote new and heavier growth. After being cut, the kelp is hauled on the main deck and delivered to the processing plant.
For sulphur mining, a group of stationary platforms were built for use in the Gulf of Mexico at the Grand Isle sulphur mining facility. By a modification of what is known as
the Frasch process, heated sea water is used and pumped into the underwater deposit to melt the sulphur, which then rises to the surface. The sulphur is separated from the air and, still in a molten state, is pumped ashore in a heated submerged pipeline. As a result of this operation, the adjacent Gulf floor will setde slowly, and the existing permanent structures must then be relocated. However, floating dredges, such as the Floating Platform No. 3, a strange-looking craft built for sulphur mining, can remain on site longer, without need for the time-consuming relocation required with a permanent platform. As subsidence occurs, the structure is raised to a higher level by pumping water ballast from the giant flotation legs, after the grip on the platform anchoring spuds is released. At the raised level, a firm grip on the spuds is reestablished for anchorage and stability, and then operations continue unaffected by subsidence. This mobility permits more flexibility in choosing drilling sites.
The ships and structures described are used for mining operations, and could be said to represent the first-generation. These will be followed by second-generation vehicles, which must be designed for operations of the future. Beach sand mining or work in shallow water could be accomplished from “walking” or “bottom-crawling” platforms. The author proposes a flip-ship dredge for mining on the continental shelf. The dredging gear would be suspended from the ship’s stern, in a vertical position to the ocean floor. The horizontal position would be used for maintenance work, and for moving the ship over long distances. For deep-sea mining, submersible elevator- barges have been proposed. They are lowered to the sea floor, loaded, and returned to the surface by controlling their buoyancy either by gas or lightweight liquids.
What will be mined in the future? It can only be assumed that phosphorite and manganese nodules will ultimately be recovered from deep-sea areas, in addition to what is presently mined. These nodules could provide the fertilizer and metallurgical industries with needed minerals, such as phosphorus, nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese.
The findings of oceanographers must be refined by further exploration, before ocean mining operations can be used to full advantage. Mapping of the sea floor, recording water depths, investigating sea floor soil conditions, and systematic sampling of the bottom, are most important to the future of ocean mining.
The work of the oceanographer is enhancing the knowledge required to advance ocean mining, and hopefully in the neat future, the wide ocean areas of our plane1 may be fully utilized for the resources that are urgendy needed for industrial progress and development.
RETENTION OF ENLISTED MEN
It has long been the conviction of this author that the retention rate of the Navy men would go up significantly, if we paid more attention to the manner in which the families of our sailors are treated.
The task of re-enlisting a sailor is more than half accomplished if his wife is content with her lot in Navy society. A commanding officer has no control over the type and availability of housing, pay raises, tempo of operations, or any of the major points of unhappiness usually presented in opposition to re-enlistment. However, the following explains how he might handle those items over which he has some control.
The USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) is 3 Polaris submarine, homeported in Hawaii. I1 is realized that her stable patrol schedule and the priority in manpower given to the Polaris program, do influence the final results. Other units in the Navy could study this system and make the necessary modifications to suit their situations.
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bailable to the family until their own car drives. After directions have been given conCerning reporting for duty, the sponsor’s ,task is then finished. The wife and children ave been welcomed properly to Hawaii. At mis it
s)'mbols. As soon as the time and place of Arrival is known, a sponsor is then assigned.
Assigned” here should not imply to the reader that volunteers are not in abundant Sllpply. A person of near-equivalent rate and rating is assigned from the volunteers. The sPonsor makes the appropriate hotel reserva- tlQns from the list of TLA-approved (Temporary Lodging Allowance) dwellings. The sPonsors will even stock the refrigerator with a small supply of food, so that the arriving amily does not become involved in large festaurant bills immediately. On the day of Rrival, the sponsor is at the airport, or on the t^er, with the traditional Hawaiian greeting ^ aloha-leis for everyone. Luggage and amily are packed into a waiting car, and Quickly driven to their temporary quarters.
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point, the prospect of duty on board the arnehameha is no longer viewed with a great amount of apprehension.
Just before leaving Hawaii for Guam, and Mother patrol. I instructed each officer and Itlan to address an envelope to his wife or Rother, as appropriate, and turn it in to the mp’s office. In the envelopes, we enclose a sPccial letter and information to be sent home to ^e man’s family. Letters and memoranda sjmt home with the individual, rather than lr°ugh the mail, do not usually have a high Probability of being delivered. This has been recognized by humorists and cartoonists for a °ng time. Because this author feels that such a letter speaks for itself, it is included here in lts entirety. It is, of course, modified as neces- sarv before each patrol.
Dear Kamehameha Family,
In a few days we will depart for Guam to conduct our fourth upkeep and deterrent Patrol. This involves you as much as it does us. In order to make the separation from your husband or son as easy as possible for you, we have included in this letter a copy of “Dependent Information Notes.” I request that you
read the notes carefully and thoroughly, as they contain a wealth of information that may be useful to you.
The patrol we are about to embark upon is of vital importance to the United States and the Free World. Every member of the crew and each of you, through your love, loyalty, and support, are contributing to the defense and security of our country. I hope the knowledge of the important part you have in our lives will sustain you during the days of our absence.
While we are gone, I should like you to seek help from each other if any difficulties arise. Submarine families have established a proud tradition of being capable of solving their own problems and of helping each other when the situation requires it. In addition, I should be pleased if you planned your social activities with other Kamehameha families so that the number of lonely days may be reduced to a minimum.
I sail with a crew whose competence is without equal. I consider it a personal privilege to be able to make this additional patrol in the Kamehameha. It is a great source of pride to be numbered among men of the caliber of the Gold Crew. These men have stood steadfastly by our country during most trying times. While his contemporaries elsewhere in the country have been protesting, looting, burning, and causing national disgraces, your husband or son has demonstrated that he is made of the same fiber as the men who built our magnificent land. He has asked only for the opportunity to serve; he has not shouted defiance while hiding behind the liberty and freedom of speech won for him by men of previous generations. His actions will stand the test of time; his record will add honor to his family name.
A new service flag and service lapel button, for display and wear by the immediate family of servicemen, have been authorized by the Department of Defense. They will be for sale at the exchanges in the near future. I hope you will proudly display them. This a small step toward making outspoken patriotism popular again. The malcontents never hesitate to air their views. We can also. A quiet, dignified display of old-fashioned Americanism will lend added support to us at sea.
The Commander of the Submarine Force, Pacific congratulated us for the outstanding results of our last patrol. With your support we shall continue to accomplish our assigned mission and will return home, as before, proud men. Sincerely, . . .
do
an unfortunate fact that some of the wives
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The “Dependent Notes” referred to, are ten typewritten pages containing information we feel is necessary to help the family cope with the usual situations that arise, plus the inclusion of names and telephone numbers of people to be contacted if additional help is required. The Notes carefully explain the duties of the Submarine Personnel Information Center (PIC) located on the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor. The things the Center cannot do are also clearly defined. The Center will help, for instance, with religious, personal, and family counseling; but will not handle repairs to TV sets, automobiles, or household appliances. The PIC acts as a collection agency for familygrams and forwards them to the proper authority for transmission by radio to the ship on patrol.
By far, the items that receive the greatest attention from the wives are the familygram forms. Polaris submarines at sea cannot transmit mail, but they can receive messages by radio. Each wife, or mother, as appropriate, is permitted to send four familygrams per patrol. Each message may contain only 15 words, but the ladies have shown unexpected ability in expressing themselves briefly. On board the submarine, the familygrams are eagerly awaited.
Questions answered in the “Dependent Notes,” concern many subjects such as: medical care for dependents; emergency leave for the sailor; pay and advance pay; mail; personnel information files kept at the squadron office; familygrams; wills; powers of attorney; emergency assistance when the TV, car, or washer stop; automobile problems; telephone chain plan; obscene phone calls; unusual inquiries; and security.
Attached to the Notes is a directory of useful telephone numbers. It also includes a form to be used for announcing births, serious illness, or death in the family, and lastly, the familygram blanks.
Several of the subjects listed require explanation. The Submarine Force has a proud tradition of helping one another, and of attending social events together. To aid in “passing the word,” a telephone chain is established, so that each wife calls several others, and in a short time, everyone has the word. It is also a good way to ensure that no one is unintentionally isolated socially. Loneliness is difficult to contend with. Submarine wives, by planning such things as coffce*’ nights at the movies, or dinners, help eac other cope with the loneliness problem.
A method of dealing with obscene tee phone calls is also outlined in the Notes. I*-lS
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obscene calls during their husbands absence. Understandably, this is a frighten ing and disgusting experience to ladies. , Unusual inquiries about the husband’s sWP movements, his time away from home, 1 estimated time of return, or his duties on board ship are occasionally received by wveS' The way to deny the classified information tion to mentioning the proper security office1 s to be contacted immediately.
This is a working system that demonstrates
quite clearly to the Navy wife that she an her children are a vital part of the Navy an her husband’s profession. She has not been sc among strangers and forgotten. She soon n a large circle of friends, each of whom lS coping with similar problems. How does this affect her attitude toward her husband’s con tinuing his career in the Navy? Many factors enter into the statistics of re-enlistment rates- This author feels that the personal appr03^ 1 to the problem is largely responsible for 111 high re-enlistment rate maintained in 11 Submarine Force.
THE ROLE OF THE MAINTENANCE SUPPORT OFFICE
The 3-M program, short for Navy Materia Maintenance and Management System (NMMMS), grew out of the advances in tec 1 nology which created the complex weapon* | systems of today. Because of this, the NavN needed a simple and standard method 101 supporting these systems, and knowing when to maintain them. Simple—though weapons
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entive maintenance requirements in all T‘PS and aircraft of the operating forces. ^ ls system is self-contained, and does not ^ cPend upon other systems in the 3-M pro- rarn- It has reduced the overall need for ‘'eventive maintenance without degrading e reliability of the equipment. In other ?rc*sj preventive maintenance, as deter- Dned by PMS, can actually be accomplished j ^ ^'e people on board ship. PMS is important, 11 \kat it provides a known level of equipment ^aintenance. From this base, the Main- )iCnance Data Collection Sub-System can 'easure variations.
^ fhe Maintenance Data Collection Subsystem (MDCS) is an information system de- sned to improve the management of main- s^?ance and material support for aircraft and 'Ps through the collection of detailed infor- ^hon. The information is collected from . ree levels of maintenance: organizational, I lterntediate, and depot. Organizational CVel maintenance is shipboard or aircraft
^sterns were created by well-educated engi- 'leers, they must be maintained by men with '8h school educations. Standard—because of e cost of training a man as he moves from °ne ship to another, standardized procedures 'V('rc needed throughout the Navy. The gen- cral problem was given to George Washing- 0,1 University by the Office of Naval Research in January 1963. To help arrive at the est decisions, timely, accurate, and complete of back information was needed at all levels 0 Navy management. It was to meet this |lced for comprehensive data, and eventually
0 achieve an improved state of material ^adiness, that the Navy Maintenance and ‘ aterial Management System was conceived.
1 ls directed by the Chief of Naval Operations
executed by the Chief of Naval Material. ° *cies for the 3-M System are established by peering group of flag-rank officers from the ° nce 0f Gf Naval Operations, Chief
Naval Material, and all participating ^sterns commands. The 3-M System embraces ree distinct areas. One, a Planned Main- e*iance Sub-System (PMS); two, a Main- ^‘nance Data Collection Sub-System (MDCS), nj, lkrec, a Central Data Processing Facility, sh' 6 ^anne(i Maintenance Sub-System is a ‘Pboard management tool for maintenance nning and control that provides uniform
squadron maintenance; intermediate level maintenance is that maintenance done on the tender or repair ship level; and depot level maintenance is work that is done in shipyards, ammunition depots, and aircraft maintenance depots. The information received from these levels is processed by the Maintenance Support Office, and then made available to Fleet commanders, material bureaus, and others in the form of hard-copy reports, punch cards, or magnetic tapes.
identification by a computer of the item use1
sembled by hand from equipment lists an<
A related part of MDCS is a technique for workload planning and control on the intermediate level. This includes not only the documentation of material used and types of repair work done, but also local accounting for and manpower management through exception-time accounting methods. This means accounting for all man-hours not directly related to the accomplishment of maintenance and material requirements. The Workload Planning and Control System is used on tenders and repair ships as an integral part of the Repair Department management procedures. Expenditures of labor and material can be monitored and, in fact, the system develops a progress report on ship availabilities.
The Maintenance Support Office (MSO) was established in August 1964, as a central agency to process the vast amount of data collected under the 3-M System. It also issues information and analytical reports to the Chief of Naval Operations, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Fleet and type commanders, and the naval material support establishment. Specifically, MSO has the responsibility in the 3-M program for:
• Operating and maintaining a central data processing center.
• Supporting the Chief of Naval Operations in the management of the 3-M System.
• Providing the necessary information to determine resource requirements for weapons systems, ship and aircraft material readiness, and cost and effectiveness at all levels of weapons systems.
• Providing routine information reports to technical bureaus and Fleet activities.
• Developing and maintaining master files of 3-M data.
• Developing techniques for the co-ordination of 3-M data with inventory control-points, using such files as ships’ configurations, allowance lists, load lists, and wage rates.
• Providing information on the maintenance of the 3-M System.
The functions of each division of MSO help explain the overall mission of the Maintenance Support Office, and the part it plays in the 3-M System.
One of the primary functions of the Management Services Division is to maintain an activity cost accounting system and the distribution of reports and the Equipme1’1 Identification Code (EIC) Manual. The El( Manual, tailored for ships, lists a code fflt all equipment in the Navy which are iden11' fied by system, sub-system, equipment component, sub-assembly, and part, thus allowing in the maintenance. The EIG manual is aS" information contained in a ship’s Consol1' dated Allowance List (COSAL) Electronic 4110, and Ships Assignment Inventory Lis’ (SAIL). These records are designed to >'e' fleet a complete and accurate listing 0 equipment on board each ship.
The 3-M Program Co-ordinating Division ensures that the concepts of the 3-M program1 are adhered to by MSO. In addition, the DM' sion provides 3-M system designers the info1' mation needed to keep the data collection procedures compatible with those of the datJ bank and data processing.
The Management Liaison Division advise® on the progress of the Maintenance Supp0'1 Office. It further lends assistance in the estab' lishment of management reports. In essence this Division serves as liaison between the program managers in Washington and the Maintenance Support Office in Mechanics' burg, and the staff has offices with the con1' bined 3-M staff in Washington.
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program and reference publications. They also keep a technical library of all documeO' tation of production programs. This Division further makes a technical audit of products prior to their distribution by the Administra' tive Division. The Operations Research Div1' sion analyses the data of the 3-M program This ensures the validity of all MSO data; and by analytical efforts, continually watches the methods and techniques relative to the qual' ity, quantity, and timeliness of the Main' tenance Support Office.
The Maintenance Support Office has an assigned ceiling of 112 Civil Service employee5
The Systems Design Division is charge1 with the initiation of design, development! and programming of computer programs. The Systems Operations Division plans compute operations. This Division establishes the p1"0' cedures for the daily flow of magnetic tapeS’ programs, and information to and from the
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Rot so many years ago, shipboard maintenance lessons were shared as gray-haired
and three line officers. The data processing efiuipment includes three computers, a 360 ^odel 30, a 708, and a 1401, as well as stan- aard peripheral equipment. These, and their coupled random tape drive units, access disc :*rives, and tape drives, furnish adequate ardware for the immediate future of the laintenance Support Office. This equipment ^ manned and maintained by the Ships Parts °ntrol Center (SPCC) at Mechanicsburg. 'though the present equipment meets the CUrrent requirements for computer hardware, 11 ’s apparent that, for future employment of he 3-m data and its intended role in the Navy, additional and advanced equipment is going hi be required. The use of 3-M data has not een fully explored. The extent of data usage atld applications found will, in large part, etermine the final equipment configuration needed by MSO.
The Logistics Research Project of the Leorge Washington University, Washington,
• designed the initial programs and data andling system, and processed 3-M informa- h°n until January 1966, when MSO assumed ah these tasks on a continuing basis.
The 3-M System has been implemented in
the first months of 1968, an average of •h million cards per month were recorded, ms includes data from ships, aviation squad- ^°ns, and shipyards. This submission rate has Cen attained with an average error rate of °nly 6.3 per cent.
Over 530 products are now produced by yO- These include Type Commander Anal- ''Sls Reports, Composite Cost Analysis Re- p0rts, and Ship’s Material History Reports. Extension of the Maintenance Data Collec- °n Sub-System to the shipyards has commenced. This phase of the program requires uipyards to accept work requests of the 3-M ^Vstem. Reports using this data will be used y Fleet and shore facilities alike. When ex- ^ension of this data is completed, all three ,evels of maintenance effort will be included lri the 3-M System.
jv ^ comment made by Rear Admiral W. A. I’ockett, U. S. Navy, former Chief, Bureau of
engineer officers of sister ships met over coffee in log rooms or ward rooms, and the expertise of care and feeding the plant endured by dint of long-hour tours of duty. The idea of profiting from hard knocks is as old as man himself, but a more fluid and demanding technology plus the mobility of our human resources demands that we systemize the vast mass of experience for organizing the bits of data as to find the meaningful trends, share the lessons, and progress toward a higher level of effective resource of utilization and Fleet material readiness.
The history of management shows that great effort has gone into putting out “fires” rather than preventing them. Previous reporting systems were collecting 40 to 50 maintenance actions per month; ships are now reporting as high as 500 to 600 actions per month in both preventive and corrective maintenance. Thus, there is no difficulty in getting the Fleet to report the bulk of their maintenance actions. With this amount of data, however, the days of manual manipulation are past. The vast amounts of data could strangle managers without reaping any benefits, unless the Navy adopts an acceptable attitude toward products of the computer. As a tool of management, the Maintenance Data Collection Sub-System, properly used, will enable Navy managers at all levels to act rather than to react to problems. Data from the 3-M program can be used for such management operations as: forecasting of maintenance budgets; determining material requirements; developing an optimum maintenance policy; relating material support needs to a maintenance policy; determining personnel and training requirements; identifying deficiencies in equipment design and sources of future breakdowns; developing and scheduling design changes and modifications; scheduling ship and aircraft overhauls; evaluating the effectiveness of return and repair cycles, and reducing turn-around time; and revising the levels of inventories in ships, tenders, and shore facilities, and in the repair pipeline.
The Navy Maintenance and Material Management—the 3-M—System ushers in a new management era which, through wholehearted and co-operative participation, will bring improved Fleet readiness.
Progress
World’s Largest—The oil carrier Universe Ireland, built in Japan for the Bantry Bay Transportation Company, has a deadweight of 326,585 tons and a loaded displacement of 375,811 tons. The ship has an overall length of 1,132 feet, a speed of 15 knots, and carries a a crew of 53 men.
Gulf Oil Corporation
Underwater Salvage—This is an artist’s concept of the Deep Dive System (DDS) Mk I chamber complex, for salvage and recovery work at depths to 850 feet, and decompression capabilities for depths to 1,000 feet. The DDS Mk I can support four men, functioning as two- man diving teams, at the working depth for periods of up to 14 days. Two divers descend in the Personnel Transfer Capsule (PTC), which detaches from the chamber complex, and can work alternately on-site for four hours before returning to the DDS.
FMC Corporation
The Twister—This eight- wheel-drive, two-bodied vehicle, was built for the Army for high-speed, allweather, all-terrain use. The five-ton vehicle, powered by a 270-h.p. gasoline engine with automatic transmission, can accelerate from a stop to 45 mph. in 18 seconds, and reaches a top speed of more than 65 mph.
Lockheed
New Class—Shown here in a simulated decontamination washdown, this new oiler-supply ship, the USS Wichita (AOR-1), is the first of six in the underway replenishment fleet oiler class, designed for rapid supply of fuel, ammunition, missiles, food and other provisions to combat ships. The 659-foot, $27-million ship, capable of carrying 8,900,000 gallons of fuel, has a displacement of 37,360 tons and a 20-knot speed capability.
General Dynamics
Orbital Switchboard— Launched on 9 February 1969 from Cape Kennedy, this experimental Tactical Communications Satellite (TacComSat), is presently in a synchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. Carrying a cluster of antennas on top of its two-story, soup-can body, the 1,600-pound system is capable of radiating signals that can be received by all types of ground terminals. Built for the Department of Defense, it will be tested for feasibility of communicating with small mobile stations, aircraft, and ships at sea. Hughes Aircraft Corporation
Notebook
U. S. Navy
s Policy Set for U. S. Reconnaissance Ships
(Richard H. Boyce in Washington News, 1 January 1969) Officials of the Departments of State and Defense, working with the government intelligence community, six months after the Pueblo was seized, completed a study which sets forth detailed rules for the operation and protection of intelligence-gathering vessels. No such co-ordinated procedure was in effect before the Pueblo seizure 23 Tanuary 1968.
Under the new rules, the commanding officer of a spy ship must break radio silence immediately to report any harassment of his vessel by any foreign force.
The Pueblo waited 24 hours after harassing began by North Korean gunboats, breaking radio silence only when actually being boarded by armed North Koreans.
Before any U. S. electronic intelligencegathering vessel goes out on a mission, the new rules specify, detailed information about the mission must be provided to U. S. Navy and Air Force commanders in that area.
The information would include the ship’s course and any scheduled change in it, duration of the mission and a special emergency radio frequency to be monitored 24 hours a day. On this frequency, the spy ship would report harassment or overly close presence of foreign ships or planes, or call for help.
U. S. commanders in the area would be required to have a special force of ships or planes, or both, fully armed and fueled, standing by for dispatch should trouble arise involving the spy vessel.
No such defensive force was available to protect the Pueblo. U. S. bombers within range carried only nuclear warheads, not conventional bombs. Carrier aircraft were too far away.
Under the new rules the local commander or commanders would decide whether to send a protective force, and what size. Generally, such a protective force would seek to place itself between the spy ship and the harassing force. The protective force would fire back if fired on, but probably would not initiate hostilities without direct instruction from Washington.
Officials who conducted the study decided that spy ships should not be heavily armed’ The Pueblo carried only .50-caliber machine guns. Heavier armament, or an armed convoy of larger ships during the spy ship’s entire mission, could be considered a provocation, it was explained.
It was also decided that all spy ships would be equipped with automatic destruction mechanisms so that sophisticated electronic devices could be destroyed if necessary to prevent their falling into foreign hands.
The Pueblo had no such mechanisms. The crew attempted to use grenades to destroy equipment. They were not totally successful and the explosions injured some Pueblo creW members.
s Keep Flattops in Vietnam: Abrams
(Joseph Fried in New York News, 18 December 1968) General Creighton W. Abrams, U. S. Army, U. S. military commander in Vietnam, has recommended to the Pentagon that the three aircraft carriers of the U. S- Seventh Fleet be kept in Vietnam despite the cessation of bombing of North Vietnam.
Since the 1 November 1968 bombing halt in the North, carrier-based Navy jets have turned their attention to enemy troops and supply movements in neighboring Laos- Bombing has more than doubled along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
s McCain Wants Indian Ocean Base
(Colonel R. D. Heinl, Jr., U. S. Marine Corps (Retired) in the San Diego Union, 5 January 1969) For Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., U. S. Navy, whose command includes every ship
The Russian danger is high in his thoughts, f hey are threatening us in four areas, he says, 'rst, with a two-million-man army that put more Communist soldiers into Czechoslovakia 111 48 hours than all our forces in Vietnam.
^ United States 'Javal Institute Book
\2 illustrations, rable of Rubrics (800).
Index of sources (1,200).
Jst Price, $15.00; L^pmher’s Price. $12.00
//? u/ar.
(nearly 600), airplane (more than 7,600), and every U. S. fighting man (about a million, c°unting Vietnam) in the Pacific, the Communist men-of-war in the Indian Ocean are farming and frustrating.
The reason for McCain’s alarm is clear enough. A Russian cruiser, four missile- fquipped destroyers, and half a dozen auxil- 'nries are freely cruising a vast ocean that our British allies are abandoning. Unless Harold Wilson’s Labor government falls before then, every British ship and soldier will be out of the Indian Ocean by December 1971.
The Admiral’s frustration stems from the feet that ever since he donned his stars, he has keen pointing to the Indian Ocean as a future trouble spot. McCain was the first U. S. Senior officer to call for an American squadron ’n the Indian Ocean. That was ten years ago; today the Russians are there and the U. S. Aavy is not.
Besides an Indian Ocean squadron, McCain emphasizes, we need bases. He points °t« that, even in today’s shrunken world, a ^eet requires sea-air forward bases in order to °Perate with full effect.
I asked the Admiral what bases he was thinking of. He pointed to a pinprick in the middle—the precise middle—of the Indian fh:ean. Diego Garcia in the Chagos ArchiPelago is a remote British islet. Here, says Admiral McCain, is where the United States ^hould seek a base if we mean to contest the Russian bid for supremacy. “As Malta is to the Mediterranean,” the says, “Diego Garcia ls to the Indian Ocean—equidistant from all Points.” That it must be not only naval, but ari air base, too, he underscores: Today, he Says, air power is just as important as sea Power.
Second, there is space: turning the clock back five centuries. Admiral McCain likens people who are willing to cut our space programs and let the Russians take the lead, to those who discouraged Columbus. “Today,” he says, “some people are urging, ‘Columbus, don’t take that voyage.’ ”
Our lag in aircraft development is another cause for concern. The Russians now have the MIG-23, the most advanced fighter flying. We, however, have not developed a successful fighter since the late 1950s. Besides fighters, he is strong for the Air Force’s controversial RB-70 (B-70) super-bomber, now called the AMSA or “advanced manned strategic aircraft.”
Dictionary of Military and
Naval Quotations
By Colonel Robert Debs Heinl, Jr.
U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
A must for military and naval speakers and writers. Over 5,500 quotations from the writings and speeches of philosophers, admirals, generals, poets, prophets, and politicians the world over. The quotations are categorized according to subject matter and appear under alphabetized subject headings.
, Jhe more cjou SUyeo-h in peace., bhe. /e-ss t/oa bleed \
Finally, the Admiral summed up, “they are now closing the last gap—utilization of the seas—fisheries, merchant marine, oceanography and, of course, naval.” He speaks of the powerful Russian fleet in the Mediterranean, of Russian naval aircraft patrolling from bases in Algeria and Egypt, of their dense concentrations of modern submarines in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, with enough left over to maintain 100 boats in the Pacific.
s 38 Ships Returned to Reserve Status
(Baltimore Sun, 1 January 1969) Thirty-eight World War II vessels have been returned to temporary reserve status, because of the sharp curtailment of military equipment, supplies, and ammunition moving to Vietnam, the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) has reported.
The cutback in tonnage amounts to approximately 200,000 measurement tons a month, or 20 per cent of the total tonnage that has been shipped monthly to the entire Pacific area from the United States. This reduction in supply movements is the direct result of the bombing halt.
The 38 ships in reserve were all taken out of the reserve fleet when the Vietnam buildup began in July 1965. They are not being entirely deactivated at this time, just in case events should change and they would be needed again.
The remaining 106 old ships which had been broken out of the reserve fleet for the Southeast Asia sealift will continue to serve along with cargo ships owned by the MSTS.
This combination is expected to be sufficient to augment the commercial U.S. flag shipping currently under charter to MSTS and to still keep military stockpiles of ammunition and other supplies at authorized levels in Vietnam.
Vice Admiral L. P. Ramage, U.S. Navy, MSTS commander, cited the flexibility of the MSTS operations by being able to respond so quickly to the bombing halt to maintain a balance of government and commercial shipping supplying American forces in the Pacific area.
@ Marine Chief Backs Okinawa Return
(The Washington Post, 7 January 1969) The U. S. Marine Corps is ready to accept reversion of Okinawa to Japanese rule, so long as
the Marines can continue to use their bases there, General Leonard Chapman, Jr., U. S- Marine Corps, said at a news conference.
The visiting Marine commandant was the first chief of a military service to endorse the return of the Japanese flag to the Ryukyus- U. S. military leaders previously have urged the maintenance of U. S. rule over the is' lands to ensure complete freedom of operation for military bases.
Other U. S. Services
s Callaghan Upstages C-5A Plane
(.Baltimore Sun, 16 December 1968) Recent figures obtained from Pentagon sources tend to shatter the highly questionable theories of Robert S. McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, that the cost of airlift is more economical and efficient than that of sealift.
These facts have been developed along with the surprise discovery that the Pentagon’s highly-touted C-5A airplane is going to cost far in excess—nearly double—of the initial estimates.
As a result of the much higher production costs for the superplane, new calculations were made of airlift and sealift expenses^" with the net result being that the C-5A simply is not going to be as efficient as had been previously anticipated.
The super-super cargo plane was compared to the Admiral William M. Callaghan, a jet-powered, roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel, which is just completing her first year of , operation for the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS).
It has been determined that for 65 per cent of the cost, the Callaghan could be 30 times more productive than a C-5A.
Furthermore, this speedy ship could make ^ the Military Airlift Command look rather sad. MAC’s fiscal 1967 report boasted that her total productivity was about 5.5 billion short- ton miles.
After her first year of operation, the Callaghan's annual productivity, as computed by MSTS, is 1.2 billion short-miles.
In other words, five Callaghan-type vessels , could out-produce all of the Military Airlift Command, including its supplementary services obtained from commercial sources.
The total 10-year cost of the Admiral Callaghan—including capital outlay and oper-
atlng expenses—is estimated at about $51 pillion. Of that figure, $26 million was for her lfutial construction.
The ten-year cost of the C-5A—including cost of the aircraft, operating expenses and initial research, development, test, and Valuation investment by the government—is estimated at nearly $78 million for each aircraft. The plane was originally planned to c°st about $50 million each.
The C-5A was designed for a basic mission of carrying a 50-short-ton payload 5,500 otiles. There is no argument that the C-5A Can deliver small amounts of cargo in a frac- hon of the time a ship can.
However, if the C-5A were given the task °f lifting 8,000 tons of cargo from the West f^oast to Southeast Asia, it would take 25 of them a total of 16.8 days to do the job. In addition, each airplane must have available lr* the forward area three tons of fuel for each ton of cargo delivered to load aboard in order to make the return trip home. That fuel would have to be taken to Asia by ship.
Given the same cargo, one Callaghan would take 14 days, and consume one-tenth of the fuel for each ton of cargo delivered.
S3 Survey of Boating Facilities
(U. S. Department of Commerce News Release, 1 January 1969) The Coast and Geodetic Survey is conducting a charting investigation of more than 4,000 boating facilities in 14 U. S. coastal states, and also the District of Columbia.
Marinas and boatyards will be inspected in areas covered by 39 Coast Survey charts, over half the agency’s small-craft editions, to provide the latest information on the supplies and services available since the facilities were last inspected about six years ago. The boating facilities are located in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Washington, California, and the District of Columbia.
The small-craft charts portray the safe
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course to follow in harbors and waterways along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, where there is a high congestion of commercial and recreational boating activity. Cities included in the inspection are Bangor, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, New Haven, Connecticut, New York, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington, D. C., Norfolk, Virginia, Wilmington, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, and Miami, Florida, Galveston, Texas, Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as many others.
The investigation is being conducted by the Coast Survey’s four photogrammetric field parties, three operating out of Norfolk, and the other from Seattle. The Coast Survey is an agency of the Environmental Science Services Administration in the U. S. Department of Commerce.
The small-craft charts show the location of boating facilities and the availability of supplies and services, as well as information on their approach and pier depths. The charts also contain local tide, wind speed, and weather broadcast information.
s Plane Losses Near $5 Billion
(The Baltimore Sun, 5 January 1969) The Vietnam war’s toll on United States aircraft is approaching the $5,000,000,000 mark.
Figures issued by the United States command showed the United States has lost 4,768 aircraft—2,493 planes and 2,275 helicopters—from enemy fire and all other causes since 1 January 1961.
The best estimate available here places the loss at about $4,300,000,000 in conven-
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tional aircraft—meaning bombers, fighters, cargo carriers, and observation planes—and at least $500,000,000 in helicopters, a total of $4,800,000,000.
Although the loss of planes has tapered off sharply since the bombing of North Vietnam halted 1 November, the war is still taking a steady toll of helicopters.
American air losses in Vietnam, while comprising only about one-sixth of the World War II total of 27,137 far less-expensive aircraft, already considerably exceed the Korean War figure of 3,001.
U. S. officials consider the Vietnam toll Is not unreasonable for the type of combat. They cite such things as the degree of exposure of the vulnerable helicopters to enemy fire and the fact that fighter-bombers over North Vietnam were subjected to the most sophisticated system of air defenses ever employed against attacking planes.
Foreign
s U. S. Nuclear Help Sought
(The Washington Post, 5 January 1969) Influential French army officers have suggested making agreements with the United States over atomic weapons in order to catch up on delays of two to three years in the $11-billion French nuclear deterrent program, the authoritative newspaper Le Monde (Paris) saidA French austerity budget for 1969 promises to cut military expenditure, and as a result, certain officers in responsible positions are proposing to take the path of bilateral co-operation with the United States in order to benefit from “its colossal advance in nuclear matters,” Le Monde said.
Three generations of nuclear delivery systems were to take France through the 1970s. These started with Mirage IV strategic bombers, intermediate-range, ground-to-ground missiles fired from underground silos, and a nuclear submarine fleet.
Defense Minister Pierre Messmer said three years ago the first stage—Mirage bombers armed with atom bombs—would be ready in 1966. But a recent French government report showed the last nuclear bomb and manned bomber were not delivereduntil May 1968.
This brought the bomber force to 36 Mirage IV bombers with a strike force of two megatons which is equivalent to one of
America’s 350 Minuteman II intercontinen- Ul missiles.
Informed sources said testing of the intermediate missiles of which a first battery was scheduled to be operational last year, has °nly just begun, and another two batteries are only expected to be deployed after 1972.
They said that by the middle of 1971, Mien France has one operational missile battery and one nuclear-powered submarine !ri service, this country’s nuclear punch will l°tal only 10 megatons, the equivalent of five Minutemen.
53 New Role for HMAS Curlew
(Australian Navy Release, 13 December 1968) The former minesweeper HMAS Curlew was ^commissioned 13 December 1968 in the new role of mine-hunter.
She has been extensively modified for her new role and is the first mine-hunter in the R-A.N. Another minesweeper, HMAS Snipe, is also being converted to a mine-hunter. This addition is the latest advance in mine countermeasures, and is a significant addition to the Australian Fleet.
Using a high definition sonar set, the mine- fiunter locates mines ahead of the ship to cUar a channel, with greatly increased efficiency. Clearance divers aboard the mine- fiunter are used to delouse or destroy mines Vvhich are located. The mine-hunter can be Hsed for other purposes as well, such as locat- ’Hg crashed aircraft or missiles. Other modifications made to Curlew are the fitting of twin active power rudders, which give her increased maneuvering capabilities at low sPeeds. She is the first ship in the R.A.N. to be fitted with active rudders.
53 New Look For Australian Ships
(Navy News Information Release) Ships of the Royal Australian Navy are getting a new look. All ships will have new-style hull numbers on their bows and on each quarter. Departures from past practice will be:
* the numbers will be square instead of rounded, improving visibility at sea.
* the prefix letter used in the past will be omitted, except in the case of auxiliary ships which will retain letters. However, they will be smaller.
5th Annual Conference & Exposition
Miami Beach, Florida June 16-18
‘The Decade Ahead 1970-1980’
* Regarded as the most significant meeting in marine science & technology.
★ What will be the leading developments in The Decade Ahead?
* Authoritative panels explore the future of: national policy goals, sea law, scientific research & education, systems & technology, economic issues, a general review & forecast.
★ Over 200 exhibition booths, equipment & craft demonstrations, floating exhibits, plus technical sessions on marine temperature measurements and materials.
MTS is a non-profit, professional society dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge of the marine sciences.
Send me--------- copies of the Conference in
formation packets. Mail this to: Ted Evans, Conference Management Organization, Inc.; 2660 Conn. Ave.,N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.
address
zip code
* numbers will be omitted from the stern.
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The new numbering system follows the practice of the United States, Canadian, and Pakistan Navies.
Merchant Marine
@ Japanese Automate Shipyards
(Marine Engineering/Log, December 1968) Automated assembly-line techniques will be adopted in two futuristic shipyards planned by the Mitsubishi and Uraga companies. The idea behind the entirely new shipbuilding facilities is to keep the labor cost down by employing a minimum of workers.
Japanese executives feel reduced work forces are essential to meet future competition in the construction of super-sized ships. MHI is aiming at building vessels between 500,000 and 700,000 dwt. tons. Uraga’s yard will assemble 300,000-dwt-ton ships and repair vessels up to 500,000 dwt. tons.
Meanwhile, Ishikawajima-Harima received an order for a 370,000-dwt ton tanker that will be the world’s largest ship when launched in 1971. The new 1,133.5-foot tanker will see service on the Persian Gulf route, but she will transport crude oil to Japan rather than to Western nations.
s Cargo Going Via Lakes (The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 19 January 1969) The Defense Department has agreed to institute regular ship service into the Great Lakes with calls at the ports of Toledo and Milwaukee. The service, which will begin with the 1969 shipping season, will be pro
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vided by vessels of the Military Sea Transpot' tation Service (MSTS).
Lucas County port officials estimate mill' tary cargo out of Toledo will increase fron1 1968’s 2,000 tons to 200,000 tons in 1969- They say this will be worth some $3.5 million to Toledo’s economy.
53 Go-Go Ship No Go
(Marine Engineering/Log, December 1968) The passenger liner Independence, refurbished early in 1968 with a psychedelic paint job on her hull, has been returned to her former all-white splendor. Apparently, the “shuffle" board is dead” sales approach adopted by American Export Isbrandtsen Lines and its agent, Diners-Fugazy Sales Corporation, did not catch on with the American pleasure cruise market.
The new marketing slant, which included sale of berths on the European plan, was designed to attract the younger traveler. Ah though this plan is being retained as an op' tion, AEIL’s current advertising mention5 only the American plan—the conventional all-inclusive booking.
One company spokesman said the psychedelic sunburst motif was dropped because of high maintenance costs, since the regular shipyard painters “couldn’t handle this kind of artistic work.”
The many eyebrows that were raised when the go-go ship put in her first appearance last year, have returned to normal.
I
0 Data Point Up Soviet Sea Power
(Helen Delich Bentley in The Baltimore Sun,
13 January 1969) One of the most recent warnings about the growing might of the Soviets on the high seas, emanates with the American Security Council, whose report was printed as an official document of the House Committee on Armed Services.
Although the council report does not say so, it hints that the Russians are beginning to | lift the curtain of mercantilism.
The nation which has controlled “mercan- -. tilism” throughout the world in the past, has I been the nation which dominated in seapower, and has been considered the world leader.
The Russians are using their merchant ships to the hilt to find out about other nations, and to spread their propaganda in
these countries, particularly the developing Nations of the world.
The Soviet Union boasts proudly that it already has enough merchant ships—some 1)400, totaling 12,062,000 gross tons, of 'lVhich 80 per cent is less than ten years old— to call regularly at some 600 seaports in 90- odd nations. The Soviets are the only ones still building small tankers and passenger ships in substantial numbers. Their reasons— Slnall tankers can call at ports in developing Oations, where the channels are 30 feet and less. Therefore, although Soviet merchant ships carried the controversial missiles to Cuba in 1962, the Russians did not have enough mobility to sustain a battle there, and so they gave in.
“The Soviets realized that they were incapable of bringing their power fully to bear m remote regions, because they lacked ships,” dte council said. “Now, the situation is changing rapidly. The presence of a Soviet squadron in the Mediterranean, for example, has produced a new power balance there.
“ ... It is evident that the leaders of the Soviet Union have made a far-reaching decision to enormously increase the U.S.S.R.’s strategic mobility. They intend to exercise Soviet power not just in such natural and traditional preserves as the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, but thousands of miles from Soviet cities. The sustained growth of their naval forces indicates that within another five years, jhe Soviets will have the capability for naval intervention in the most distant regions, including the landing of the newly-activated force of black-bereted marines or naval infantry.”
The purpose of the council report was only C° point out how the strategic naval balance ls changing from the United States to the Soviet Union. The only reference to the American merchant marine was to point out that 80 per cent of the present American-flag fleet is more than 20 years old, and that while the U.S.S.R. has 456 new merchant ships on order, the United States has only 51.
Oceanography
53 Diving Capabilities Reviewed
(Oceanology, The Weekly of Ocean Technology, 2 January 1969) A record-setting saturation diving experiment, which put five
men at a simulated ocean depth of 1,000 feet for three days, wound up the year’s efforts in extending man’s deep-diving capabilities. The five divers, representing the Navy, Duke University, and Scott Aviation, spent 16 days in a hyperbaric chamber at Duke and were the first aquanauts fully saturated to that depth and to stay for such an extended period.
Two Navy diveis had made a bounce dive to 1,025 feet for 13 minutes in the high- pressure chamber complex at the Experimental Diving Unit (EDU) in Washington, D. C. All five divers involved in the EDU experiment were saturated to 835 feet and remained there for 24 hours. Then two aquanauts with International Underwater Contractors, Inc., set a new record bounce dive to 1,100 feet in a chamber at Air Reduction Company’s facilities in Murray Hill, N. J.
Another underwater living project for the future involves installation of a manned habitat on the Cobb Seamount in 1971 as part of Project Sea Use—an ambitious plan
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to convert the seamount into an integrated center for oceanographic research. Sea Use officials carried out dives last summer to the seamount, which is 140 feet below the ocean surface off Grays Harbor, Washington, to gather more data on the underwater mountain.
s Polar Transit For Pisces I
(American Oceanography, December 1968) Although polar transits by military submarines have received much publicity, it was announced that a 16-foot long, manned, scientific-work submersible crossed the North magnetic pole. The Pisces I, owned by International Hydrodynamics, Inc., made this trip crossing the magnetic pole 1,200 feet below the ocean surface.
The Pisces I mission was not revealed; however, it has formerly done geological studies for Bedford Institute of Oceanography; Instrumentation research for the U. S. Naval Ordnance Laboratories; Biological studies for Johns Hopkins University; and Oceanographic studies for Pacific Oceanographic group.
This vessel is designed for a 5,000-foot working depth, but during 1968, she worked at depths to 2,500 feet.
Surveying Vessel Sought by Navy
(The NavOceanO Bulletin, 8 January 1969) After taking more than two years to check out the merits of five submersibles—Alvin, Star III, Deep star-4000, Cubmarine, and
Aluminaut—the Navy Oceanographic Office (NavOceanO) scientists are hoping to design a deep-diving vehicle that will be used exclusively for surveying tasks.
Frank Busby, the chief scientist studying deep diving vehicles for NavOceanO said, “Each one has different features, some that are desirable and some that are not.”
The oceanographers, completing a series of dives in Aluminaut last August, are now evaluating the performance of this vehicle, which Busby said represents “the last major submersible” to undergo the scrutiny of the Oceanographic Office. In addition to viewing films on this submersible’s performance and comparing it with the capabilities of the other four deep diving vehicles tested, the scientists are planning operations aboard the Benjamin Franklin—a submersible designed by Jacques Piccard.
Research and Development
@ Lockheed Simulates DSSV Search*
(.Lockheed News Release, 26 December 1968) Enclosed in a nine-and-a-half-foot sphere, linked by complex optical gadgetry, four men in a laboratory at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company have spent 34 hours in a simulated search for objects 20,000 feet under the sea.
The unusual study was to evaluate a spherical pressure hull designed to penetrate the oceans down to 20,000 feet. The pressure hull will be the man-carrying chamber of the Navy’s Deep Submergence Search Vehicle (DSSV).
The DSSV will make over 90 per cent of the ocean bottom accessible to manned exploration when it is completed.
The Lockheed simulation study, conducted in a mockup of the DSSV pressure hull, fob lowed the pattern of a complete deep ocean search mission. The four-man crew continuously manned three of six possible work stations on a rotating basis, and, after standing six-hour watches, took turns catching two- hour cat-naps in the vehicle’s bunk. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the internal arrangements from the human factors standpoint in a simulated search mission, and to identify any problem areas.
Optically linked to a precision visual simulation system, the crew always had one member peering through the forward viewpoint, scanning the ocean bottom for targets- Normally used to simulate star fields, the moon’s surface, or two vehicles approaching rendezvous in space, the visual simulation system performed this study with “inner space” and gave the crewmen a realistic, three-dimensional view of the ocean bottom slowly slipping past the viewport.
Robert D. Fuller, Lockheed’s program manager for the DSSV, said, “This was strictly a visual search. We did not aid the crew by simulating the use of sophisticated sonar systems which the DSSV will have. What we measured was man, his abilities and his relationship to our design.” He said that after further evaluation of the study’s results and completion of the recommended mockup modifications, Lockheed expects to run a more detailed deep ocean search mission.
* See Progress, p. 152, March 1969 Proceedings.