Calendar No. 535 103d Congress Report SENATE 2d Session 103-321 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATION BILL, 1995 July 29 (legislative day, July 20), 1994.-Ordered to be printed Mr. Inouye, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H.R. 4650] The Committee on Appropriations, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 4650) making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1995, and for other purposes, reports the same to the Senate with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended do pass. New obligational authority Total of bill as reported to Senate $243,414,029,000 Total of 1995 budget estimate 244,711,179,000 Amount of bill as passed by House 243,564,292,000 Amount of fiscal year 1994 enacted 240,544,945,000 The bill as reported to the Senate: Below fiscal year 1995 budget estimate -1,297,150,000 Over enacted appropriations for fiscal year 1994 +2,869,084,000 Below the House passed bill +150,263,000 BACKGROUND PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of this bill is to make appropriations for the military functions of the Department of Defense for the period October 1, 1994, through September 30, 1995. Functional areas include the pay, allowances, and support of military personnel, operation and maintenance of the forces, procurement of equipment and systems, and research, development, test and evaluation. Appropriations for military assistance, military construction, family housing, nuclear warheads, and civil defense are provided in other bills. In its examination of the President's budget for defense appropriations the Committee has made a deliberate effort to review funding requests within the context of the national security objectives they are intended to serve. The Committee believes that presenting requests for defense appropriations or considering individual weapons systems or force structures without reference to the ends they are intended to serve is to rob them of any intelligible meaning. We have, therefore, sought the views of policymakers in the executive branch and outside experts. That defense policy should be considered in such a way was the intent of the National Security Act of 1947, which created what was then known as the National Military Establishment and what came to be known as the Department of Defense. NATIONAL FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE BUDGET AND RELATED BUDGETS The Committee has reviewed the National Foreign Intelligence Program budget, the intelligence-related activities budgets, and special access program budgets which are funded in this bill. The results of the Committee's review are made available in a separate classified annex as an integral part of this bill, and further explained in a classified report accompanying the bill. The intelligence community and the Department of Defense are expected to comply fully with the provisions of the classified annex, and the recommendations and directives in its accompanying report. The Committee wishes to commend the Directorate of Special Programs and the Comptroller within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as the budget and comptroller entities for each of the armed services, for their efforts to ensure proper notification of actions taken by the Committee that affect special access programs. Timely notification of Committee actions taken regarding special access programs is a crucial step in the appropriation process and the Committee appreciates the level of diligence required to accomplish this activity. REPROGRAMMING PROCEDURES The Committee recommends the continuation of section 8005 regarding prior approval reprogramming procedures and the use of transfer authority. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION The conferees on the Fiscal Year 1993 Defense Appropriations Act expressed their concern with compensation of defense executives. Last year, the Committee reiterated its concern with this subject. The Committee notes that, in its report to the Committee, the Defense Department cited many examples where it had to deny several industry attempts to charge executive compensation at levels which can only be characterized as outrageous. Recent published articles note compensation payments to certain aerospace officials in excess of $7,000,000. The Committee continues to believe these multimillion dollar taxpayer financed payments need to be reconsidered. As such, it repeats its admonition. The defense industry is shrinking. Workers are being laid off, and Congress and the executive branch are seeking several methods to ease the transition of defense industry and its employees. This is not the time to reach new heights in defense executive compensation packages. The Committee still believes reform is needed in executive compensation. It emphatically states its position that DOD should not allow costs charged to the Government for any individual to exceed what the Government is itself prepared to pay its own senior executives, for example, Cabinet officials. The Defense Department responded to the Committee's request to submit legislation on this matter stating its view that defense contractor salaries were not overly generous. The response from the Defense Department provided no justification for this position. The Committee rejects this conclusion categorically. Therefore, the Committee is recommending section 8117 to rectify this inequity. This provision would no longer allow defense contractors to bill the Government for compensation of its employees at rates in excess of that paid to the Secretary of Defense. While contractors would be free to pay salaries at any level, up to the multimillion dollar salaries which have become common in American industry, they would have to do so from corporate profits, or from other revenues. Contractors could no longer charge the taxpayers for these exorbitant salaries. The Committee knows of no other way to react to the Defense Department's inaction and the continuing levels of excessive compensation. If enacted, this provision would take effect on April 15, 1995. HEARINGS The Subcommittee on Department of Defense Appropriations began hearings on the fiscal year 1994 budget request on March 1, 1994, and concluded them on July 12, 1994, after 16 separate sessions. The subcommittee heard testimony from representatives of the Department of Defense, and other Federal agencies. Approximately 1,309 pages of transcript were taken, the unclassified portions of which constitute the four-volume public record of testimony on this budget request. SUMMARY OF THE BILL The Committee considered a total fiscal year 1994 budget request of $244,711,179,000 in new obligational authority for the military functions of the Department of Defense, excluding military assistance, military construction, family housing and civil defense. The following table displays the major recommendations: [In thousands of dollars] Fiscal year 1994 enacted Fiscal year 1995 request Committee recommendation Title I-Military personnel 70,624,044 70,475,397 70,445,512 Title II-Operation and maintenance 76,616,787 81,926,891 81,361,358 Title III-Procurement 44,663,078 42,698,919 42,708,049 Title IV-Research, development, test, and evaluation 35,191,491 36,225,013 35,405,174 Title V-Revolving and management funds 2,643,095 1,777,638 1,618,000 Title VI-Other Department of Defense programs 11,021,820 11,329,706 11,239,360 Title VII-Related agencies 403,588 305,384 361,584 Title VIII-General provisions -618,958 7,131 104,982 Title IX-Fiscal year 1994 supplemental appropriations 270,000 170,000 Procurement: General provisions -304,900 (Additional transfer authority) (2,500,000) (2,000,000) (2,000,000) Total, Department of Defense 240,544,945 244,719,979 243,414,029 BUDGET SUMMIT AGREEMENT AND 602(B) ALLOCATION The Appropriations Committee conformed fully to the budget resolution for defense spending in its 602(b) allocation. This allocation divided the budget authority and outlays among the subcommittees with jurisdiction over discretionary spending. The Defense Subcommittee has the far greatest share of defense spending. In this recommended bill, the Appropriations Committee has remained within the tight constraints of its 602(b) allocation for defense. BUDGETARY IMPACT OF BILL PREPARED IN CONSULTATION WITH THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE PURSUANT TO SEC. 308(a), PUBLIC LAW 93-344, AS AMENDED [In millions of dollars] Budget authority Outlays Committee allocation Amount of bill Committee allocation Amount of bill Comparison of amounts in the bill with Committee allocations to its subcommittees of amounts in the First Concurrent Resolution for 1995: Subcommittee on Defense: Discretionary 243,432 243,430 250,515 1250,276 Mandatory 198 198 198 1198 Projections of outlays associated with the recommendation: 1995 2163,994 1996 45,801 1997 17,407 1998 7,705 1999 and future year 8,137 Financial assistance to State and local governments for 1995 in bill NA NA 1Includes outlays from prior-year budget authority. 2Excludes outlays from prior-year budget authority. NA: Not applicable. TITLE I MILITARY PERSONNEL Funds appropriated under this title provide for pay and allowances, permanent change of station travel, and various other personnel costs for uniformed members of the Armed Forces. The Committee recommends an active duty military personnel level of 1,525,508 for fiscal year 1995. This is 184 below the budget estimate and the House allowance. The Committee recommends a Reserve and National Guard personnel level of 979,381 for fiscal year 1995. This is 384 above the level requested in the budget estimate and is 319 above the House allowance. A total of $70,475,397,000 is requested in the President's fiscal year 1995 budget for military personnel appropriations. This request includes $61,179,303,000 for active duty forces and $9,296,094,000 for the Reserves and Guard. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION The Committee recommends appropriations totaling $70,445,512,000 in title I, military personnel, for fiscal year 1995. This amount is $29,885,000 below the budget estimate and $447,990,000 below the House allowance. Committee appropriation recommendations are displayed in the following table: SUMMARY OF MILITARY PERSONNEL APPROPRIATIONS, TITLE I [In thousands of dollars] Committee compared with- 1995 budget estimate House allowance Committee recommendation 1995 budget estimate House allowance Active Force: Army 20,601,170 20,737,470 20,629,770 +28,600 -107,700 Navy 17,580,983 17,692,537 17,638,483 +57,500 -54,054 Marine Corps 5,778,571 5,816,671 5,806,471 +27,900 -10,200 Air Force 17,218,579 17,311,379 17,031,179 -187,400 -280,200 Subtotal 61,179,303 61,558,057 61,105,903 -73,400 -452,154 Guard/Reserves: Army Reserve 2,174,520 2,183,620 2,178,620 +4,100 -5,000 Navy Reserve 1,392,409 1,398,609 1,418,723 +26,314 +20,114 Marine Corps Reserve 353,948 354,048 351,098 -2,850 -2,950 Air Force Reserve 781,383 782,434 774,834 -6,549 -7,600 Army National Guard 3,360,505 3,378,705 3,371,605 +11,100 -7,100 Air National Guard 1,233,329 1,238,029 1,244,729 +11,400 +6,700 Subtotal 9,296,094 9,335,445 9,339,609 +43,515 +4,164 Total, military personnel 70,475,397 70,893,502 70,445,512 -29,885 -447,990 The following table summarizes adjustments to the 1995 manpower request for Active, Guard, and Reserve Forces. RECOMMENDED END STRENGTH Committee compared with- 1995 budget estimate House allowance Committee recommendation 1995 budget estimate House allowance Active Force: Army 510,000 510,000 510,000 Navy 441,641 441,641 441,641 Marine Corps 174,000 174,000 174,000 Air Force 400,051 400,051 399,867 -184 -184 Subtotal 1,525,692 1,525,692 1,525,508 -184 -184 Guard/Reserves: Army Reserve 242,000 242,000 242,000 Navy Reserve 100,710 100,710 101,094 +384 +384 Marine Corps Reserve 42,000 42,000 42,000 Air Force Reserve 78,706 78,771 78,706 -65 Army National Guard 400,000 400,000 400,000 Air National Guard 115,581 115,581 115,581 Subtotal 978,997 979,062 979,381 +384 +319 Total, military personnel 2,504,689 2,504,754 2,504,889 +200 +135 FULL-TIME SUPPORT STRENGTHS The Committee recommends Guard and Reserve full-time support end strength of 134,798 for fiscal year 1995. This is 764 above the budget estimate and 636 above the House allowance. The following table summarizes adjustments to the 1995 Guard and Reserve full-time support end strength. GUARD AND RESERVE FULL-TIME END STRENGTHS Committee compared with- 1995 budget estimate House allowance Committee recommendation 1995 budget estimate House allowance Army Reserve: AGR 11,940 11,940 11,940 Technicians 7,004 7,004 7,004 Navy Reserve TAR 17,510 17,510 18,090 +580 +580 Marine Corps Reserve 2,285 2,285 2,285 Air Force Reserve: AGR 648 648 648 Technicians 10,295 10,423 10,295 -128 Army National Guard: AGR 23,650 23,650 23,650 Technicians 27,394 27,394 27,394 Air National Guard: AGR 9,098 9,098 9,282 +184 +184 Technicians 24,210 24,210 24,210 Total: AGR/TAR 65,131 65,131 65,895 +764 +764 Technicians 68,903 69,031 68,903 -128 PAY RAISE The President's fiscal year 1995 budget request recommends a 1.6-percent pay raise for military personnel. The Committee believes that military personnel should received the full 2.6-percent pay raise authorized under current law. Accordingly, the Committee identifies offsets from elsewhere within the Department of Defense budget request for fiscal year 1995, recommends a full pay raise of 2.6 percent, and increases the President's fiscal year 1995 budget request by $465,000,000. OFFICER WORK-YEARS The Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force have overstated the number of officer work-years in fiscal year 1995. The Navy's officer work-years are calculated consistent with the standard work-year methodology that has historically proven to be sound. The Committee encourages use of the standard methodology for work-year calculations in all the military personnel accounts and proposes that the services implement policies that align the pace of end strength increases and decreases with the work-years expected using the standard methodology. The Committee recommends reducing the budget request by a total of $90,700,000. OFFICER AVERAGE RANK In the Army and Navy military personnel accounts, the average officer rank requested in fiscal year 1995 exceeds the actual fiscal year 1993 average officer rank. Force shaping tools such as the voluntary separation initiative [VSI], the special separation bonus [SSB], and the 15-year retirement option should allow the services to manage reductions in the officer corps to prevent growth in the average rank. Neither the Marine Corps nor the Air Force average rank is growing over this period. The Committee recommends that, in the process of downsizing, the Army and Navy use the force shaping tools available to them to ensure that the average officer rank in fiscal year 1995 does not exceed the average officer rank experienced in fiscal year 1993 and reduces the budget request by a total of $69,800,000 accordingly. RETIRED PAY ACCRUAL/SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS Estimates for retired pay accrual and Social Security tax (employer's contribution) are included in the President's fiscal year 1995 budget request at 35.5 percent and 7.65 percent, respectively, of the estimates for basic pay. Adjustments for officer work-years and officer average rank reduce the amount of contributions that need to be made for retired pay accrual and Social Security tax and the Committee recommends a reduction of $69,100,000 accordingly. DISABILITY SEVERANCE PAY Disability severance pay is authorized to members on active duty who are discharged because of physical disability and who have less than 20 years of service and less than 30 percent disability. The President's fiscal year 1995 budget request indicates that a greater percentage of the force is expected to receive disability severance pay in fiscal year 1995 than in recent fiscal years. In the absence of conflict or any anticipated event that might result in an increase to disability severance pay requirements, the Committee believes that the budget should reflect the estimated number of personnel receiving disability severance pay will decline in proportion with the force structure drawdown that is planned. The Committee, therefore, recommends reducing the budget request by a total of $6,400,000. UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION The Department of Labor provides statistical data based on prior history and future projections for use by the services in development of unemployment compensation estimates. The Marine Corps has assumed in its fiscal year 1995 budget estimates that the current unemployment compensation entitlement of 26 weeks will decrease to 13 weeks. There is no basis for this assumption and no other service made this assumption in the development of unemployment compensation estimates. The Committee recommends increasing the Marine Corp estimate by $14,000,000 consistent with the continuing unemployment compensation entitlement of 26 weeks. ENLISTED BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR QUARTERS A formula error in calculation of the effect of pay raise on enlisted basic allowance for quarters [BAQ] results in an overstatement of requirements for the Air Force. The Committee recommends the estimate for enlisted BAQ be revised to reflect the corrected calculation and reduces the budget request by $20,800,000 accordingly. INCENTIVIZED LOSSES The Air Force fiscal year 1995 budget estimates include a greater number of incentivized enlisted personnel reductions than is required to achieve the planned enlisted personnel reduction. Special separation bonuses, voluntary separation initiative, and 15-year retirements are required only to augment normal losses, not as a bonus for personnel leaving anyway. The Air Force budget estimates for fiscal year 1994 plan to incentivize 4,593 enlisted losses, 30 percent of the total enlisted losses in that fiscal year. The fiscal year 1995 plan calls for 16,629 incentivized enlisted losses, 74 percent of the total enlisted losses in that fiscal year. It should not be necessary to incentivize three out of every four losses. Reducing the estimate for incentivized losses by 50 percent will still allow significant growth above the fiscal year 1994 level and should not impede achievement of the fiscal year 1995 enlisted personnel reduction. The Committee recommends a reduction to the appropriation of $223,200,000 to account for this reduction in incentivized losses in fiscal year 1995. SPECIAL SEPARATION BONUS The "Bottom-Up Review'' calls for a Marine Corps force level of 174,000 in fiscal year 1996. However, the Marine Corps plans to achieve this force level in fiscal year 1994 and sustain it thereafter. With the achievement of a steady state force level in fiscal year 1994, the Marine Corps should not rely on any of the force shaping management tools such as the budget estimate in fiscal year 1995 for special separation bonuses. Balancing and shaping the force at a steady state force level should be achieved through the offering of enlistment and reenlistment bonuses, special pays, and through the promotion process. The Committee recommends reducing the Marine Corps budget request for fiscal year 1995 by the $18,000,000 included for special separation bonuses. NURSE ANESTHETIST PAY The Committee supports the recommendation of the Senate Armed Services Committee that provides authority to pay incentive special pay to military certified registered nurse anesthetists to a maximum of $15,000 so that the Department can effectively compete for this critical professional resource. At present, certified registered nurse anesthetists can earn far more as civilians than as military personnel, and the compensation gap continues to increase. The Army and Air Force fiscal year 1995 budget estimates included special pay at the $6,000 level for nurse anesthetists. The Navy budget included nurse anesthetist special pay at the $15,000 level. The Committee supports the increase in nurse anesthetist incentive special pay to the $15,000 level and increases the President's budget request by $5,100,000 for Army and Air Force. FLIGHT DUTY PAY The conceptual basis for flight duty pay is to provide an economic incentive to retain air crew members and ensure that skill shortages or imbalances do not develop. For most of the personnel eligible for this type of pay, it is clear that such an incentive is warranted. However, for those personnel who have achieved the rank of general officer, or who have served for 25 years or more, retention does not appear to be a problem. Consequently, the Committee recommends eliminating flight duty pay for these individuals and reduces the budget request by $500,000. SPECIAL OPERATIONS ACTIVE/RESERVE CAPABILITIES The Committee believes that operational requirements for psychological operations and civil affairs units are overwhelming the capacity of the reserve special operations units. This is resulting in an arduous operating tempo for these forces. The current rate of deployment for these reserve forces in meeting worldwide responsibilities indicates that a greater active forces capability needs to be established. Accordingly, the Committee directs the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, to submit a report to the congressional Defense committees not later than May 31, 1995, assessing the proper active/reserve division of responsibilities in these areas and recommending force structure adjustments that should be considered. At a minimum, the report should address the number and types of units and personnel, and their capabilities and rates of deployment. The Department of Defense shall not initiate any unit activations/deactivations based on the report until 60 days after submission of the report. MILITARY PERSONNEL, ARMY Appropriations, 1994 $21,296,177,000 Budget estimate, 1995 20,601,170,000 House allowance 20,737,470,000 Committee recommendation 20,629,770,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $20,629,770,000 for fiscal year 1995. This request is $28,600,000 above the budget request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in this report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars) Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +136,300 Officer work-years -43,200 Officer average rank -31,600 Retired pay accrual/Social Security contributions -32,200 Disability severance pay -3,500 Nurse anesthetist pay +2,800 Total adjustments +28,600 Recommended appropriation 20,629,770 MILITARY PERSONNEL, NAVY Appropriations, 1994 $18,330,950,000 Budget estimate, 1995 17,580,983,000 House allowance 17,692,537,000 Committee recommendation 17,638,483,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $17,638,483,000 for fiscal year 1995. This request is $57,500,000 above the budget request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in this report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +113,700 Officer average rank -38,200 Retired pay accrual/Social Security contributions -16,400 Disability severance pay -1,600 Total adjustments +57,500 Recommended appropriation 17,638,483 MILITARY PERSONNEL, MARINE CORPS Appropriations, 1994 $5,772,317,000 Budget estimate, 1995 5,778,571,000 House allowance 5,816,671,000 Committee recommendation 5,806,471,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $5,806,471,000 for fiscal year 1995. This request is $27,900,000 above the budget request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in this report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +38,700 Officer work-years -3,900 Retired pay accrual/Social Security contributions -1,700 Disability severance pay -1,200 Unemployment compensation +14,000 Special separation bonus -18,000 Total adjustments +27,900 Recommended appropriation 5,806,471 MILITARY PERSONNEL, AIR FORCE Appropriations, 1994 $15,823,030,000 Budget estimate, 1995 17,218,579,000 House allowance 17,311,379,000 Committee recommendation 17,031,179,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $17,031,179,000 for fiscal year 1995. This request is $187,400 below the budget request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in this report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +117,300 Officer work-years -43,600 Retired pay accrual/Social Security contributions -18,800 Disability severance pay -100 Enlisted basic allowance for quarters -20,800 Incentivized losses -223,200 Nurse anesthetist pay +2,300 Flight duty pay -500 Total adjustments -187,400 Recommended appropriation 17,031,179 GUARD AND RESERVE END STRENGTH The Committee has reviewed the Department's fiscal year 1995 plans and missions for Guard and Reserve components and believes that with the exception of the Navy Reserve, discussed elsewhere in this report, the end strength is justified. This action will result in a total end strength of 979,381. The Committee wishes to impress upon the Department that the critical role envisioned for Guard and Reserve components in the "Bottom-Up Review'' makes total readiness imperative. Such readiness includes sustaining the end strength and ensuring personnel are adequately trained and proficient in all areas of their responsibility. The Committee believes that the funding provided for Guard and Reserve components will satisfy these end strength and readiness goals. DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE [DFAS] SHORTFALL ARMY NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE In April of this year, the Department submitted a reprogramming to cover over disbursements and potential over disbursements caused by a combination of systemic financial control problems. The Committee was more than willing to work with the Department to resolve this issue; however, upon receipt of the reprogramming, was discouraged to learn that the sources were unacceptable. The Committee subsequently met with representatives from the Department to discuss this issue and, on June 22, 1994, the Committee forwarded a letter to the Department advising that unless alternate sources were submitted, the Committee would be forced to fund this shortfall by decreasing funds requested in fiscal year 1995 Army accounts. To date, the Committee has not received a response. Therefore, in order to accommodate this critical shortfall, the Committee has reduced Army accounts by a total of $97,000,000. NAVY RESERVE The Committee shares the concern of the Senate Armed Services Committee with respect to diminishing sealift capabilities and agrees that additional Naval Reserve billets should be included in the Naval Reserve end strength to contribute to a robust lift capability. In order to ensure that lift capability is maintained, and at the same time provide a more cost effective means of transporting Army and Marine troops and equipment from the island of Oahu to the island of Hawaii, as required, for training purposes, the Committee directs that two of the excess LST's be transferred to the Naval Reserve and homeported at Pearl Harbor for the purposes described above. The Committee believes that innovative uses of its assets will enable the Navy Reserve to fulfill new responsibilities and to provide peacetime lift assistance while meeting its own training requirements. The Committee further directs that these ships and their crews are to be considered a part of the Navy's lift capability and that the crews of these ships are to be trained accordingly. The funding and personnel needed to accomplish this mission have been provided within the "Military personnel, Navy Reserve,'' and "Operation and maintenance, Navy Reserve'' accounts. Active naval personnel required to accomplish this mission are to be absorbed from within existing end strength. The Committee expects a report regarding the status of this initiative no later than January 15, 1995. AIR FORCE RESERVE The Committee has provided $651,000 to support operations of the 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The Committee believes personnel required to accomplish the missions of this squadron can be accommodated within the fiscal year 1995 end strength. AIR NATIONAL GUARD C-130 UNITS In order to ensure the robustness of Air National Guard units in Nashville, TN, Louisville, KY, and Martinsburg, WV, the Committee has provided an additional $5,600,000. These funds are to be used to fill current understrength within these units. Upon review of the Air National Guard's current end strength, the Committee believes that these added personnel can be accommodated within the fiscal year 1995 administration's end strength request. AIR NATIONAL GUARD DEFENSE MISSION The Committee supports the transfer of the 1st Air Force Defense Mission from the Air Force to the Air National Guard. In order to complete a phased transfer of 1st Air Force Headquarters and three air defense sectors to the Air National Guard during fiscal year 1997, initial actions must begin in fiscal year 1995 that were not included in the budget request. Therefore, the Committee agrees with the Air Force transfer of 184 active duty end strengths to the Air National Guard's full-time strength and provides $6,200,000 to the "National Guard Personnel, Air Force'' appropriation. FIGHTER WING EQUIVALENTS, AIR NATIONAL GUARD Although not convinced of the analysis used in the "Bottom-Up Review,'' the Committee reluctantly accepts the reduction of primary aircraft authorized [PAA] in each Air Guard unit from 24 or 18 to 15, but wishes to underscore its opposition to any further reductions. The Committee believes that any additional reductions would be extremely detrimental to unit integrity and cohesiveness as well as adversely affect this Nation's ability to respond in a time of crisis. The Committee intends to closely monitor this issue. RESERVE PERSONNEL, ARMY Appropriations, 1994 $2,149,147,000 Budget estimate, 1995 2,174,520,000 House allowance 2,183,620,000 Committee recommendation 2,178,620,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $2,178,620,000 for fiscal year 1995. This is $4,100,000 above the budget request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in the report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Program Military pay raise +12,900 Understrength savings -8,800 Total adjustment +4,100 Recommended appropriation 2,178,620 RESERVE PERSONNEL, NAVY Appropriations, 1994 $1,555,800,000 Budget estimate, 1995 1,392,409,000 House allowance 1,398,609,000 Committee recommendation 1,418,723,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1,418,723,000 for fiscal year 1995. This is $26,314,000 above the budget request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in the report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Program LST's +19,414 Military pay raise +8,400 Understrength savings -1,500 Total adjustment +26,314 Recommended appropriation 1,418,723 RESERVE PERSONNEL, MARINE CORPS Appropriations, 1994 $350,890,000 Budget estimate, 1995 353,948,000 House allowance 354,048,000 Committee recommendation 351,098,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $351,098,000 for fiscal year 1995. This is $2,850,000 below the request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in the report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +2,100 Understrength savings -4,950 Total adjustment -2,850 I09RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATION 351,098 RESERVE PERSONNEL, AIR FORCE Appropriations, 1994 $781,958,000 Budget estimate, 1995 781,383,000 House allowance 782,434,000 Committee recommendation 774,834,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $774,834,000 for fiscal year 1995. This is $6,549,000 below the request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in the report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +4,600 WC-130 weather recon mission +651 Understrength savings -11,800 Total adjustment -6,549 RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATION 774,834 NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL, ARMY Appropriations, 1994 $3,340,283,000 Budget estimate, 1995 3,360,505,000 House allowance 3,378,705,000 Committee recommendation 3,371,605,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $3,371,605,000 for fiscal year 1995. This is $11,100,000 above the request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in the report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +22,600 Understrength savings -11,500 Total adjustment +11,100 RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATION 3,371,605 NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL, AIR FORCE Appropriations, 1994 $1,223,492,000 Budget estimate, 1995 1,233,329,000 House allowance 1,238,029,000 Committee recommendation 1,244,729,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1,244,729,000 for fiscal year 1995. This is $11,400,000 above the request. All recommended adjustments to the budget request, including those items discussed elsewhere in the report, are summarized below: [In thousands of dollars] Committee Program adjustments Military pay raise +8,400 C-130 units +5,600 Transfer of defense mission +6,200 Understrength savings -8,800 Total adjustment +11,400 RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATION 1,244,729 TITLE II OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE The Committee recommends appropriations totaling $81,611,358,000 in title II, operation and maintenance, for fiscal year 1995. This is $465,533,000 below the budget estimate and $1,454,397,000 above the House allowance. The Committee recommendations, by appropriation account, are compared with the budget estimate and House allowance in the following table: SUMMARY OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE [In thousands of dollars] Committee compared with- 1995 budget estimate House allowance Committee recommendation 1995 budget estimate House allowance O&M, Army 17,766,814 17,836,504 17,475,806 -291,008 -360,698 Transfer-stockpile (50,000) (50,000) (50,000) O&M, Navy 21,176,570 21,316,555 21,275,770 +99,200 -40,785 Transfer-stockpile (50,000) (50,000) (50,000) O&M, Marine Corps 1,918,395 2,097,395 1,968,965 +50,570 -128,430 O&M, Air Force 19,026,623 18,913,050 18,786,243 -240,380 -126,807 Transfer-stockpile (50,000) (50,000) (50,000) O&M, Defensewide 10,208,413 8,945,266 9,986,654 -221,759 +1,041,388 Transfer-stockpile (100,000) (+100,000) (+100,000) O&M, Army Reserve 1,253,709 1,240,109 1,253,709 +13,600 O&M, Navy Reserve 827,819 834,119 827,819 -6,300 O&M, Marine Corps Reserve 81,462 83,542 80,562 -900 -2,980 O&M, Air Force Reserve 1,478,990 1,486,805 1,455,872 -23,118 -30,933 O&M, Army National Guard 2,447,148 2,498,868 2,442,135 -5,013 -56,733 O&M, Air National Guard 2,780,178 2,797,978 2,780,178 -17,800 National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, Army 2,544 2,544 2,544 Court of Military Appeals, Defense 6,126 6,126 6,126 Environmental restoration, Defense 2,180,200 1,880,200 2,034,075 -146,125 +153,875 Summer Olympics 10,000 +10,000 +10,000 Special Olympics 3,000 +3,000 +3,000 Support for international sporting competition, Defense 7,900 -7,900 Humanitarian assistance 71,900 60,000 71,900 +11,900 Former Soviet Union threat reduction 400,000 400,000 +400,000 International peacekeeping 300,000 -300,000 Real property maintenance, Defense 500,000 +500,000 +500,000 Grand total O&M 81,926,891 80,006,961 81,361,358 -565,533 +1,354,397 Transfer (150,000) (150,000) (250,000) (+100,000) (+100,000) Total funds available, O&M (82,076,891) (80,156,961) (81,611,358) (-465,533) (+1,454,397) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OVERVIEW Appropriations under this title finance the cost of operating and maintaining U.S. Armed Forces, including Guard and Reserve components and Department of Defense agencies. These funds are used to purchase fuel and spare parts for training activities, pay civilian personnel, purchase supplies, equipment and service contracts for repairing weapons systems and facilities, and finance other personnel support programs. There are several principles which guided the development of the Committee's operation and maintenance recommendations. These are: -Support the regional strategy, force structure, and operational plans defined by the "Bottom-Up Review'' and assumed in the fiscal year 1995 Department of Defense budget request.-The Committee's recommendations make no adjustment based on changes in force structure not assumed in the President's Defense request. Also, the recommendations fully support the unit training operations of the Armed Services, including full funding for JCS exercises. -Temper the recommendations to address both fiscal imperatives and preserve military preparedness.-Generally, adjustments to specific service O&M programs are made when either the program or funding request is out of step with the ongoing military drawdown or the funding request is in excess of amounts needed to support the related program. Program reductions, however, are more than offset by increases for programs essential for maintaining military preparedness and, thus, of special interest to the Committee. -Encourage efficiencies and better management. -Use savings available from pricing and fact-of-life changes to increase funding for worthwhile programs. This traditional set of guidelines has been augmented with new guidelines which respond to current issues. These include: -Enhance programs which support military members and their families' social needs so that the Department may continue to attract, build, and retain quality personnel. -Support and enhance programs which address the inefficiencies and costs caused by the defense drawdown. -Continue initiatives started by the Committee which improve readiness and/or save operation and maintenance costs over time. The Committee's recommendations reflect a balance between providing sufficient funding to carry out the essential training and support activities fundamental to the preparedness of our Armed Forces and responding to the fiscal constraints and changing security environment that we as a Nation now face. Additional details on the adjustments and recommendations made by the Committee for servicewide operation and maintenance programs and by appropriation account are presented in the following sections. FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE [In thousands of dollars] Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Defensewide Army Reserve Navy Reserve Marine Corps Reserve Air Force Reserve Army National Guard Fiscal year 1995 budget request 17,766,814 21,176,570 1,918,395 19,026,623 10,208,413 1,253,709 827,819 81,462 1,478,990 2,447,148 By transfer: NDS 50,000 50,000 50,000 Total, BA request 17,816,814 21,226,570 1,918,395 19,076,623 10,208,413 1,253,709 827,819 81,462 1,478,990 2,447,148 DOD-WIDE ADJUSTMENTS Aircraft maintenance 85,500 23,600 Ship maintenance 100,000 Combat vehicle repair 10,800 16,300 Recruiting 46,100 39,200 10,700 4,000 Mobility enhancements 50,000 Child development 10,000 10,000 5,000 10,000 Family support centers 8,600 4,700 Family Advocacy Program 10,000 10,000 4,000 10,000 60,000 Real property maintenance Teletraining 8,490 451 2,300 2,342 5,467 Civilian understrength -290,400 -170,530 -36,700 -15,660 Civilian education -3,800 -2,950 Work Force Act 22,600 11,800 12,700 7,400 Civilian incentives 61,500 61,500 G&R understrength -2,300 -900 -9,400 -1,900 Travel (TDY) -19,100 -6,600 -13,200 -2,200 -400 -7,500 MSC rate change -16,300 -5,300 -1,300 -6,300 -8,900 Arms control -6,000 -3,000 -4,000 -7,000 Base communications-32,700 -24,600 -7,600 ADP -30,000 -30,000 -30,000 -43,500 DFAS pricing -29,800 -18,600 -5,400 -21,900 -9,500 Schoolhouse training -16,600 -5,000 -8,800 War college workload -10,600 -3,100 -1,000 Supply ops -64,700 -50,600 -7,000 -18,300 Classified programs -7,100 -4,700 4,400 -42,300 -147,400 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Air National Guard RPM defense Rifle practice Army Court Mil Appeals Summer/Special Olympics Environ restor defense FSU threat reduction Human assistance Peace keeping Total Fiscal year 1995 budget request 2,780,178 2,544 6,126 2,180,200 400,000 71,900 300,000 81,926,891 By transfer: NDS 150,000 Total BA request 2,780,178 2,544 6,126 2,180,200 400,000 71,900 300,000 82,076,891 DOD-WIDE ADJUSTMENTS Aircraft maintenance 109,100 Ship maintenance 100,000 Combat vehicle repair 27,100 Recruiting 100,000 Mobility enhancements 50,000 Child development 35,000 Family support centers 13,300 Family Advocacy Program 94,000 Real property maintenance 500,000 500,000 Teletraining 19,050 Civilian understrength -8,050 -521,340 Civilian education -6,750 Work Force Act 54,500 Civilian incentives 123,000 G&R understrength -4,600 -19,100 Travel (TDY) -500 -49,500 MSC rate change -38,100 Arms control -20,000 Base communications -64,900 ADP -133,500 DFAS pricing -85,200 Schoolhouse training -30,400 War college workload -14,700 Supply ops -140,600 Classified programs -197,100 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Defensewide Army Reserve Navy Reserve Marine Corps Reserve Air Force Reserve Army National Guard Army: Retro/FutureEur 40,000 Europe drawdown 47,000 Real estate planning 500 Schofield easement 15,000 Joint agency task force 750 Army conservation 5,700 Asbestos abatement 1,500 Helicopter training 10,000 Celebrations 950 Life science equipment lab 462 Noncombat command BOS -71,100 Admin work-years -46,000 International HQ -14,600 MTMC pricing -9,060 Navy: SSBN maintenance delay -23,000 Work-year pricing -8,300 CAAS -9,200 Environmental R&D activities -6,100 Naval Academy restoration -14,450 Barracks repairs 14,450 Nimitz Center 3,000 Charleston naval complex 6,000 U.S.F. Constellation damage survey 1,000 Alcohol rehab center 1,000 Shipyard modernization 83,100 Marine Corps: Unit training 12,000 Unit maintenance 12,000 Environmental R&D activities -1,000 Civilian work-year adjustment -830 Ammo rework -3,000 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Air National Guard RPM defense Rifle practice Army Court Mil Appeals Summer/Special Olympics Environ restor defense FSU threat reduction Human assistance Peace keeping Total Army: Retro/FutureEur 40,000 Europe drawdown 47,000 Real estate planning 500 Schofield easement 15,000 Joint agency task force 750 Army conservation 5,700 Asbestos abatement 1,500 Helicopter training 10,000 Celebrations 950 Life science equipment lab 462 Noncombat command BOS -71,100 Admin work-years -46,000 International HQ -14,600 MTMC pricing -9,060 Navy: SSBN maintenance delay -23,000 Work-year pricing -8,300 CAAS -9,200 Environmental R&D activities -6,100 Naval Academy restoration -14,450 Barracks repairs 14,450 Nimitz Center 3,000 Charleston naval complex 6,000 U.S.F. Constellation damage survey 1,000 Alcohol rehab center 1,000 Shipyard modernization 83,100 Marine Corps: Unit training 12,000 Unit maintenance 12,000 Environmental R&D activities -1,000 Civilian work-year adjustment -830 Ammo rework -3,000 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Defensewide Army Reserve Navy Reserve Marine Corps Reserve Air Force Reserve Army National Guard Air Force: DLR's 86,000 AWACS training 16,000 CAP 3,800 Bomber force levels 69,700 Europe drawdown 5,000 Joint exercises 9,000 COPE THUNDER 3,000 CAMS/REMIS 5,000 TICARRS 15,000 B-1 conventional upgrades -36,440 Strategic modernization -34,900 TF-coded flying hours -19,230 Noncombat command base operations -35,930 F-16 DT&E/ICS/PGSE -70,700 2d destination transportation -1,300 Voluntary education -15,000 Air National Guard transfer -6,200 Reg. civilian centers transfer -4,500 Defense Agencies Military Contact Program -46,300 Stockpile transfer -100,000 Special Operations Forces -11,800 DCMC -36,500 Security lock retrofit 20,000 Counterproliferation studies -30,310 PACOM env. compliance 20,000 Partnership for Peace 30,000 Northern Edge JCS exercise 5,000 Military school maintenance 20,000 Anchorage fuel center 500 Medical supplies transportation 5,000 LEGACY 40,000 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Air National Guard RPM defense Rifle practice Army Court Mil Appeals Summer/ Special Olympics Environ restor defense FSU threat reduction Human assistance Peace keeping Total Air Force: DLR's 86,000 AWACS training 16,000 CAP 3,800 Bomber force levels 69,700 Europe drawdown 5,000 Joint exercises 9,000 COPE THUNDER 3,000 CAMS/REMIS 5,000 TICARRS 15,000 B-1 conventional upgrades -36,440 Strategic modernization -34,900 TF-coded flying hours -19,230 Noncombat command base ops -35,930 F-16 DT&E/ICS/PGSE -70,700 2d destination transportation -1,300 Voluntary education -15,000 Air National Guard transfer -6,200 Reg. civilian centers transfer -4,500 Defense Agencies: Military Contact Program -46,300 Stockpile transfer -100,000 Special Operations Forces -11,800 DCMC -36,500 Security lock retrofit 20,000 Counterproliferation studies -30,310 PACOM env. compliance 20,000 Partnership for Peace 30,000 Northern Edge JCS exercise 5,000 Military school maintenance 20,000 Anchorage fuel center 500 Medical supplies transportation 5,000 LEGACY 40,000 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Defensewide Army Reserve Navy Reserve Marine Corps Reserve Air Force Reserve Army National Guard Guard/Reserves: Navy Reserve LST's 5,000 Navy Reserve admin. expenses -5,000 Army Guard information systems -2,350 Army Guard admin. expenses -1,450 Army Guard aviation facility 900 MEDRETES/Guard care 5,000 Army Guard staff management -3,180 Air Guard admin. expenses Air Guard 176th Airlift Squadron mobility Air Guard C-130's Peacekeeping Sporting events Environmental restoration SAC appropriation subtotal 17,475,806 21,275,770 1,968,965 18,786,243 9,986,654 1,253,709 827,819 80,562 1,455,872 2,442,135 By transfer 50,000 50,000 50,000 100,000 SAC appropriation 17,525,806 21,325,770 1,968,965 18,836,243 10,086,654 1,253,709 827,819 80,562 1,455,872 2,442,135 FISCAL YEAR 1995 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE-Continued [In thousands of dollars] Air National Guard RPM defense Rifle practice Army Court Mil Appeals Summer/Special Olympics Environ restor defense FSU threat reduction Human assistance Peace keeping Total Guard/Reserves: Navy Reserve LST's 5,000 Navy Reserve admin. expenses -5,000 Army Guard information systems -2,350 Army Guard admin. expenses -1,450 Army Guard aviation facility 900 MEDRETES/Guard care 5,000 Army Guard staff management -3,180 Air Guard admin. expenses -16,950 -16,950 Air Guard 176th Airlift Squadron mobility 5,000 5,000 Air Guard C-130's 25,100 25,100 Peacekeeping -300,000 -300,000 Sporting events 13,000 13,000 Environmental restoration -146,125 -146,125 SAC appropriation subtotal 2,780,178 500,000 2,544 6,126 13,000 2,034,075 400,000 71,900 81,361,358 By transfer 250,000 SAC appropriation 2,780,178 500,000 2,544 6,126 13,000 2,034,075 400,000 71,900 81,611,358 SERVICEWIDE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS THE READINESS IMPERATIVE "Preserving military readiness.'' In hearings before the Committee this year, this phrase has taken on an aura of urgency. And well it should. Given today's uncertain, ever-changing threat environment, all agree that the most daunting challenge facing the Department of Defense is finding ways to preserve military readiness and capability, despite a planned decline in defense funding. Though many have said that our Armed Forces are the most ready, modernized, and technically sophisticated of any previously fielded, the prospects for sustaining such a force could be growing darker. To what extent these darkening prospects are attributable to the budget decline or external factors is an open question. Such prospects, however, surely do not arise from a failure to establish clear funding and program priorities by either the Department or the Congress. Preserving readiness has become, on both sides of the Potomac River, job No. 1. Though the priority for preserving military readiness has been clearly established, the blueprint for doing so has not been. In this regard, a statement from the report accompanying the fiscal year 1994 Defense appropriations bill (S. Rept. 103-153) reflects the Committee's views on this matter and bears repeating: Clearly, some O&M programs enhance combat preparedness more than others and, thus, usually merit higher priority for funding. On the other hand, programs which do not directly support combat preparedness in any measurable way cannot be left to atrophy. The imperative facing the administration and Congress is to determine an appropriate balance between funding for critical readiness programs and those programs which indirectly support readiness through improving the quality of life of troops and their families. The Committee believes its operation and maintenance funding recommendations achieve the appropriate balance described above and one that will preserve readiness most effectively within current fiscal constraints. A brief review of those recommendations follows: The Committee's recommendations support the force structure, regional strategy, and operating requirements assumed in the administration's request: -Programs key to combat readiness are fully supported and, in some cases, enhanced. -Full funding for each of the service's key operating tempo and exercise accounts is approved. Thus, measured increases for the JCS Exercise Program, the Air Force AWACS Aircrew Training Program, Army and Marine Corps unit training programs, and Air Guard flying operations are provided to eliminate funding shortfalls. -Depot maintenance funding is increased a net total of $201,300,000. -The Air Force's Depot Level Repairable Spare Parts Program is increased by $86,000,000, reducing by one-half the funding shortfall assumed in the budget request for this program. -Air Force B-52 bomber levels are restored to 1994 levels, requiring an increase of $69,700,000. -To address concerns about the decline in the propensity for young people to enlist in the military, $100,000,000 is added for the recruiting program. -To ensure direct readiness activities are executed at approved funding levels (and not eaten away by reprogrammings to other functions, as has been the case particularly with the Army), the recommendations provide funds specifically to address costs and inefficiencies of the ongoing defense drawdown. An additional $177,500,000 is provided for civilian personnel separation incentives. Also, an increase of $92,000,000 is recommended for our Army and Air Force European commands experiencing serious financial problems caused by the drawdown of forces from there. -And, continuing three initiatives begun by the Committee, the recommendations propose adding $50,000,000 to improve strategic mobility assets such as railroad lines and port and pier facilities, $500,000,000 to the "Real property maintenance, defense'' account, and $83,100,000 for shipyard modernization. The recommendations are tempered with timing and fiscal considerations. To encourage the services to reduce excessive infrastructure in noncombat commands, reductions totaling $167,000,000 in these commands' base operations programs are proposed. Also, the services' requests for funds to cover certain administrative costs are reduced, aligning growth in these programs with changes in forces and infrastructure supported. These adjustments total approximately $145,000,000. The Committee's recommendations encourage efficiencies and aim to rationally reduce overhead. The services' ADP programs are reduced by a total of $113,500,000. The Defense Logistics Agency is encouraged to increase productivity savings, as is the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Reductions to these operations are $140,600,000 and $85,200,000, respectively. The recommendations take advantage of pricing and fact-of-life changes. There are large reductions reflecting changes in civilian employee levels anticipated for the end of both fiscal years 1994 and 1995 (about $521,000,000). Other fact-of-life changes allow for reductions totaling roughly $144,000,000. Finally, the Committee supports select quality-of-life programs and other programs of continuing interest to it. -A broad initiative designed to significantly enhance family support programs is proposed. A total of $142,300,000 is added to the request for child development programs, family support centers, and child and spouse abuse prevention and treatment programs. Also, an increase for Navy barracks renovation programs is recommended. -The Department's funding proposals for the Nunn-Lugar and humanitarian assistance programs are approved at the requested levels. Conversely, funding for the Military-to-Military Contact Program and the international peacekeeping fund is deleted. PUTTING A FACE ON READINESS: SUPPORTING MILITARY FAMILIES Perhaps the most important lesson drawn from examinations of the late 1970's/early 1980's period of military history during which this country fielded a so-called hollow force is this: the critical link in the force readiness chain is people; specifically, the quality, morale, and well-being of the personnel manning our combat units. This is not to say that unit training activities, equipment availability, and equipment condition are not fundamental to combat preparedness, they are. But without quality people physically and mentally prepared to meet the rigors of today's high technology battlefield, the U.S. military will soon resemble those hollow forces of yesteryear. This axiom of modern warfare prompted the Committee, as part of its deliberations on the fiscal year 1995 Defense budget request, to review current demographic, environmental, and occupational trends which affect the well-being of our troops. Based on its findings, the Committee is recommending a broad initiative which addresses several quality-of-life issues now facing military members and, in particular, military families. Military families today.-The most striking difference between U.S. military forces now, compared with those of previous periods, is the number of troops with families. At present, 6 of every 10 U.S. servicemembers are married. There are about 80,000 single parents in the military and almost 100,000 dual military parents. By all accounts, the number of military members with families will continue increasing over the coming years. This fact, coupled with the growing representation of women and minorities in the Armed Forces, make the composition of today's military forces unique in U.S. history. Though the aforementioned demographic trends are welcomed and should be encouraged, these trends also may serve to exacerbate the traditional stresses of military life, such as regular periods of separation from family and friends, and the obvious dangers of the battlefield. Yet, because of the variety of factors affecting how military families cope with these traditional stresses, few experts agree on whether or not and to what extent these trends complicate military life. There is, however, broad agreement that the ongoing defense drawdown has increased stress on military families. Over the past several months, the Committee has heard from many military members about the uncertainty and anxiety growing among the ranks as the military drawdown continues. Chief among their concerns are: the fear of losing their job; a perceived lack of possible advancement and career security; an apparent erosion of buying power and benefits including adequate housing and health care and counseling and education options; and the likelihood that emergent international crises will keep them away from home longer than in the past. Thus, one can argue quite convincingly that, in combination with traditional military hardships and the complications of modern American society, the changing composition of our forces and the impact of the ongoing defense drawdown, if not addressed, could have a negative, permanent effect on many of our military families. Though the military drawdown may continue for only a few more years, the effects from the drawdown on military members and families-that is, on the image they have of themselves and the value of military life they communicate to others-will likely be felt for many years to come. This is one of the important reasons underlying the Committee's continuing interest in the Department's quality-of-life programs. Without adequately funded programs supporting the morale and well-being of our forces and their families, the Committee believes it will become increasingly difficult in today's economic and social environment to attract and retain quality people in the military. The Department of Defense's community quality-of-life programs are defined in several specific categories, including: commissaries and exchanges; transition and relocation assistance; morale, welfare, and recreation programs; and education opportunities. The Committee, however, has long been interested in and supportive of three categories of quality-of-life programs which address child development and family support and abuse issues. So, given the Committee's longstanding interest in these issues and the growing stress on today's military families, the Committee recommends a broad set of proposals and funding initiatives designed to enhance the Department's child and family support programs. Supporting military families.-A summary of the Committee's recommendations is provided in the table below. The funding amounts shown below are additions to amounts requested by the Department for these programs. [In millions of dollars] Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Defensewide Totals Child development 10.0 10.0 5.0 10.0 35.0 Family support 8.6 4.7 13.3 At-risk youth programs 14.5 14.5 New parent support 10.0 10.0 4.0 10.0 2.0 36.0 Family advocacy/program 43.5 43.5 Totals 20.0 28.6 13.7 20.0 60.0 142.3 These recommendations are based on thorough reviews of the Department's child and family advocacy programs, the Department's fiscal year 1995 budget request, and recent reports detailing military spouse abuse cases. By and large, the Committee is encouraged by its findings, but is concerned that self-imposed fiscal constraints have prohibited the Department from fully meeting the needs of its family members. Following is a description of the Committee's finding and details of the relevant recommendations. Child development programs.-The military services and Defense Agencies offer child development programs at most installations in the United States and many major installations overseas. These programs provide full and part-day care, after school care, and part-day preschool in both child development centers and individual homes. Though the Department continues to make progress in meeting child care requirements, well over 60,000 children (out of a total of 313,000 seeking care) still need spaces in DOD child care facilities. In order to substantially reduce this figure, the Committee recommends an additional $35,000,000 in total for the services' child development programs. From within the additional funds provided, the Navy is directed to initiate a child care demonstration program in concert with plans submitted to the Committee. Family support centers.-These centers provide a variety of services to military family members including financial counseling, information and referral assistance, and pre- and post-deployment briefings. This program proved to be vital to the health and well-being of military families whose spouses saw combat duty in the recent Persian Gulf war. Budget documents submitted by the Department indicate that the Navy and Marine Corps family support programs are underfunded by $8,600,000 and $2,700,000, respectively. The Committee recommendations provide funds to ameliorate these shortfalls. Moreover, the Committee provides an additional $2,000,000 for the Marine Corps specifically to expand family counseling services and expedite implementation of its FSC coordinated community response program. Family Advocacy Program.-The Department's Family Advocacy Program [FAP] offers services to prevent and/or treat child abuse, spouse abuse, or other forms of family violence. From its inception in the early 1980's, the FAP has increased awareness of the problems of child and spouse abuse, improved reporting of abuse cases, and fostered collaboration with military investigative and legal systems to respond more effectively to family violence after it has occurred. At the outset, this program was characterized by a crisis response/reactive mode relying on service-specific and CHAMPUS-based treatment regimes. Today, the FAP philosophy has expanded to focus on interventions that prevent family violence in the military by addressing the underlying causes of abuse. This refocus on prevention is seen as the primary means for reducing the magnitude and costs of family violence while maintaining the integrity of the military family. The need to expand prevention services offered by the FAP was underscored in a recently released DOD report on abuse victims. In light of this important change in program philosophy and findings reported in the DOD abuse victim study, the Committee makes the following recommendations: -New Parent Support Program.-A 1990 GAO study evaluated a variety of early intervention programs and showed that those programs employing home visitors and community services produced a range of positive outcomes for families and children. That report supported recommendations of national child advocacy organizations calling for establishing more prenatal and postnatal home visiting services for high risk women and infants. In response, each of the military services' family advocacy programs initiated a New Parent Support Program designed to support new families through counseling and, thus, minimize the potential for family violence. To enhance the services' efforts in this regard, the Committee recommends an additional $36,000,000 for new parent support programs. This increase should allow the Department to expand this program to roughly 75 percent of the military installations with family advocacy programs. -Youth Support/At Risk Adolescent Program.-The Department of Defense, like other organizations and communities throughout the land, has witnessed an increase in adolescent violence and gang activity. Until today, the Department's efforts to address this issue have been hampered by a lack of funding and policy guidance. Recently, however, the FAP developed a long-range plan to revitalize and expand youth programs, especially those for the roughly 425,000 adolescent children who are family members of active duty military personnel. To expedite this plan, the Committee adds $14,500,000 for youth support/at risk adolescent programs in DOD. These funds are to be used in accordance with a plan submitted to the Committee by the Department. -Model communities project.-To improve services to families with children, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel Support, Families, and Education initiated the model communities project. The project will offer incentive awards to installations that develop programs addressing the needs of children and families. DOD policy requires these programs to be locally managed and multidisciplinary, actively involve families and children, and develop measurable outcomes that can be used by other communities. In the long run, these programs are intended to serve as models for other installations with similar problems. The Committee believes this is a valuable effort and recommends an increase of $10,000,000 to expand this project. -FAP caseload.-To reduce the number of abuse cases awaiting a response and increase prevention efforts in general, the Committee agrees to provide an additional $33,500,000 to the DOD Family Advocacy Program. Based on the recommendations of the recently released DOD study on abuse victims, the Committee directs the FAP to initiate a victims' services coordinator program using part of the additional funds provided. The Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a report to the congressional Defense committees detailing the allocation and proposed use of all funds provided by these recommendations. But, at a minimum, the Committee directs that $20,000,000 of the total increase proposed under this initiative be used to benefit Pacific region installations. The Committee intends to work with the Department to determine the exact details of the report, but in no case is it to be submitted later than January 15, 1995. The Committee recognizes the substantial progress the Department of Defense has made in implementing the Family Advocacy Program. Indeed, it is encouraged by the efforts of all those responsible for the Department's child development and family support programs. This initiative offered by the Committee should be viewed as establishing a baseline to develop funding levels and program requirements in the Department's 1996 and future budget requests. The Committee believes that to do anything less is to jeopardize the readiness of our Armed Forces. ADDRESSING THE COSTS AND INEFFICIENCIES OF THE DRAWDOWN Though it generally was understood at the beginning of the current military drawdown that inefficiencies and unanticipated costs would arise, no one could accurately predict the magnitude of those costs. Nowhere has this troublesome outcome had a more deleterious effect on current operations than in our European commands. Costs arising from the drawdown have forced our Army and Air Force leaders in Europe to redirect funds approved for training activities to infrastructure support. Thus, for the past 3 years, the U.S. Army in Europe has failed to train at levels even remotely akin to a reasonable readiness standard. In order to reduce the propensity to transfer training dollars to infrastructure programs, the recommendations provide funds to offset a shortfall in the Army European command's base operations request and fully fund the Army's RetroEur Program. Additional funds also are provided to augment the Air Force European command's Base Operations Program. In particular, these funds shall be used to cover utility and health and safety-related maintenance costs that, in the absence of an appropriation, may well be covered by transfers. Details on these and other recommendations which address the rising costs of the defense drawdown are provided under the relevant headings appearing later in this report. O&M SUPPORT TO MILITARY FORCES DEPOT MAINTENANCE The Committee's review of the Department's depot maintenance funding proposals for 1995 have led it to conclude that the financial backlogs projected for Army and Navy aircraft depot maintenance programs are beyond levels deemed appropriate by the Committee. This is also the case for the Army and Marine Corps combat vehicle maintenance programs. To address these findings, the Committee provides additional funds for select aircraft and combat vehicle maintenance programs, making it possible for each service to meet 80 percent of its fiscal year 1995 maintenance requirements in these programs. For aircraft maintenance, the Committee provides an additional $85,500,000 to the Army and $23,600,000 to the Navy. And for combat vehicle maintenance, the Committee adds $10,800,000 to the Army program and $16,300,000 to the Marine Corps program. The Committee also recommends providing an additional $100,000,000 for needed ship repairs not funded in the President's request. Navy budget reductions and smaller force levels will result in significantly less repair work and a loss of skilled labor at both private and Navy shipyards. Providing funds for additional workload at both private and public yards in 1995 will allow for a more measured and gradual transition to smaller shipyard work forces in the future while preserving, to a reasonable extent, this critical industrial base. These additional funds will be used for ship repairs identified by the Navy in a plan submitted to the Committee. To assure that these funds are used for the purposes intended, language requiring the Navy to obligate a minimum amount of funding for ship maintenance during the fiscal year is included in the bill. For those programs not mentioned above, such as Air Force aircraft or Navy engine depot maintenance, the budget request proposes amounts sufficient to meet the 80 percent minimum funding level. The Committee's recommendations fully fund the President's request for those critical programs not mentioned above. As noted previously by the Committee, a robust depot maintenance program should be considered fundamental to preserving military readiness. Yet, as forces are reduced, maintaining some level of repair backlog is sound management practice, inasmuch as this practice allows the depots to smooth workload and minimize turbulence in the work force. Growth in backlogs above certain thresholds, however, could hamper force operations and degrade readiness in the near or medium term. Thus, the Committee directs the military services to allocate funding for depot maintenance programs requested in its annual budget submissions at levels equal to or greater than 80 percent of the annual requirements for airframes and aircraft engines, combat vehicles, and ships. The depot maintenance industrial base revisited.-The Committee is chagrined by the Department's recent policy decision to discontinue public/private and public/public competition of depot maintenance workload. Ending these competition programs runs exactly counter to those policies and fundamental business operating procedures which are encouraged under the defense business operations fund initiative. Moreover, the Committee believes that only in a competitive environment will depot maintenance providers be motivated fully to ensure that the most efficient and economical policies and procedures are followed. The Committee agrees that there are flaws in the Department's depot maintenance competition programs which must be corrected. The data base, financial management, and cost comparison systems are not sufficient to ensure a level, competitive playing field. Moreover, the process by which the Department bids and awards workload is not consistent with sound business theory or practice, and thus does not allow for true market mechanisms to operate. The Committee believes that ending depot maintenance competition is not in the Department's best interest. For example, in the absence of competition, it is likely that depot maintenance prices will continue to increase dramatically-a prospect that should be considered troublesome by the operating forces who pay for depot maintenance services. Thus, the Committee directs the Department to reinstitute competition for depot maintenance workload funded in fiscal year 1995 and thereafter, while simultaneously proceeding with data base and financial management system and award process improvements that will enhance the quality of future competitions. A general provision (sec. 8057) is included which permits full competition of depot maintenance programs. Should the Department fail to reinstitute competition, the Committee will consider corrective actions on future legislation. MOBILITY ENHANCEMENTS Continuing an initiative begun several years ago, the Committee once again recommends an increase in funding to enhance military force mobility and improve the military services' rapid deployment capability from the United States. As the Department's strategy and force structure continue to evolve, the imperative for an enhanced rapid deployment capability grows. Funding of $50,000,000 is added to the "Operation and maintenance, defensewide'' account to improve mobility assets such as railheads and port and pier facilities. These funds are to be managed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. The Committee directs the military services to provide recommendations to the Under Secretary regarding specific programs and related funding requirements that meet the Committee's intentions under this initiative by no later than January 1, 1995. Also, the Army has informed the Committee that the Bayonne Army Garrison rehabilitation project is vitally needed. The Army has identified a $3,300,000 requirement to complete the final phase of an ongoing project to repair the railroad trackage located within the facility. The Committee directs that $3,300,000 of the additional $50,000,000 provided for strategic mobility enhancements be used to complete the Bayonne Army Garrison project. In a related matter, the Committee approves the funding level requested by the Army to reconfigure the service's Europe-based Prepositioned Materiel Configured to Unit Sets or POMCUS Program. The Committee urges the Army to proceed apace with this program, so that future logistics and prepositioning costs are reduced. RECRUITING, ADVERTISING, AND EXAMINING The Committee proposes to increase the military service recruiting and advertising budget requests, allowing for increased recruiter support and advertising. Declines in the propensity of young people to enlist for military service have resulted in across-the-board failures to meet new recruit contract goals. This has led the services to deplete their delayed entry pools in order to meet current year accession goals, a practice that will make fiscal year 1995 accession goals that much harder to meet. The propensity to enlist is at the lowest level ever experienced since the creation of the All-Volunteer Force, according to the 1993 youth attitude tracking survey. There are many reasons for this change. There is a greater propensity for youth to attend college than ever before. There are adequate job opportunities in the civilian sector. Today, it appears that parents, teachers, and coaches are more inclined to steer youth in directions other than military service. There is also a misperception that, in the drawdown environment, the military is not hiring. Increased advertising funds can get the message out to both the youth and their influencers that the military is hiring and that there are excellent opportunities in military service. Increased recruiter support funds will provide for vehicles, expenses, supplies, equipment, automation, communications, applicant meals/lodging/travel, and so on, required to put recruiters in touch with prospects and their influencers. Funding increases in this area will have a direct impact on the recruiters' ability to meet new contract goals. Accordingly, the Committee recommends a total increase of $100,000,000 for service recruiting and advertising programs, to be allocated as shown in the table below: Army $46,100,000 Navy 39,200,000 Marine Corps 10,700,000 Air Force 4,000,000 TELETRAINING Because of the long-term savings anticipated from the introduction and expansion of teletraining in the services' schoolhouse training regimes, the Committee recommends an increase totaling $19,050,000 for teletraining initiatives. This increase shall be used to support both the Army's Teletraining Network Program, otherwise known as TNET, and the initiation of a distance learning regional training network demonstration project for certain Army Guard and Reserve outfits in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. BASE COMMUNICATIONS The Committee's recommendations for base communications propose reductions totaling $64,900,000, limiting growth in certain active military base communications programs and aligning changes in these programs with changes in force structure. Data submitted with the President's 1995 budget request indicate that the Department's proposals for certain communications programs are out of step with the continuing force drawdown. Although reductions are proposed, the recommendation protects increases for modernization projects and ongoing activities critical to force operations. SCHOOLHOUSE TRAINING AND EDUCATION Specialized skill and training support.-The Committee believes that Air Force specialized skill training and Army training support estimates do not adequately consider force structure reductions. The revised estimates consider the fact that portions of the training base and infrastructure do not change in direct proportion to reductions in the force structure and that some force structure reductions actually result in an increased rather than decreased training requirement. The Committee recommends that funding be reduced by a total of $25,400,000 to incorporate the impact of changes in force structure on these programs. Training squadron transfer.-The Committee recognizes that the Navy will realign certain flight training activities. In anticipation of savings to be generated from this realignment, the Committee recommends reducing the Navy aviation training support request by $5,000,000. War college workload.-The Committee recommendations align funding levels for the National Defense University [NDU] and the service war colleges with changes in force structure. After adjusting for force structure reductions and accounting for inflation, the fiscal year 1995 estimates are up by 23 percent more than would be expected. The effect of this growth is to support an increased student load which will result in a far higher percentage of service war college graduates in a smaller force. War college training is primarily a leadership development program. The ratio of leaders to those led does not need to increase in the downsized force structure. Accordingly, the Committee recommends that budget estimates be reduced by $14,700,000. War college joint training initiative.-Currently, there is limited interservice training at the military war colleges. However, recent military experience has been dominated by joint operations and the prospect for more joint operations in the future is assured. In the spirit of increased interservice cooperation, and in recognition of the need to increase senior level officers' awareness of the doctrines and capabilities of sister military departments, the Committee approves a general provision (sec. 8108) directing that the share of each military department's war college student load made up of military department members from other components increase to not less than 20 percent of the total of U.S. students at each war college by a time certain. The Department is directed to implement this initiative for classes entering the war colleges after September 30, 1996. Each military department is directed to recognize the attendance at a sister military department war college as the equivalent of attendance at its own war college for promotion and advancement of personnel. Consolidation of corpsman training.-It has come to the attention of the Committee that significant excess training capacity exists at some of the locations that conduct corpsman/medic training. The Committee directs the Department to conduct a study and provide recommendations, not later than May 31, 1995, regarding consolidation of corpsman/medic training at a reduced number of locations. The report should discuss, at a minimum, the capacity and present workload at the current corpsmen/medic training locations, the cost savings that might be achieved through consolidation, and an analysis of administrative and teaching reductions that might be achieved. The Department's recommendations on consolidation actions should be included in the report and should be submitted to the congressional defense committees. THE REGIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT Over the course of the year, the Committee conducted an in-depth review of the U.S. military situation in Europe. What follows is a summary of the Committee's findings. The European military situation.-The U.S. European Command's area of responsibility is being described by our military leaders in Europe as a theater in conflict. In the wake of the cold war, deep-seated ethnic hatreds and nationalist tendencies have been loosened from their bipolar bounds. Consequently, the potential for instability and violence on the European continent has increased. Thus, it is more likely today that NATO and U.S. European-based forces will encounter low-level conflict situations, as well as be asked to perform more nontraditional military tasks such as humanitarian relief and nation building. In addition to these new threats facing the alliance, our military leaders in the region remain concerned about (and maintain forces in response to) the latent conventional and nuclear capabilities of the former Soviet states. Though the conventional threat to central Europe is gone, U.S. commanders worry that massive economic dislocation in these countries could lead to a more militaristic nationalist and/or recidivist Communist leadership. To address these threats and satisfy alliance and bilateral commitments, the United States will maintain military forces in Europe for the foreseeable future. This is no longer a subject for debate. What is up for debate are questions regarding the level of U.S. forces to remain in Europe and their use. The Department of Defense has identified a number of political and military justifications for sustaining a U.S. force presence in Europe. In political terms, these forces: demonstrate our commitment to European security; assure U.S. leadership of the NATO alliance; and enhance political stability and economic security in the region by sustaining alliance military cohesiveness. Militarily, U.S. forces in Europe: provide forces to meet both traditional and new NATO commitments such as contingency operations, military-to-military contact programs, and training and exercise activities associated with the Partnership for Peace Program; deter conflicts in and around member states; and prepare for rapid deployment outside of traditional NATO defense areas. To meet their alliance and regional combat responsibilities, our military leadership in Europe plans to sustain a combined Army/Navy/Air Force troop level ashore of 109,000 when our military drawdown in Europe is completed. This plan is the latest in a series of plans that keep changing as fiscal pressures grow and various deployment limitations are imposed by Congress. Principal among these are the overseas troop strength limitations imposed by Congress in the Fiscal Year 1993 Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 102-484). The act requires that: -By September 30, 1996, U.S. overseas force levels may be no more than 60 percent of such force levels in place as of September 30, 1992. In effect, U.S. forces overseas must be reduced from 290,000 to 174,000 by the end of fiscal year 1996. -Also by the end of fiscal year 1996, U.S. forces assigned to permanent duty ashore in European member nations of NATO may not exceed 100,000. Though the military rationale for keeping any sized force in Europe is much less certain today than during the cold war, it is clear that these legislative limitations undermine the administration's defense plans defined by the "Bottom-Up Review''. Moreover, the 60-percent cap will ultimately lead to additional reductions in U.S. Pacific-based forces at a most inopportune time, should our European-based force levels be kept at 109,000. Thus, the Committee strongly supports provisions in the recently approved Senate version of the fiscal year 1995 national Defense authorization bill which repeal the 60-percent cap and amend the 100,000 troop ceiling. U.S. military operations in Europe.-For many of our troops stationed in Europe, day-to-day activities are taken up with planning for and executing Bosnian peacekeeping and Kurdish relief operations. Though these relief operations may represent the prototypical military engagements in EUCOM's future, current U.S. involvement in these seems to have provided few lessons for shaping U.S. European-based forces. In short, there remain many unanswered questions regarding the composition and use of our European forces, questions such as: Has the potential for U.S. involvement in future U.N. peacekeeping operations in the region grown or diminished? What is the likelihood that U.S. ground forces will ever become involved in a European regional or ethnic conflict? Is the force structure planned for the future the optimal one for responding to regional contingencies in Europe, peacekeeping operations, humanitarian operations, or other likely conflict scenario? Despite these unanswered questions, our uniformed leaders in Europe are convinced that, even though the military rationale for our European-based force structure is not as clear today, a U.S. military presence there guarantees an ability to respond to certain regional conflicts; an ability which, in and of itself, has some deterrent effect on the likelihood of regional conflicts erupting on the continent. Opening up to the East.-In addition to reshaping and readying forces to meet the evolving European threat, our military leaders in Europe are concerned about another great challenge facing them; that is, leading the NATO alliance to broader, cooperative relationships with recently democratized central and East European nations. The Committee supports the efforts of our military leadership there to implement the Partnership for Peace Program and develop the Combined Joint Task Force Operations Program approved at the January 1994 NATO summit. As such, the Committee agrees to provide an additional $30,000,000 to fund these programs in a separate account within the Joint Chiefs of Staff "Operation and maintenance'' appropriation. Disposal of excess medical and other equipment.-The Committee also conducted an extensive review of the Department of Defense's process and policies governing the disposal of medical and other equipment that has become excess to the needs of our forces based in Europe. Below is a summary of the Committee's findings: Medical and other supplies that became excess to the needs of our Europe-based forces have had three principal sources of origin: disbanded combat units; unneeded war reserve and contingency hospital stocks; and community hospital and clinic closures. Some excess medical supplies and equipment were redistributed in theater. For example, supplies held by disbanded combat units mostly were transferred to other units in Europe. Also, some equipment once located at closed/closing medical facilities was repositioned to hospitals and clinics in Europe that will remain open. Because the military drawdown in Europe is nearing end state, this process is just about complete. The bulk of materials declared excess to the military services' needs came from large hospital closures. By and large, these materials were sent to other nations under the auspices of the Defense Department's Humanitarian Assistance Program [HAP], the exception being those items set aside for transfer to American Samoa. Thus, much of the excess U.S. military medical items in Europe has been redistributed. Still, there are supplies and equipment which remain for redistribution. The Committee's findings confirm that the DOD excess supply disposal process is complicated by a multiplicity of statutes and regulations and the number of governmental actors involved. Nonetheless, the Committee achieved an important measure of understanding how this process works by identifying key actors and procedural bottlenecks. These key actors include officials from the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center in Europe, the Army's 7th MEDCOM and the Command Surgeon of the Air Force in Europe, and USAMMA and AFMLO-agencies located at Fort Dietrich, MD, which oversee worldwide medical logistics operations for the Army and Air Force, respectively. Perhaps the most important finding by the Committee on this matter was determining the Department's current prioritization scheme for redistributing excess medical materials. Under the Department's advertised redistribution scheme, other Federal Government agencies have priority for receiving medical materials once such materials are declared excess to the military's needs. But, as noted above, much of the medical materials determined as excess to our European-based forces was provided to other nations through DOD's Humanitarian Assistance Program. In effect, the Department of Defense acted as an agent for the Department of State, so that excess materials are made available to other nations before other Federal agencies. This scheme is in accordance with statutes and regulations governing the excess equipment redistribution process, but is one that works to the disadvantage of native American, State, and local government, or any other U.S-based groups. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to make known to U.S. communities and native Americans the availability of excess equipment from the ongoing drawdown in Europe, prior to any designation of the sale or delivery of such items to other nations. A general provision (sec. 8032) and additional funding of $5,000,000 have been added to facilitate the transfer of excess items from Europe to the United States. The Committee will work with the Department to establish mechanisms for expediting these transfers and it intends to work with each of those organizations listed above to improve the process of distributing excess medical and other supplies to needy Americans. USACOM.-The Committee recognizes the realignment of the functions of the Atlantic Command into the new USACOM. This change enhances coordination of training, planning, and readiness programs for Conus-based forces. This initiative reflects the reduced war-fighting mission of the Atlantic Command, with the end of the cold war. The adjustment of responsibilities for Conus-based forces within USACOM must not interfere with the specific, war-fighting roles of the forward-based unified commands-EUCOM, SOUTHCOM, CENTCOM, and PACOM. No actions under the authority of the new USACOM should interfere with the prerogatives and missions currently executed by these forward-based headquarters and units. The Committee specifically rejects any plans to realign any forces currently assigned to the U.S. Pacific Command to the Atlantic Command or USACOM. FACT-OF-LIFE ADJUSTMENTS ARMS CONTROL Reductions of $20,000,000 to the military services and the On-Site Inspection Agency for arms control-related programs are recommended due to changes in the implementation schedules of the chemical weapons and START agreements. Also, certain inspection requirements assumed under these treaties and planned in the budget request have not materialized. This recommendation adjusts funding to account for these schedule and requirement changes. CIVILIAN PERSONNEL EMPLOYEE LEVELS The Committee recommends reductions totaling $521,340,000 in operation and maintenance to account for lower civilian employee levels than assumed in the President's budget submission. The recommendations are based on data supplied by the Department of Defense which indicate: (1) that the Department's hiring freeze and separation incentives programs have resulted in civilian work force attrition rates greater than expected in 1994 in the Army, Air Force, and Defense agencies (including the Defense Health Program); and (2) the Department expects to reach lower civilian employee levels in these organizations by the end of fiscal year 1995 than assumed in the President's request. Funding levels for civilian pay in these agencies are aligned with expected 1995 work force levels. The Army and Air Force Civilian Education and Training Program funding requests also have been adjusted to account for lower than expected personnel levels in 1995. Cuts of $3,800,000 and $2,950,000 are recommended for the Army and Air Force, respectively. To facilitate the Department's efforts to shrink civilian employee rolls, the Committee recommends additional funding for civilian separation benefit programs. A total of $177,500,000 is added. A portion of these funds ($54,500,000) is provided to allow the Department to implement the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act provisions. The remainder is equally divided between the Army and Air Force to abet these services' efforts to meet 1995 civilian work-year levels. O&M "TAIL'' TO GUARD AND RESERVE PERSONNEL EMPLOYEE LEVELS All but the Navy component of the Department's Guard and Reserve programs are expected to begin fiscal year 1995 with personnel levels lower than planned in the President's request. Thus, the Committee reduces funding for base support, transportation, and other O&M programs directly affected by these military personnel changes without jeopardizing support for or quality-of-life of military personnel. Reductions totaling $19,100,000 are proposed. MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND RATES Rates charged to the Department of Defense by commercial cargo carriers were reduced following the submission of the President's fiscal year 1995 Defense budget request. To account for this change, the Committee recommends reductions of $38,100,000 to the service and defensewide operation and maintenance accounts. These reductions are allocated based on information provided by the Department. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS TRAVEL The Committee recommendation reduces the President's request by a total of $49,500,000 to prohibit growth in the military services' travel budgets. The President's request proposes an increase in the amount of funds allocated for travel per person in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Army National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard. The Committee recommendation holds funding per person at 1994 levels plus inflation. MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE The Committee recommends reductions totaling $85,200,000 to the military components' requests for purchasing accounting services from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service [DFAS]. Last year, the Congress directed DFAS to step up efforts to reduce costs and increase productivity by 5 percent throughout its operation to begin fulfilling the goals assumed under the original consolidation plan. In its fiscal year 1995 budget justification materials, DFAS claimed that it had done so and, in addition, assumed another 5 percent productivity gain for 1995. In fact, DFAS failed to abide by congressional intent in its execution of the 1994 program. The Committee learned that DFAS simply increased prices charged to its customers for fiscal year 1995 to make up the reductions approved by Congress for fiscal year 1994. The Committee directs the DFAS to rebate the 1995 reductions by reducing its rates charged to the military services. The amounts to be rebated are shown in the table below: Army $29,800,000 Navy 18,600,000 Marine Corps 5,400,000 Air Force 21,900,000 Defensewide 9,500,000 In a related matter, the Navy and Marine Corps propose to increase funding levels to cover DFAS accounting services by $70,515,000 and $11,800,000, respectively in fiscal year 1995. Yet, data supplied by each of the services indicate that no increase in workload is scheduled, no consolidation of functions or transfers are to occur, or any other activity change is planned that would justify the proposed program increase. When asked, neither the services nor DFAS could explain the increases. The Committee believes that the Navy and Marine Corps funding requests for DFAS services are yet another indication of the budgetary sleight-of-hand which characterizes some aspects of DFAS financial operations. Thus, the Committee urges the Comptroller of the Department of Defense to provide a detailed justification of DFAS plans for providing accounting services to the military components and the related costs for fiscal year 1995. This report should be provided to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and Senate prior to the conclusion of the conference on the fiscal year 1995 Defense appropriations bill. Until that justification is received, the Committee will withhold judgment on the disposition of the Navy and Marine Corps funding proposals. SUPPLY OPERATIONS PRODUCTIVITY Like the Defense Finance and Accounting Service [DFAS], the Defense Logistics Agency [DLA] is overseeing a sweeping consolidation of Department of Defense functions, in this case the supply management activities of the Department. This consolidation, like that of the accounting function consolidation in DFAS, is expected to promote productivity improvements and, thereby, lead to operating cost savings. To encourage DLA to expedite plans to introduce productivity/cost saving measures, the Committee recommends a total reduction of $140,600,000 to the services' Supply Purchases Program. These funds are to be refunded to the services in the amounts listed in the table below: Army $64,700,000 Navy 50,600,000 Marine Corps 7,000,000 Air Force 18,300,000 The Committee anticipates that DLA will improve operations through productivity enhancements that reduce administrative and procurement leadtimes. OTHER DEFENSE PROGRAMS SECURITY LOCKS Over the past 3 years, the Committee has expressed its concern about the use of nonstandard or below standard physical security equipment. Despite repeated expressions of concern, the Defense Department only recently began a program to replace nonstandard security locks. The Committee is well aware of the ongoing debate within the intelligence community over all aspects of security, particularly cost. The Committee reiterates its belief that savings can be achieved to offset security costs through declassifying documents, not by lowering protection standards. So, to sustain protection standards at levels prescribed by current regulation, the Committee recommends adding $20,000,000 to the "Operation and maintenance, defensewide'' account to continue the process of retrofitting containers holding top secret and secret material with locks which meet Defense and General Services Administration security standards. Further, the Department should evaluate, in light of recent security breaches, security locks as an access control system with an audit capability to provide an additional deterrent and allow improved detection. This access control system should focus security measures closer to the source. Included again is a general provision which prohibits the use of appropriated funds to purchase, install, or otherwise repair any lock used to protect classified materials which do not meet Federal specification FF-L-2740. HOUSEHOLD GOODS TRANSPORTATION The Committee directs the Department of Defense-Military Traffic Management Command proposal to extend the interim carrier liability rate of $1.80 per pound per article in the ITGBL Program through fiscal year 1995. During this period, none of the funds provided for in this act may be obligated to implement or discharge obligation incurred under the ITGBL Program if modified as provided for in the Federal Register of March 4, 1993. The Committee notes that the U.S. General Accounting Office [GAO] is currently reviewing proposed increases in carrier liability rates for Department of Defense overseas household goods shipments. As part of this review, GAO has collected for analysis all available DOD computerized household goods shipment and claims data for the period 1986 through 1992. Though this is the first time such a data base has been assembled, both the carrier industry and DOD agree with GAO's methodology for collecting such data. The GAO analysis should provide detailed information regarding the cost, effectiveness, problems, and other conditions accompanying differing levels of carrier liability rates. It is the view of this Committee that any proposed legislation affecting such rates should be deferred until the results of this exhaustive study and evaluation are made known. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, ARMY Appropriations, 1994 $15,952,057,000 Budget estimate, 1995 17,816,814,000 House allowance 17,886,504,000 Committee recommendation 17,525,806,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $17,525,806,000. This is $291,008,000 below the budget estimate and $360,698,000 below the House allowance. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS Allocations of the Committee adjustments are made for each operation and maintenance, Army funding category identified in the Department's O-1 submission. A table showing the budget estimate, Committee adjustment, and recommended funding level by O-1 category is provided below. Proposed transfers of funds between budget activity funding categories in excess of $10,000,000 are subject to standard reprogramming procedures. Offset folios 0 to 0 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, ARMY insert here***TABLE GOES HERE*** COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS ARMY FUNDING PRIORITIES AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS For each of the past 3 fiscal years, the Army proposed what it purported to be sufficient funding levels in its budget requests to support training operations at a minimum of 800 tank-miles per year. This level of training is viewed as the standard that must be met to preserve Army ground force readiness. Thus, for each of the past 3 fiscal years, Congress provided the amount requested by the Army for these unit training programs. Despite congressional approval of the budget requests and training plans as submitted, the Army failed to train at the 800-mile rate in 1992 and 1993, and again will fail to do so in 1994. Instead, the Army transferred funds from unit training programs to infrastructure support programs such as base operations. That such transfers occurred is not surprising, given that the Army failed to receive burdensharing and residual value payments from foreign governments as assumed in the Army's O&M budget. Still, the Army chose to transfer funds from unit training programs when it had other options. The Army's past handling of its O&M program demonstrates a clear need for the service to improve its financial management. This situation gives rise to several problems to which the current leadership of the Army's financial operations must attend: -First, at a minimum, the credibility of the Army's justification of its O&M program has been damaged. -Second, Army claims about the paramount need to preserve readiness are suspect. Why would the Army put its training programs at risk by assuming it would receive burdensharing contributions (a highly dubious prospect) in order to fund those programs? Why would the Army purposefully transfer funds from critical readiness and training programs to infrastructure support programs? -Third, if the Army truly intends to preserve readiness, then perhaps it does not have the budgeting tools and accounting controls to do so-an equally unsettling prospect. The Committee understands that training at the 800-mile-per-year standard is not the be all and end all of achieving preparedness for combat. Nonetheless, the Army once again has declared in its testimony and budget justification materials submitted to the Committee that training at the traditional 800-mile standard is one of its priorities. And, once again, the Committee fully supports that priority. But, it does so only on the condition that transfers of any amount from the following subactivity groups be subject to standard reprogramming procedures: Combat units, tactical support, and force-related training/special activities. In addition, the Secretary of the Army shall provide a report to the congressional defense committees detailing the financial execution of these subactivity groups on a bimonthly basis beginning January 1, 1995, and continuing through the remainder of fiscal year 1995. The practice of transferring funds from critical unit training programs to other activities is not acceptable. The Committee supports the efforts of the Army's current financial management leadership to correct the aforementioned problems and will continue to work with the Army to address these and related issues. O&M SUPPORT OF MILITARY FORCES European base operations.-The Committee recommends an increase of $47,000,000 to the Army's operating forces base support programs, thereby reducing a shortfall in the U.S. Army European Command [USAREUR] base operations budget for fiscal year 1995. The additional funds should be used first to meet all health and safety-related maintenance and repair projects not funded in the command's request. By providing these funds, the Committee expects that the propensity to transfer funds from other operation and maintenance programs-particularly USAUREUR's unit training programs-to cover infrastructure support costs will be minimized. RetroEur/FutureEur.-Since fiscal year 1991, Army troop levels in Europe have decreased markedly. In the wake of these personnel reductions, significant quantities of equipment, supplies, ammunition, and other materials have been left to await return to the United States, sale to foreign countries, or disposal through some other means. Until recently, the Army was forced to cover out of pocket the costs for maintaining and transporting these items, largely at the expense of critical readiness-related programs such as operational training. The Committee believes that such an imbalance in the use of Army operation and maintenance resources could lead to an erosion of readiness. Therefore, the Committee provides an additional $40,000,000 for the Army's RetroEur Program, an amount that will allow the Army to meet 100 percent of its material retrograde requirements for fiscal year 1995. Helicopter training in Israel.-To aid the Army's efforts to establish a heavy mechanized/helicopter training program in Israel, $10,000,000 in additional unit training funds is recommended. Noncombat command base operations support.-The Army's 1995 O&M proposals call for large funding increases in the base operations support programs of certain Army noncombat commands, including the Training and Doctrine Command and the Military District of Washington. Such increases come at the expense of programs more directly related to preserving force readiness, foster a continuing reliance on an increasingly unaffordable infrastructure, and are out of step with the fiscal constraints facing the Army. A reduction totaling $71,700,000 is recommended, reducing by one-half the real funding growth proposed for such commands. Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant.-The Committee is aware that the rail line connecting the Hawthorne Army ammunition plant to the commercial rail network has deteriorated to unacceptable levels. Moreover, it notes that the Army included in its fiscal year 1995 request for strategic mobility programs an amount to begin repairing this rail line. To assure that this project is fully funded in fiscal year 1995, the Committee directs that the Army allocate not less than $7,500,000 from within funds approved for strategic mobility programs to initiate repair of this rail line. Military Entrance Processing Command.-The Committee is concerned that examining costs per accession are increasing beyond expected rates. The Army is directed to review examining costs and take appropriate action-should it be warranted-to keep examining costs per accession at prior year level plus inflation only. With this direction, the Committee estimates that $3,400,000 could be made available to meet other efforts. Thus, the Committee directs that such an amount be reapplied to the military entrance processing station [MEPS] office automation efforts. Application of these funds to office automation will yield future savings by improving the efficiency of the current records management system. ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES Contributions to the NATO budget.-The Committee recommends reducing funds requested to finance the U.S. share of NATO headquarters costs by $14,600,000, aligning funding in this program with the amount to be contributed to NATO under the cost-sharing formula agreed to by the allies. A general provision, section 8074, is included prohibiting the U.S. Department of Defense from providing more than $119,200,000 to cover 1995 NATO headquarters operations costs. This would permit the United States to cover up to 28.9 percent of NATO headquarters costs. Administrative work-years.-The Army proposes to increase work-year levels in administrative support activities by 729 from fiscal year 1994 to 1995. This is out of step with the ongoing defense drawdown and fiscal retrenchment facing the Department. A reduction of $46,000,000 and 1,000 work-years is recommended to align funding and work-year levels in administrative programs with changes in forces and personnel supported. Real estate administration.-The Committee provides $500,000 for design and planning activities to facilitate the Hawaii Family Housing Deficit Reduction Program. These additional funds are to be used to support the design of the Helemano Road project approved in the Senate fiscal year 1995 Military Construction appropriations bill. Life Sciences Equipment Lab.-Last year, Congress provided $500,000 to the Army's POW-MIA Program for the Life Sciences Equipment Lab [LSEL] to underwrite its work supporting the joint task force-full accounting. The Committee commends the Army and the Air Force for the rapidity with which personnel and equipment were brought together to tackle the backlog of POW-MIA cases at LSEL. Recognizing that the Army is the executive agent for casualty operations, the Committee once again adds $462,000 to the Army's POW-MIA Program to continue the joint task force. The Committee directs the Army to properly budget for the LSEL's POW-MIA operations in its fiscal year 1996 request. MTMC pricing.-Budget justification materials submitted to the Committee indicate price increases for Military Traffic and Management Command services to be provided to the Army are overstated. To correct this overstatement, a reduction of $9,060,000 is recommended. ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS Conservation programs.-To carry out its assigned mission of protecting our Nation's security, the Department of Defense [DOD] conducts operations daily at installations throughout the United States and the world. Many of these activities are necessary to preserve the state of readiness of our military forces. However, in some cases, these activities have the potential to adversely affect the unique plant and animal life naturally occurring at many DOD installations. To balance these sometimes competing concerns, the DOD must develop a better awareness of the species existing on military installations and consider courses of action which minimize the impact of the military activities on the environment. Few, if any, military installations in the world can match the diverse array of plant and animal life which exist on military installations in the State of Hawaii. While the Army has made progress in identifying species impacted by military operations in the State, much work remains to be done to ensure that the delicate environment and unique plant and animal life on military installations can coexist with the daily activities which our forces must complete. The Committee is aware of a proposal to develop a comprehensive program which implements urgent conservation actions, establishes a monitoring and data base system, and promotes partnerships and community involvement. The Committee directs that, of the funds available to the Army for conservation activities, $5,700,000 shall be made available only to proceed with the proposed ecosystem management program which will aid the Army in meeting both its legal obligations under the Endangered Species Act and its mandate to preserve the readiness of our forces. Waste water treatment.-The Army has a growing requirement to discharge or treat waste water produced through day-to-day military operations associated with the Schofield Barracks facilities. To date, the Army has discharged effluent on agricultural lands at no cost. The limited amount of land available in Hawaii and the increasing pressures to develop agricultural lands make it necessary for the Army to take steps to maintain the current disposal process. To this end, the Committee provides an additional $15,000,000 and directs that these funds shall be available only to purchase a 10-year easement from the Waialua Sugar Co., on the island of Oahu for the discharge of waste water produced by military activities. The Committee recognizes that this is an interim solution and that the Army must continue to identify and assess future waste water disposal options. Therefore, the Committee provides $750,000 to continue the analysis and planning efforts of the joint agency waste water task force which was established by the Army this year. Asbestos abatement and conversion.-The Committee provides an increase of $1,500,000 to acquire and operate asbestos conversion equipment for use at Aberdeen Proving Ground [APG]. This equipment will provide the Army with the capability to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of the APG Asbestos Abatement Program. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, NAVY Appropriations, 1994 $20,010,309,000 Budget estimate, 1995 21,226,570,000 House allowance 21,366,555,000 Committee recommendation 21,325,770,000 The Committee recommends an appropriation of $21,325,770,000. This is $99,200,000 above the budget estimate and $40,785,000 below the House allowance. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS Allocations of the Committee adjustments are made for each operation and maintenance, Navy funding category identified in the Department's O-1 submission. A table showing the budget estimate, Committee adjustment, and recommended funding level by O-1 category is provided below. Proposed transfers of funds between budget activity funding categories in excess of $10,000,000 are subject to standard reprogramming procedures. Offset folios 0 to 0 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, NAVY insert here***TABLE GOES HERE*** COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS O&M SUPPORT OF MILITARY FORCES Shipyard modernization.-The Committee recommends an addition of $83,100,000 to enhance the Navy's Shipyard Modernization Program. Of the amount added, $29,600,000 is to be provided for the Navy's Advanced Industrial Manage
