We have the Assistant for Logistic Plans, for materiel program control and the Assistant for Mutual Security. Mr. RIVERS. May I ask a question there? I hate to interrupt. Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. Mr. RIVERS. Now, your Director of Industrial Resources: Is that to give you the catalog on the sources of the procurement of these things necessary for your inventory in your materiel command? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. That is correct, sir. Now, the job performed here briefly is this: This man is responsible for determining quantitative logistic requirements for Air Force programs and plans and the accomplishment of industry planning, procurement, modification and maintenance to meet the logistic requirements. These requirements include aircraft, weapons, industrial facilities, and all supporting equipment, supplies, and services. He directs the establishment and maintenance of Air Force supply systems and provides staff liaison with the technical services of the Department of the Army and appropriate bureaus of the Department of the Navy. Now, gentlemer, the remaining boxes on our chart are more or less self-explanatory. We have the surgeon. He is responsible for all health affairs of the Air Force personnel. The inspector is the watchdog of the whole organization. The Judge Advocate is the lawyer. He handles all aspects of the military justice system. The Scientific Advisory Board is a group of civilians, prominent civilians in civilian life, scientific and technical fields, who meet at the Pentagon from time to time and perform consultive services and scientific missions for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Special Assistant for Reserve Forces: His mission is to keep the Chief informed on all special aspects of the entire Reserve program. Mr. BLANDFORD. That is required by law, Colonel? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. General WETZEL. That is required by law. Mr. BLANDFORD. They handle all the accounting? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. What kind of accounting do they do; accounting for what? under the Comptroller? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Moneywise accounting, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. Well, what does the finance man do, if you have somebody else handle the money? What does he do? Finance usually means money to me. Now, what does he do? General WETZEL. I am not prepared to answer this, but the Comptroller Mr. GAVIN. He is under the supervision General WETZEL. The individual at this command level organization chart which you saw displayed-the Comptroller General is the individual who for the commander sees to it that the functions are done. The Comptroller starts with data gathered at the grassroots. Before we can come over and defend the budget here before the Congress, we must know our business. Somebody must do that function at the base level. That is the budget officer. Management analysis: That, we feel in the Air Force, is very important, and I think the Congress does, too. As a result of that, you learn how to do things better and with less people and at less cost. There is a finance function which is there. People have to get paid. Statistical service is a system which gathers information, punches it into cards, and passes it up, so our central headquarters here in the Air Force can have all the statistical information that we need to have, need to have because the Congress has an interest, because the Office of the Secretary of Defense has a very real interest. You would be shocked at the amount of statistical information that we as the Air Force find it absolutely essential to have here in Washington. That has to start from the guy that knows. Accounting-I can't speak so well on that one. But all of those functions are there. You could take all of those little boxes and put them out this way and the commander would have to deal with each one of those, and under our organizational system the Comptroller is the Joe that the commander charges in seeing that those work good. Mr. BATES. I understand that. The only question I had was the difference between the accounting and the finance officer. General WETZEL. That is the one I can't answer. Mr. BATES. I was told the finance officer handled money matters. Well, what is the difference, then, if that is so, between the finance. officer and the accounting officer? The finance officer merely is a disbursing man? What accounting does the accounting man do? Is it on civilian payrolls? I just don't know and I would like to know the answer to that. General WETZEL. I am sure you would, and I am sorry I can't tell you. Is there anyone here-if I may call on some of the experts with me. Mr. ARENDS. Go ahead. General WETZEL. That can distinguish between the functions of the finance officer, and the accounting. TESTIMONY OF MAJ. GEN. MORRIS J. LEE, DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL PLANNING, OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, PERSONNEL, USAF General LEE. I would like to take that. Mr. Chairman, I would like to try that question and answer, Mr. Bates. The accounting office, under the Comptroller as I understand it, is the office which handles the records which are built up through contracting, through payrolls, through any expenditures that may be necessary either going up or down in the chain of command. The finance office is really the office that handles the money that you talk about and pays the people, pays the bills, and so forth. There are two separate offices. Mr. BATES. Ordinarily, your finance officer is your disbursing officer who disburses civilian and military rolls, and makes his own reports. Your accounting officer ordinarily handles the net result of those, but just for entry purposes, and in addition handles your stores accounts. Now, I understand the accounting officer in the Air Force does not handle the stores account. General LEE. That I believe is right. Mr. BATES. I just don't quite understand what function he actually performs, then. If he doesn't handle the stores accounts, he doesn't handle the disbursing accounts, just what does he do? And particularly, we have statistical, budgeting and management analysis officers here. General LEE. Well, I think-if my answer is not sufficient, I think we should get for the committee a breakdown of both of those offices, sir. Mr. ARENDS. Would you do that, General, to clarify this question Mr. Bates asked you? What rank are those individuals, do you know? General LEE. I don't know. Mr. ARENDS. Get that, too. General LEE. I don't know. It will vary in the command, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ARENDS. O. K. Mr. BLANDFORD. Each command has a public information officer, Colonel? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, that is correct. Mr. BLANDFORD. And that public information officer is usually a lieutenant colonel or colonel? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. General WETZEL. It depends on the level of command you are talking about. Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. I assumed he was talking about the command headquarters, sir. General WETZEL. Oh, a command headquarters. Mr. BLANDFORD. Let's take third Air Force. Third Air Force has a public information officer who is a colonel or lieutenant colonel. Now, does this command structure go down to a division? A division also if it were operating would have a public information office. Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Not necessarily so. Mr. BLANDFORD. Would a wing have a public information officer? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. No, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. Would the headquarters command of the wing have a public information officer? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. No, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. Then the public information officer is only in the major commands? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. In the numbered Air Force? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir; at the higher levels. Mr. BLANDFORD. Then above that would the Strategic Air Command have a public information officer? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. Would the Tactical Air Command have a public information officer? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes. Mr. BLANDFORD. The Caribbean Command? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. The Caribbean Command I am not too sure. Mr. BLANDFORD. Alaskan Command. Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Alaska, I believe they have. Mr. BLANDFORD. Air Training Command. Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir. Mr. BLANDFORD. Air University? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. I am not specifically sure of the Air University, either. Mr. BLANDFORD. Air Force Academy, special assistant? Mr. BATES. One man. Mr. BLANDFORD. Well, the point is that almost all these commands you enumerate 18 commands earlier and I assume each of those commands have a public information officer. Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes. Mr. BLANDFORD. Then in addition to that, you have some 18 or 20 other numbered Air Force Commands, each of which has a public information officer. Then Air Force headquarters has a brigadier general who is a public information officer. And then I think the Department of Defense has public information officer. So if we don't get information it is not your fault. It just seems loaded, the public information officers, in all the services. Mr. BATES. So is the information loaded. Mr. BLANDFORD. Yes. I wonder, General, if you could supply to the committee-and I might ask this of the Navy and the Army also Mr. ARENDS. That is right, all services. Mr. BLANDFORD. And the Marine Corps. I would like the total number of officers whose major assignment is engaged in public information, and then also the total number of enlisted personnel and civilians engaged in public information. Mr. VAN ZANDT. And the cost. Mr. GAVIN. And the rank. Mr. BLANDFORD. And the cost if it can be obtained. I assume it can be. Mr. GAVIN. And their grade. Mr. HARDY. I think there is a question involved in connection with that; what do you mean by major assignment? Mr. BLANDFORD. I am thinking General WETZEL, Principal duty, would that be Mr. BLANDFORD. For example, I know in some services it is like a special service officer that has an additional duty. That is, when he isn't operating on his major assignment, he also has the additional duty of meeting with reporters or helping the commanding officer prepare something in connection with the press release or explaining why an accident took place or something of that nature. Mr. HARDY. The reason I raised that: I just wondered whether there may not be in the services, and I am not thinking of any particular service, officers who at least technically have another job but who in reality serve primarily information functions. Mr. BLANDFORD. I would assume, Mr. Hardy, that that is what they would furnish us with. Mr. HARDY. That is what I wanted to be sure was covered in your request. Mr. BLANDFORD. If over 50 percent of their time is devoted to public information activities, that that would be the type of a billet that we would want. Mr. ARENDS. Colonel, have you completed with that? Lieutenant Colonel BURKE. Yes, sir; that completes our discussion. Mr. ARENDS. The bells have just rung. Rather than start in to the second phase of this, the second discussion, I think, Russ, we will let this go over until tomorrow morning and start with the second part. Mr. BLANDFORD. Yes, sir. Mr. ARENDS. We will stand adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. Mr. NELSON. Could I have the information I requested earlier, Mr. Chairman? Mr. ARENDS. Do you have that information which you were going to compile for Mr. Nelson a moment ago? General WETZEL. I wasn't completely satisfied with it, and my hunch is you won't be. So I would prefer to get it for sure from the people that really know and bring it tomorrow. Mr. NELSON. Thank you. Mr. ARENDS. The committee will stand adjourned until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. (Whereupon, at 11:50 a. m., an adjournment was taken, to reconvene at 10 a. m., of the following day, Thursday, March 26, 1953.) |