Mr. IKARD. In Mr. Riehlman's absence, I wonder if we could, in the morning, spend about an hour or an hour and a half looking at some of these physically, and then probably after that for an additional hour and a half have an informal conference.

Colonel JOHNSON. A good point to start is the disposal yard, and we can go from there to class 27, and then if you wish to, look at the typical warehousing.

Mr. COTTER. Could we be furnished copies of the last three spot bids and all invitations, whether spot bid or formal, so that we can review it before morning?

Mr. BALWAN. I would like to see the property on sale and that was sold and still on the ground, plus some kind of identification or relation of the property you have now on hand which is listed in the Springclean, plus some class 27 listings. There are the 11-E items which turned up in Springclean, of which you have stocks here which may or may not be the exact ones you will get rid of.

Colonel JOHNSON. You want examples of that?

Mr. BALWAN. Yes.

Mr. IKARD. Well, thank you very much, gentlemen.

At 8 o'clock in the morning we will start out on this inspection, and the hearing will stand adjourned.

(Whereupon, at 5:35 p. m., the hearing was adjourned.)

SURVEY OF MILITARY SUPPLY MANAGEMENT AND SURPLUS PROPERTY DISPOSAL PRACTICES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1953

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

MILITARY OPERATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS,

United States Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Fla.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10 a. m., at the United States Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Fla., Hon. R. Walter Riehlman (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Hon. R. Walter Riehlman, chairman of the subcommittee. Also present: Paul J. Cotter, chief counsel, Michael P. Balwan, staff director, and Robert T. Morris, staff member.

Present from Jacksonville Naval Air Station: Comdr. E. J. Bryant, assistant supply officer, and Mr. J. E. Colvin, procurement officer. Mr. RIEHLMAN. The subcommittee will be in order. Will you please proceed with your presentation, Commander Bryant. Commander BRYANT. Mr. Colvin will present the briefing.

STATEMENT OF J. E. COLVIN, PROCUREMENT OFFICER, JACKSONVILLE NAVAL AIR STATION

Mr. COLVIN. Starting from the time that the material is moved into class 270, or surplus category, I will go through the steps.

We have two categories of material, the reportable material and nonreportable material, determined first by the dollar-value acquisition cost of the item.

For instance, if you have an item that costs $10, and you have 10 such items, $100 is the total dollar value of that particular item. The total dollar value of the item determines first whether or not it is reportable.

Second, the condition code of the material, whether it is new, used, repairable or salvage or scrap.

Mr. COTTER. Where is your line drawn on reportable and nonreportable there?

Mr. COLVIN. The categories of material from $300 to $500 acquisition cost in certain condition codes are reportable.

Items then from $100 to $300, if they are in No. 1 or new condition are also reportable.

In other words, if you have an item in R-4 condition, it is repairable but in very poor condition, and if it costs $1,000, you would not report it to anyone for clearance for disposal, but proceed with the disposition.

Mr. BALWAN. Who tags the items?

Mr. COLVIN. The screening corps. They determine that by test or by future inspection or whatever is needed.

When that determination is made, the items reportable are reported to the cognizant supply control point or the Bureau. At certain times they would be reported to the Aviation supply office or the Yards and Docks supply office or directly to BuAir, or whoever held cognizance over the material.

Mr. BALWAN. How about welder's pumps?

Mr. COLVIN. BuShips. Those iterms are being sold for replacement under Public Law 152.

It is cleared first by the cognizant Bureau and they determined if it should be screened under the repairable provisions of that law. Mr. COTTER. What are the backup papers, the form 120? Mr. COLVIN. The No. 120 from the holding activity.

Mr. COTTER. Does the holding activity make the report on a form 120 or a Navy form?

Mr. COLVIN. The standard form 120.

Mr. COTTER. For the original report?

Mr. COLVIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. COTTER. Do they have to get clearance from a central depot confirming that it is excess to a table of equipment before submitting a form 120?

How do you screen within the particular service to determine whether the material should go into excess?

I assume that includes your class 270, that includes scrap and everything?

Mr. COLVIN. Yes.

Mr. BALWAN. Is your class 265 the excess category?

Mr. COLVIN. No, sir; it is repairable.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. Would you repeat these classifications again?

DEFINITIONS

(From Manual of Bureau of Supplies and Accounts,
Department of the Navy)

Class 265 ("repairables"): Property in store in regular accounts which is unfit for use in its present condition but which may be economically restored to serviceable condition, includes salvable material, exchanged material, damaged or deteriorated material, obsolete material, uncompleted material, and material which has exceeded its permissible ready-for-issue storage life (incoming material will not be taken up in class 265 by the supply officer until it has been screened for need and declared economically repairable).

Class 270: ("Excess"): Material which has been determined to be scrap, salvage, or excess in accordance with paragraph 26142.

Mr. COLVIN. The 270 class is your activity excess. If we have some material here and have it in class 270, it is activity excess until a determination is made, and in the case of reportable property that determination is made by the cognizant supply control demand point of the Bureau. Then it is Navy excess.

Nonreportable property, when it moves into an excess category, is excess only for the activity and, because it is nonreportable, it is immediately disposed of in accordance with the procedure for nonreportable property. In other words, it is nonreportable to any other office or bureau.

Mr. COTTER. In the nonreportable category you do not even clear it in an area screening within your own outfit?

Mr. COLVIN. Oh, yes, sir; I was going to explain that as reportable property.

The nonreportable property, in the case of property held at Jacksonville, is immediately put on the screening lists that are distributed to all Government agencies within a 100-mile radius of this naval base itself.

Mr. COTTER. You haven't screened it in your own agency yet.

Mr. COLVIN. Oh, yes, sir. We do it simultaneously. We send it to all of those departments, all Navy activities, all Army and Air Force activities.

Mr. COTTER. Why wouldn't you give your own people a chance before you start screening it?

Commander BRYANT. We have a form memorandum that goes out to every fleet activity, Navy Technical Training Command, hospitals, everybody in the compound, and tell them that here is some excess material available. Do you need it? Can you use it? That is a form letter. That goes out to all of our people on the base.

Mr. COTTER. That is a step prior to the step that Mr. Colvin is talking about, of taking your unreportable property and circulating it among the agencies within a 50- or 100-mile radius.

Let us see what falls within that unreportable property. Scrap falls in that unreportable property; does it not?

Mr. COLVIN. We do not screen scrap. Small lots and salvage material are screened by all naval activities and all other Government agencies.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. That would include small items under $100?

Mr. COLVIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. Screwdrivers, wrenches, and so forth?

Mr. COLVIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. COTTER. If the Bureau of Ships had an excess of small hand tools that they were reporting as excess, would they normally be picked up by BuAir or BuOrd, or would they find their own way on out through?

Mr. COLVIN. You say the Bureau of Ships has declared some tools excess?

Mr. COTTER. Yes.

Mr. COLVIN. Those accounts could be picked up by any naval activity within the United States.

Mr. COTTER. I am talking about small quantities that would be within that category.

Mr. COLVIN. Öh; yes, sir. It would be reported on the quarterly stock-status report.

Commander BRYANT. When we say reportable material, ready-forissue material, we report once a quarter to the supply demand control point for aviation, the Aviation Supply Office, for electronics. We do not carry them as such, but we would report to the electronic supply officer and for the fuel to the fuel supply officer. They control our material. They use it for budgetary purposes, procurement.

Mr. COTTER. You are talking about a different kind of "reportable"

now.

Commander BRYANT. But I think it has a bearing on this. It is their material at all times, in any class. If it is reportable material that can