PRIZES AND MEDALS Mr. DITTER. Referring to the prizes and medals item, is it contemplated that the Marine Corps will give a 60-cent medal to everybody in the outfit since 1938? General WILLIAMS. There is one for expert riflemen and sharpshooters. Mr. DITTER. These are prizes and medals for meritorious accomplishments, are they not? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. There is a medal that is given to each man at the end of each enlistment. Mr. DITTER. At the end of his enlistment? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. I wonder if you contemplate burdening the chests of the members of the Marine Corps with 60-cent medals, irrespective of what their work was? General WILLIAMS. No, sir. Mr. DITTER. You have not heard of that? General WILLIAMS. No, sir. MILITARY EQUIPMENT FOR FLEET MARINE FORCE Mr. WOODRUM. You have an item of $2,500,000 for military equipment for Fleet Marine Force. General WILLIAMS. That is complete equipment for two divisions, plus 13 defense battalions. Mr. DITTER. The Marine Corps travels as lightly as possible, does it not? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. Then, any addition to the stuff that they must cart along is a matter of concern? General WILLIAMS. It is a matter of concern. Modern warfare does not permit marines to travel in the way they used to travel. DISTRIBUTION OF ESTIMATE FOR MILITARY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT Mr. WOODRUM. Pages 13 and 14, showing the break-down of the item of $42,000,000 may be inserted in the record at this point. (The matter referred to is as follows:) Mr. DITTER. Is this recreational equipment that you are asking for here any part of the Charley Taft outfit? General WILLIAMS. No, sir. Mr. DITTER. Does he have anything to do with your recreational work? General WILLIAMS. Not that I have ever heard of. Mr. WOODRUM. Tell us something further about these items on page 13. General WILLIAMS. There is a break-down at the bottom of page 16, showing the items of combat transportation, engineering equipment, communication equipment, weapons, small-arms ammunition, small arms, and chemical protective equipment. Mr. WOODRUM. Does that mean motor vehicles? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. The total for combat transportation is $1,638,665. That is combat transportation for the Seventh Defense Battalion and from the Eighth to the Thirteenth Defense Battalions. The engineer equipment is for both the First and Second Divisions, for the Seventh Defense Battalion and the for the Eighth to Thirteenth Defense Battalions. The Eighth to Thirteenth have not been organized. They will be new defense battalions this year. The Seventh Defense Battalion is now in Samoa. The next to the last column of the table shows the Naval and Marine Corps Establishments, what you might call the passive defense. We have a complete break-down of that. Mr. TABER. Will you keep weapons on hand for the passive defense? General WILLIAMS. The four and a half millions represents smallarms weapons. We have provided the Garand rifle for the F. M. F., and this for the rest of the Marine Corps, plus the Browning automatic rifles; about 16,000 pistols, 36,000 semiautomatic rifles, and 1,000 Thompson submachine guns. GARAND RIFLES Mr. THOMAS. How many Garand rifles have you bought? General WILLIAMS. We have money at the present time to furnish about 41,000. Mr. THOMAS. Are you getting deliveries now? General WILLIAMS. We are getting 3,000 per month, or have been for the last 3 months. The July delivery is not due until the latter part of July, but during April, May, and June they came at the rate of 3,000 per month. Mr. THOMAS. You did not put in your order until about April, did you? General WILLIAMS. The final decision was made about 30 days before that. AMMUNITION Mr. TABER. How many rounds of ammunition represent your requirements for the year? General WILLIAMS. We are supposed to have what we call 221⁄2 units of fire. Our total requirement for ammunition is $20,000,000. Mr. TABER. Where do you get the money for that, or where is it broken down? In the itemization on pages 13 and 14, you have $20,000,000 for ammunition. Is all of it included there? General WILLIAMS. It is on next to the bottom line of page 16. You will see an item of small-arms ammunition there. Mr. TABER. Is that the same thing? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. Mr. TABER. Why do we get $42,000,000 here, and the Ordnance Department's estimate also? It seems to me that the $42,000,000 is a duplication. General WILLIAMS. $42,000,000 includes all our military equipment. The Naval Ordnance estimates are for .50-caliber and artillery ammunition. Our estimates cover .22-caliber, .30-caliber, and .45-caliber ammunition. Mr. TABER. Do you get the .45's? Mr. TABER. Nothing below .45? General WILLIAMS. Nothing above it. The Bureau of Ordnance provides .50-caliber ammunition, and provides for all our heavier ammunition. Mr. SCRUGHAM. The 45 caliber is pistol ammunition? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir; and Thompson machine-gun ammunition. LOSS OF AMMUNITION ON STEAMSHIP "HARRY LEE" Mr. DITTER. How many rounds of ammunition were destroyed in the "Listing Lee"? General WILLIAMS. There was a ship at Charleston Mr. DITTER (interposing). It was one of the transports. General VANDEGRIFT. It was the Harry Lee. Mr. DITTER. Did you ever hear the term "Listing Lee" applied to the steamship Harry Lee? General VANDEGRIFT. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. It is a fact that it put out under orders sometime ago with ammunition on board, and that she was so unseaworthy that the ammunition was made worthless, is it not? General VANDEGRIFT. I think one of the magazines was flooded while at the port of Charleston. Mr. DITTER. I wonder who could give us the details of that operation of that transport. Was she ordered to Norfolk prior to that time, and did she set out with a detachment of troops? General VANDEGRIFT. I think the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations could tell you about that. Mr. DITTER. Of the Navy? General VANDEGRIFT. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. Are you familiar with this matter? General VANDEGRIFT. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. Was she not serving on the run to Puerto Rico, and when she landed, did not the men have to stand on one side of the ship while the material was being unloaded from the other side? General VANDEGRIFT. I would have to look that up. I know the ship had a list, but I never heard of that. Mr. DITTER. Then she was turned back to Charleston? General VANDEGRIFT. Yes, sir; for overhaul. Mr. DITTER. She was ordered there for overhaul? General VANDEGRIFT. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. What happened after she went down there on the overhaul order? Did she go out with another detachment of men? General VANDEGRIFT. No, sir. As I remember, she was to go out on maneuvers, and they found this water in the magazine. Mr. DITTER. I wish you would look that up. She left the dock, according to the information I have. General VANDEGRIFT. I will have to check up on that. Mr. DITTER. Is it not a fact that this very distinguished name, Harry Lee, which means something to us, has had to come down to this venacular of "Listing Lee" by reason of her unseaworthiness? General VANDEGRIFT. I would not say by reason of her unseaworthi ness. Mr. DITTER. Then, what does it mean to you? General VANDEGRIFT. It would mean that she had a list. For instance, I came across from Havre to New York on the Harding, and I know she had quite a list to port. Mr. DITTER. I had this on reliable information. General VANDEGRIFT. If I am correctly informed, the fact that the ammunition magazine was flooded had nothing whatsoever to do with the listing of the ship. Mr. DITTER. Would it be likely to have something to do with it? General VANDEGRIFT. No, sir. Mr. DITTER. In other words, if she listed, she leaked? General VANDEGRIFT. No, sir; not necessarily at all. Mr. DITTER. Let us get at it another way: If she leaked, she might list? General VANDEGRIFT. Yes, sir. Mr. DITTER. And if she leaked, that destroyed those rounds of ammunition. She might list as a result of leaking. General VANDEGRIFT. She might, but I understand that the water came in from the inside. Mr. LUDLOW. What is the authorized strength of the Marine Corps? General VANDEGRIFT. The authorized strength of the Marine Corps now is 60,000. The statutory strength is 20 percent of the authorized strength of the Navy. Mr. LUDLOW. To what extent will the entire strength be covered by this estimate? General VANDEGRIFT. The estimates submitted for the Regular Marine Corps cover our authorized strength of 60,000 men, plus 15,000 Reserves. There is no authorization or limitation on the number of Reserves, but we can have as large a number as we need, if approved by the President and appropriated for by Congress. MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES AND EXPENSES Mr. TABER. Will you put page 29 in the record, showing a breakdown of the item for miscellaneous supplies and expenses? General WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. I will also include a break-down of subheads "Transportation of troops," "Recruiting," "Repairs of barracks," and "Forage." (The break-down requested is as follows:) |