List of personnel performing surplus property disposal functions PROCUREMENT DIVISION PROCUREMENT DIVISION OFFICER R. H. Stutheit, LTJG, SC, USN. PROCUREMENT DIVISION SUPERVISOR Ploch, Charles A., general supply supervisory, GS-2001-9, $5,185. per annum DISPOSAL BRANCH West, Harold C., supervisor property disposal clerk, GS-2080–6, $4,045 per annum Murrey, C. Suzzane, supervisor property disposal clerk, GS-2080-5, $3.785 ner annum RECORDS, REPORTS AND CATALOGS SECTION Lorenzana, Margaret M., clerk-typist, GS-322-3, $3,190 per annum Stitt, Mary J., clerk-typist, GS-322-3, $2,950 per annum Bedore, Ruth, clerk, property and disposal, GS-2080-3, $3,430 per annum CONTRACTS SECTION Woody, Irene A. P., property disposal clerk supervisor, GS-2080-4, $3,415 per annum Ferre, Thelma, clerk-typist, GS-322-3, $3,030 per annum Hobson, Phyllis A., clerk-typist, GS-322-3, $3,030 per annum NOTE 1. Equipment specialists loaned from the techincal department on a daily basis. Good, William E., equipment specialist (G), GS-1670-8, $5,245 per annum Wallace, James U., equipment specialist (G), GS-1670-7, $4,330 per annum NOTE 2. The above listing does not include field personnel of the scrap and salvage branch, Storage Division, Material Department. Lt. (jg) R. H. Stutheit, SC, United States Navy, disposal officer, was assigned in October 1952. His educational background consists of 2 years junior college and a 6 months' business course. In 1937 he enlisted in the United States Navy as an apprentice seaman and now holds a limited duty commission. He has had varied duty in disbursing and general supply, ashore and afloat. PERSONAL HISTORY STATEMENT Lt. (jg) R. H. Stutheit, SC, United States Navy, disposal officer Born July 31, 1914. Grade and high schools: Johnson, Nebr. Junior college: Hebron Junior College, 2 years. Business college: Boyles Business College, 6 months. Enlisted United States Navy: March 31, 1937. Appointed: Pay clerk (T), April 15, 1944. Ensign SC (T), December 15, 1945. Lieutenant (jg) SC (T), December 15, 1948. Commissioned: Lieutenant (jg) SC (LDO) date of rank, January 1, 1951. Duty Stations USNTS, Great Lakes.. USS California, BB_ USS Hornet, CV USS Princeton, CVL. USS Wasp, CV__. Duties Enlisted status. Do. Do. Do. Do. United States naval training and Assistant to disbursing officer. distribution center, Camp Elliott, Calif. USS Towner, AKA. USS Oglethorpe, AKA__ Supply and disbursing officer. United States naval air station, Disbursing officer. United States naval air station, Supply officer. Procurement division officer, contracting officer, disposal officer. R. H. STUTHEIT, Lieutenant (jg) SC United States Navy. The top civilian is Mr. Charles Ploch, GS-9, general supply officer with 11 years employment on station in the following positions: August 1942 to November 1945: Storage division No. 2, mechanical, as inventory supervisor, expediter, assistant area manager. December 1945 to January 1946: Assistant manager, division No. 3, electrical. February 1946 to May 1946: Storage supervisor, division No. 10, repair parts. June 1946 to June 1948: Supervisor, reclamation and surplus. June 1948 to January 1949: Supervisor, salvage yard. January 1949 to March 1950: Supervisor, stores branch No. 3, electrical. April 1950 to April 1951: Supervisor, stores branch No. 8, building materials (exempt lumber and buildings). April 1951 to present date: Procurement division supervisor. PERSONAL HISTORY STATEMENT Birth date: September 12, 1903. Education Elementary and 2 years high school, commercial course 1 year (correspondence I. C. S.) business management, accounting control, salesmanship, and advertising. EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Over 11 years successful supervisory and administration service aboard this station; 3 years' service with PNAB contractors and 8 years civil service. In the following positions August 19, 1942, to November 26, 1945: Storage division No. 2, mechanical as stock control supervisor. I was responsible for all stock records, and submitting periodic reports to general office and cognizant bureau of stocks on hand. Expediter, responsible for movement of cargo, preparation of invoices, work requests, schedules, and priorities pertaining to movement of cargo by the five sections of the Division. Assistant area manager: Responsible for all office functions for all shipping of cargo, plan and arrange for storage space as required, and direct storage of all material. Directly responsible for reporting excess and surplus material to surplus department officer. December 1945 to April 1946: Assistant area manager division 3, electrical, direct supervision over office functions, electrical assembly section. Storage and shipment of power-generating plants, telephone equipment and cable. I was assigned as contact between War Assets Administration personnel in regards to surplus materials designated to be sold by War Assets. I supervised the breakout marking and storage of all surplus merchandise. April 1946 to July 1946: Storage supervisor Division 12, repair parts. I was responsible for bin and bulk storage of repair parts. July 1946 to July 1948: Supervisor storage division 10, reclamation and surplus property division. Responsible for the total operations of this division in the receipt, identification, coding, redistribution, storage, and shipment of surplus and excess materials arriving from various areas abroad and continental, main taining stock records of all surplus material. Working with War Assets in the display of material scheduled for sale. July 1948 to January 1949: Supervisor sales and salvage group. Responsible for receipt, storage, identification, shipping of excess, surplus, scrap and salvage materials. The setting up material for sale, correcting quantities, descriptions, etc., of cataloged material. Responsible for receipt identification reporting condition codeing and segregated storage of all rollup JANMAT material received. January 1949 to April 1950: Supervisor of stores branch 3, electrical. April 1950 to March 1952: Supervisor stores branch 8, building hardware, paints, chemicals, fire-fighting equipment. March 1952 to date: Procurement division supervisor. Responsible for the disposal of all surplus property at USN CBC Port Hueneme, NAMTC Point Mugu, NOTS Inyokern as outlined in the BuS. and A. Manual chapter 6 and the N. P. R. and D. Regulation No. 1. The incumbent has had 42-years supervisory and administrative experience in the handling of surplus Government property as supervisor of the reclamation and surplus division, the sales and salvage group, and as supervisor of the procurement division responsible for the reporting distribution and sale of surplus property. Prior to employment on this station, I have had over 20-years merchandising experience in the home-furnishing business employed as salesman, for 12 years in charge of resilient floor coverings. I bought and sold floor coverings. Dealing with builders, contractors, architects, city, county, and other purchasing agents. Submitting of bids and estimates. Supervising installations, arranging for mechanics and labor through respective trade unions. C. A. PLOCH. Mr. BALWAN. How many dollars worth of sales do you handle during the year? Mr. PLOCH. About $12 million. Mr. BALWAN. What grade do you have in civil service? Mr. PLOCH. GS-9. Mr. BALWAN. What was your experience in merchandising before 1942? Mr. PLOCH. I spent 20 years in a furniture store in Ventura. I had charge of the installation of all floor covering, sales, just worked all over the store, but my main job was installation of resilient floor covering. Mr. BALWAN. Are you pretty much in charge of the disposal here under direction of military personnel? Mr. PLOCH. Yes. Mr. BALWAN. As a rule, do the people who come in in military positions have a background of merchandising experience? Mr. PLOCH. Speaking of the two officers I have had, I believe their background was very useful to a disposal program. Í feel that their experience in that in civil life well qualified them. Mr. BALWAN. Have you had experience in different types of sales, such as spot bid, sealed bids, and auctions? Mr. PLOCH. No, sir. Just the sealed bid sales. Mr. BALWAN. Have you reduced any of this material to salvage or sold it as salvage? Mr. PLOCH. Not unless it has proven itself as unsalable by repeated bids. When all trials have failed, then we go after the scrap-metal market. Mr. HOLIFIELD. Do you actually change the form of the property into a mashed up or melted form, or do you sell it as scrap to smelters or others who do reduce it as scrap? Mr. PLOCH. We have no way of pressing it down. Classified material has been demilitarized. 41957-54-42 Mr. BALWAN. How do you insure that the material is actually reduced to scrap? Mr. PLOCH. That is generally referred to a survey officer. Mr. HOLIFIELD. What do you mean by survey? Do you go down to the purchaser's place to see what they do with the material? Mr. PLOCH. We have a department headed by a survey officer. When we want to reduce anything from its present condition, we so notify him by memorandum, and he personally inspects the material to see that it is in that category. Mr. BALWAN. When you sell some articles to any bidder who comes here, and he takes it to his own facility, do you have any way of seeing that he reduces it to scrap? Mr. PLOCH. No, outside of our scrap contracts. We have a warranty in our scrap catalog that should guard against it, but we have no way to check this. Mr. BALWAN. Does that warranty tell them they should do something? What does it mean? (Mr. Ploch read the scrap warranty.) Mr. HOLIFIELD. What kind of organization do you have to follow this up? Mr. PLOCH. I wouldn't know. Mr. FORTIER. In cases of release of large amounts of materials, it might be a matter for us. (Bureau of Yards and Docks, Washington, D. C.) Commander PABST. That is one thing we have to guard againstthat usable material is sold as usable. So our catalogs are so based as much as we possibly can. Mr. BALWAN. Are you the disposal officer? STATEMENT OF LT. (JG.) R. H. STUTHEIT, DISPOSAL OFFICER, UNITED STATES NAVAL ADVANCED BASE SUPPLY DEPOT, PORT HUENEME, CALIF. Lieutenant STUTHEIT. My title is procurement division officer in charge of the disposal branch. We work together. Mr. BALWAN. Please give your name, grade, title, and so forth. Lieutenant STUTHEIT. Lt. (jg.) Raymond H. Stutheit, SC, USN. I am asigned as procurement division officer, which includes the disposal branch. I have been designated as the contract officer and disposal officer. Mr. BALWAN. How long have you been here? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. I reported September 15, 1952. Mr. BALWAN. What are your duties in connection with surplus materials? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. To see, of course, that the material is on a catalog, that the bids are properly received, the contracts are properly drawn, the property distributed, that the entire office complies with provisions of Bureau of Supplies and Accounts in the disposal program. Mr. BALWAN. Do you have anything to do with making up lots for sale? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. At this base we do that as a group. We usually get the opinion of the field man, our technician, Mr. Ploch, and myself. Not in all cases, but as a general rule, due to the variety of the material. Mr. BALWAN. How big a disposal section do you have? Mr. HOLIFIELD. Are you up to date in your work of disposal, or are you going to have to enlarge your department? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. At the present the backlog is normal. At all times we need a certain backlog in order to have enough material of one category to make a reasonable size catalog. Mr. BALWAN. Do you have any evidence that there will be an increased load of disposal within the next 2 or 3 years? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. It seems to be the general opinion that if the existing program goes through as planned, there will be. Mr. BALWAN. Do you feel that you can rely chiefly on sealed bids, or do you feel that it might be of advantage to the Government for you to test other methods to ascertain if increased recovery could be obtained through spot-bid sales, auction sales, or other methods of merchandising. Lieutenant STUTHEIT. I think the holding of test auction sales would be advisable. However, it would mean that we would have to create a backlog to make enough material available for this auction sale. There would have to be more material than we now offer on the invitation to bid; meantime we would be creating a backlog for the purpose of holding an auction sale. Mr. BALWAN. That might be so, but if by doing this you would achieve a better recovery it might be worth creating a backlog for 2 or 3 months. I am wondering if you have explored all methods of merchandising or if you have settled on this one method. Lieutenant STUTHEIT. Because of regulations and the fact that we have not had a backlog to warrant an auction sale. Mr. BALWAN. How much is your backlog? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. Approximately $6 million worth. Lieutenant STUTHEIT. Our monthly average is almost $2 million, acquisition cost. Mr. BALWAN. You have 3 months' backlog, did you say? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. There are other factors. Not all the material is available at the moment. It is actually not all immediately available. Mr. BALWAN. How much did you sell during the month of October? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. We sold just under $2 million worth, acquisition cost. Mr. BALWAN. Do you maintain that that might be too little for an auction sale? Lieutenant STUTHEIT. Yes, sir. Depending entirely on what the items are. A million dollars could add up in a hurry if it is cranes, or other heavy equipment. Mr. THOMAS. What was the size of the Bayonne sale-I think it was $1 million, but they actually offered $2 million. They got bids on that much. |