purchase price was $3,552,268 plus $300,000 paid for the cost of ferrying. The total amount of $3,852,268 has been reimbursed to the Air Force.

The original cost to the Air Force for these aircraft (computed on an average unit flyway cost of $703,000) was $20,387,000.

AIR GUARD PILOT TRAINING

Mr. RILEY. General Wilson, what is the source of your pilots? Do you have a training program, or do you have to depend upon other training programs?

General WILSON. Yes, sir. We have a small training program in which we train pilots for the units and send them to flying school and they return to the unit upon completion of flying school. That runs at about 110 pilots a year input, and most of our pilots come from active duty, sir.

Mr. RILEY. Where is your basic training program?

General WILSON. It is carried on at Lackland with the Air Force and we get spaces from the Air Force and send them right through the same school that the active Air Force sends its basic trainees. You are talking about pilots?

Mr. RILEY. Yes.

General WILSON. We send them through the same thing.

Mr. RILEY. You go through the pilot training program with the Regular Air Force?

General WILSON. With the regular establishment; yes, sir. We use the same schools and we get quotas for that.

Mr. RILEY. If anyone wished to become a pilot in the Air National Guard, he would have to enlist for a definite period of time and take that training?

General WILSON. Yes, sir. He normally enlists in the guard and then he goes before a qualification board to see if he is qualified for pilot training. We expect to get about 5 years out of them on a contract that he signs himself, sir.

Mr. RILEY. Do you have any trouble in getting pilots to fulfill your requirements?

General WILSON. With the Regular Establishment; yes, sir. We feel that we have a good pilot training program, and some of the units keep vacancies for pilots in case someone just gets off active duty who is really qualified and wants to join a unit. For example, we have one commander whom I know always keeps two or three vacancies open for people that he has an idea will come back from active duty, because if he can get a pilot from active duty who has had 4 years in jets, he is a better qualified man than the man he sends to school. Mr. RILEY. Are there any age requirements for your pilots? General WILSON. Well, sir, we have a program on the trainees whereby they have to go in training before 2612 years of age, the same as the Active Establishment. The basic on age is the T.O. & E. authorization-the grades in which they are in. In other words, we have so many years of service before they are promoted out of the guard into the Reserve under the ROPA Act. So that act keeps our ages down to about the same as that of the Active Establishment.

Mr. RILEY. You pay the Regular Air Force Establishment for the training of these men?

General WILSON. We pay their pay and allowances and the Air Force pays for the flying hours, sir.

RETENTION OF TECHNICIANS

Mr. RILEY. I see. What about your technicians? Are you having any trouble in maintaining an adequate number of technicians qualified technicians?

General WILSON. Well, sir, we do not have any trouble maintaining technicians. I think our loss rate or attrition rate on technicians last year was 1.7 percent, which I do not think you can find anywhere in industry or anywhere else where you will find an attrition rate that

low.

Mr. RILEY. They are well qualified?

General WILSON. Yes, sir; they are as fine maintenance people as you can get. Many of them have 12 or 15 years of aircraft maintenance experience.

REACTION TIME

Mr. RILEY. In case of an emergency, how quickly can you put your squadrons into the air?

General WILSON. Well, sir, we are working on a program, and have been for several years, of reaction time, because we feel that reaction time is important if we are going to do our job. We have set goals that 50 percent of the crews and airplanes be available in the first hour, and we end up at the end of 3 hours with at least 80 percent. We have been able to meet those goals. The regulation says that 50 percent be there in 3 hours, but we feel, however, that we are in the air defense business, and we feel if we are going to do our job right that we should have a real fast reaction time. These are checked and tested annually.

Mr. RILEY. That is good. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MAHON. Gentlemen, I notice eagles on the shoulders of Col. Wes Hyde, who works with the committee. Congratulations, Colonel Hyde, on your promotion. We shall continue to appreciate the opportunity of having you work with the committee, Colonel. Colonel HYDE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

BUDGET INCREASES

Mr. FORD. General Wilson, what are the several increases that are in this part of your budget for fiscal 1962 and what are the justifications for them?

I notice that overall the proposed budget calls for about $4 million more than in the current fiscal year.

General WILSON. That is correct, sir. It is primarily due to an increase in the higher performance, higher cost aircraft, Mr. Ford, and an increase in flying-hour cost and so forth that goes along with the more complicated type aircraft such as the F-102 and the F-104, as well as the KC-97's coming into the program, sir.

Mr. FORD. I notice on page 3 a chart showing your object classification, "Direct obligations, 11, personnel compensation, non-Federal." What is that increase?

General WILSON. That is the air technician program, sir.

Mr. FORD. That is this retirement contribution item primarily ?
General WILSON. Yes, sir; that is part of that.

Mr. FORD. In your next one, "Direct obligations No. 12, personnel benefits," you have about a $1.8 million increase.

General WILSON. Sir, the first one is the increase in numbers of maintenance personnel and the second one is the retirement, sir, of about $1.8 million.

Mr. FORD. What is the picture on the first item, then, if I was misinterpreting it?

General WILSON. With reference to the first item we expect to have on board during fiscal year 1962 about 13,847 technicians; whereas during fiscal year 1961 we started out with 13,200 and are gradually getting up to the 13,847, which will be our jumpoff figure for next year, sir.

Mr. FORD. Will you level off at this new figure?

General WILSON. That all depends, sir, on the weapon systems that come into the program. In other words, every time we get an additional F-102 squadron, it has increased workload and requires additional maintenance personnel, and we tie this to a very rigid figure as to the number of maintenance man-hours required to get an airplane flying for 1 hour, and it is tied directly to the requirements of the aircraft that are in the program, sir. Right now, even with the 1962 budget of 13,847, we are below what we had authorized 2 years ago, even though we have gone into increased types of complex equipment, but we have been able to come up with some manpower studies and economies in personnel whereby we have been able to reduce the figure even below what we had 2 years ago.

Mr. FORD. On your direct obligation, item 25, "Other services," in fiscal 1960 you obligated $54 million approximately and in fiscal year 1962 you anticipate obligating $66 million. What is the picture there?

General WILSON. That is in the depot maintenance, sir, and reflects the increased cost as a result of the newer type equipment and modernization of the Guard program.

Mr. FORD. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MAHON. If there are no further questions, thank you very much, gentlemen.

General WILSON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MAHON. We have enjoyed having you before us.
General WILSON. Thank you, sir.

MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1961.

SALARIES AND EXPENSES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

WITNESSES

J. R. LOFTIS, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

J. A. WYLIE, DIRECTOR OF BUDGET AND FINANCE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Mr. MAHON. We will now give consideration to "Salaries and expenses" in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Loftis is our principal witness, he has been for many years. After his statement we will insert in the record pages 6 through 17 and pages 21, 22, 25, 32, and 33 of the justifications.

We will hear from you, Mr. Loftis, and then we had planned to hear from Mr. Norman Paul, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs.

Is he here this morning?

Mr. LOFTIS. He is not. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Paul is very disappointed. He wanted to come up here, but he turned up with a flu bug this morning and had to go home.

Mr. MAHON. We can insert his statement in the record and make it available to the members.

You may proceed, Mr. Loftis.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
TO THE SECRETARY

Mr. LOFTIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it is a privilege to have the opportunity of appearing again before this committee in connection with the estimates for the civilian salaries and other necessary expenses of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The appropriation requested for fiscal year 1962 is $21 million as compared with $19.85 million estimated for these purposes this year$18.975 million in the regular appropriation for fiscal year 1961 and a $0.875 million supplemental appropriation requested for the civilian pay increase authorized by the last Congress.

Of the total appropriation request of $21 million, $18 million is for the support of the civilian staff advisers of the Secretary, including the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, the Assistant Secretaries of Defense, the General Counsel of the Department of Defense and such special assistants as the Secretary determines are necessary. This was the estimate submitted for these activities by the previous administration. Since January, the Secretary of Defense has initiated several new programs and management procedures which were not considered when the budget was formulated. Secretary of Defense McNamara has reviewed proposals submitted by the activities concerned for the new programs and has concluded that, at this time, every effort should be made to support within the funds originally requested the new programs and the new management procedures that he feels are necessary to improve his civilian staff support. While the distribution of funds and personnel as shown in the justifications is for the most part based on the original budget plan, I thought it might be helpful to outline the new programs and procedures currently approved that will affect the final budget plan.

Actions taken to date to realine the Secretary's staff support include the consolidation of properties and installations and supply and logistics under one Assistant Secretary of Defense and the consolidation of health and medical affairs with manpower, personnel, and reserve matters under another. These steps reduce the number of civilian staff advisers reporting to the Secretary and provide for more effective coordination in these areas. Other staff activities are being reexamined to determine what further adjustments may be necessary to insure that they are appropriately organized and staffed to support the new policies and programs initiated by the Secretary of Defense and that unnecessary functions are abolished.

Meanwhile, the Secretary has directed the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs to establish a planning staff to conduct such politico-military studies as may be directed by