Amount requested, appropriated, and used for oversea dependent schools, fiscal years 1953 to 1962 Army Fiscal year Re Appro ed Appro Re- Appro quest-priated Used quest-priated Used quest-priated Used quest-priated Used Total Re Appro ed 1 Data prior to 1955 not available for Navy. Data prior to 1956 not available for Air Force. 2 Actual number of pupils exceeded amount included in estimate submitted to Congress. Reflects total requirement following cancellation of order directing reduction in oversea dependents. Amount printed in congressional budget submission is $13.8-reflecting lower oversea dependent popula tion planned prior to cancellation. NOTE.-Amount used varies from amount appropriated due to: (a) Changes, either upward or downward, from number of pupils estimated at time of congressional action. (b) Failure in some cases to obligate exactly up to the per pupil limitation. Mr. FORD. I appreciate the fact that you are testifying for the Army in this, but I am sure you can get those figures from the Defense Department. Mr. HAVERMANN. Yes. Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, I suggest, so the record is clear, we include in the record at this point the paragraph entitled "Purpose” from the House Committee Report 357 so that we will know at this point what the purpose of this legislation was at the time of its enactment. Mr. MAHON. Without objection, this will be done. Mr. FORD. And also the paragraph which indicates the cost of the anticipated program based on the enactment of this legislation. (The information to be supplied follows:) The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (S. 96) to govern the salaries and personnel practices applicable to teachers, certain school officers, and other employees of the dependents schools of the Department of Defense in oversea areas, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. PURPOSE The purpose of this legislation is to provide a system of personnel administration, for schoolteachers and certain school officers and other employees of the dependents schools of the Department of Defense in oversea areas, comparable to the type of system found in the majority of the public primary and secondary school jurisdictions in the United States. The proposed system will eliminate many of the difficulties resulting from the present application to such personnel of certain civil service rules and regulations, the Classification Act of 1949, and the Annual and Sick Leave Act of 1951. COST The Department of Defense estimates that enactment of this legislation will result in increased costs in the approximate amount of $270,000 per annum for operation of the dependents schools in oversea areas. The major part of this additional cost will be incurred by reason of additional compensation allowed certain teachers in recognition of advanced degrees and teaching experience. OFFICERS CLUB IN PARIS Mr. FORD. Now, I am not sure, General Duff, whether this is the place, but somewhere I would like to find out what the story is on this officers club in Paris where an Executive order was issued refusing, I gather, authority to proceed with the expenditure of approximately $200,000 in nonappropriated funds. Is this program under O. & M.? Where is the right area for us to get whatever the picture is on the record? General DUFF. If appropriated funds had been involved, Mr. Ford, this would be the appropriate appropriation. However, no appropriated funds were involved as far as this proposed expenditure of approximately $200,000 is concerned. They were all nonappropriated funds. The word "club" is somewhat a misrepresentation of the purpose of this facility because it is used only a very small amount at night. It is principally for the daytime use of the personnel of the European Command Headquarters, principally as a facility where they eat their noon meal. Mr. FORD. Can you give us the name of the club, where it is located? General DUFF. The name of this facility is the U.S. European Officers' Open Mess. It is located at Camp Des Loges. Camp Des Loges is near Paris and, as stated by the European commander, the principal purpose of the alterations and modifications that were proposed, using nonappropriated funds, were to improve the sanitary conditions and to repair the facility. The facility, because of the large clientele that it serves, particularly at the noon meal, is limited. It is sometimes necessary for the personnel who use this facility to wait in line-cafeteria style for at least 15 minutes, or longer, in order to come to their point in the line where the meal can be obtained. Mr. FORD. How many are served there? General DUFF. I do not have the figures with me. I will have them inserted in the record. (The following information was furnished:) The total estimated number served by this facility is 1,148, consisting of military and civilian personnel and their dependents of all the U.S. armed services. In addition, personnel of NATO and other U.S. agencies in the area make use of this facility. Mr. WHITTEN. This statement, "nonappropriated funds," is sort of a catchall, it strikes me. Are these funds raised by increasing the price of that which the personnel on the base had to buy either from the exchanges, or the commissaries? Were these funds not raised through other programs furnished by the Federal Government? General DUFF. No, sir. They are from club dues, which are $5 a month per person, from the revenues from the operation of the facility, both the sale of food and the operation of slot machines, things of that sort. I believe to some extent, as stated in the message from the European commander, they are borrowing money from other clubs in the areas, and this money will be paid back. (The following additional information was submitted:) Also the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force provided grants of nonappropriated funds for this project from the respective departmental central mess funds. This was appropriate as the facility is a joint headquarters activity. Mr. WHITTEN. I hope you will give full detail on that because on the other subcommittee on which I serve, Military Construction, last year we had a request from a number of places for additional commissaries. Even though you had two, they wanted a third unit so the employees could work only 40 hours a week so the food in turn would be a little bit cheaper. There are a lot of illustrations of that kind, and if this kind of cost was tacked onto other programs, I think the record should show it. Mr. FORD. Maybe a question along this line would help clarify the record. All I want is the facts. Who owns the land? General DUFF. I believe the land, sir, is owned by the French Government. This is a part of the infrastructure arrangement whereby the French Government provides the real estate and the construction work in some cases is done by the French Government. I believe in this particular case this facility was built by the U.S. Government, sir. Mr. FORD. The land is owned by the French? General DUFF. The land is owned by the French Government, to the best of my knowledge. Mr. FORD. The building in the first instance was constructed by the U.S. Government out of appropriated, or nonappropriated funds? General DUFF. I believe the building was constructed from appropriated funds. I will have to verify that if that is not the case. (See p. 234.) Mr. FORD. Is Camp Des Loges a part of, or separate from, any military installation in the area? General DUFF. Camp Des Loges is a French military installation, sir, which is principally used, I believe, for functions in support of the European Command Headquarters. Mr. FORD. Who provides the utilities, structural maintenance, and so forth? General DUFF. I am not sure of that. I will furnish that. It is provided by the U.S. Army, Europe, which prepares the budget at Heidelberg, but it gets its estimates from Headquarters EUCOM and it is incorporated in the O. & M. appropriation. It runs about $2 million a year-that is the latest estimate. Mr. FORD. For what? Mr. LACROSSE. Operation and maintenance of facilities. Mr. FORD. Of this particular one, or what? Mr. LACROSSE. Of the headquarters at Camp Des Loges. It is the complete facility there that is financed by the military funds out of O. & M., Army. Mr. FORD. This particular building gets its utilities from the general service of the utility lines and so forth? Mr. LACROSSE. Yes, sir. Mr. FORD. Is there any reimbursement to the Federal Government for this expenditure? Mr. LACROSSE. No, sir; not to my knowledge. We have other Government activities, for example, administrative personnel working for Headquarters EUCOM at Camp Des Loges are financed from the international budget, but due to a previous arrangement, the cost of all the utilities, repairs, maintenance, are paid from military funds, that is, O. & M., Army. Mr. FORD. Was this $200,000 renovation, rehabilitation, or expansion from appropriated funds in the O. & M. account, or nonappropriated funds? Mr. LACROSSE. Nonappropriated funds. This is a club which is a part of the facility. It was not to be financed by military funds. It was to be financed from the nonappropriated funds. Mr. FORD. By dues and by revenues from the meals? Mr. LACROSSE. Yes, sir. From the club members' dues and sale of meals. I had lunch there once myself. That is why I think I am qualified to make that statement. Mr. ANDREWS. Who has the authority to authorize the expenditure of nonappropriated funds in a case like this club? General DUFF. Generally, it would depend upon the source of the funds. Under normal conditions, and if the project is within the prescribed space criteria, the commander of the installation is the final approving authority of the actions taken by the board of governors of the club, this board being composed of members elected from among the members of the club. In this particular case authority to proceed was requested due to the Presidential directive of November 16, 1960, which generally prohibited the purchase of foreign goods by all nonappropriated fund activities in Europe. Mr. ANDREWS. Who initiates the original request for the expenditure? The local officers? General DUFF. They are initiated at the facilities or at the headquarters worldwide, sir, where the use of these funds is considered necessary. In many cases, sir, the purposes for which these funds are expended could appropriately be financed by appropriated funds but appropriated funds are not available because of the low priority of these projects. For example, sir, as a station command in the New York City area, because of the limited funds available for operation and maintenance at the post that I commanded, practically all of the changes to the small club that we had there had to be from assets generated within, or from the operation of the facility. We requested, for an expansion that was considered desirable, the use of nonappropriated funds from sources other than those generated locally, but they were not made available because of the low priority of this particular project. Mr. ANDREWS. May I ask one other question, Mr. Ford? Mr. FORD. Surely. Mr. ANDREWS. Let's say that a camp or fort or installation makes money on the operation of a club. What happens to that money? Do they send it into a general pool or is it retained by the local commanding officer? General DUFF. Sir, normally the assets generated at that station would be used for the benefit of that station, for the benefit of the customers or the patrons who provided the services from which this profit was derived, so they would have a first requirement. If, how ever, sir, the needs at that particular installation are not such as to require all of the resources or all of the profits that might be generated, then they would go into the central fund and would be used worldwide, sir. Mr. ANDREWS. Does the local commander have authority to use funds collected locally without getting permission from the Board in Washington? General DUFF. He does not, sir. If this is to be a project of any proportion, sir, that would involve modification, for example, if the prescribed space criteria is to be exceeded, project approval is required. Mr. ANDREWs. Is there a limitation dollarwise? Colonel TOLLIVER. He can use any amount of funds that he generates locally up to the point, as General Duff indicated, that there is a specific project involved of such size that it requires higher echelon approval because it is changing the buildings at the station at which it is located. Mr. ANDREWS. In the case of this $200,000 expenditure he had to get permission from Washington? General DUFF. This is correct, sir. Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you. Mr. FORD. Had that permission been given? General DUFF. To the best of my knowledge it had been given, yes, sir. Mr. FORD. Will you check that, to verify if it had or had not been given? General DUFF. Yes, sir. Mr. MAHON. And when was it given? (The information requested follows:) 1. No dollar limit is imposed by Department of the Army to control the use of available officers' open mess nonappropriated funds by local commanders. At the time in question, the President's directive of November 16, 1960, had been implemented generally prohibiting the purchase of foreign goods by all nonappropriated fund activities in Europe. The request of the commander in chief, Europe, for authority to proceed with the project was appropriate in view of the Presidential directive. 2. Authorization to proceed with this project was issued by the Office, Secretary of Defense by wire (DEF 542807) dated January 27, 1961. Mr. FORD. Let's have a full picture of what the circumstances were, the number of people using the facility and any other pertinent data which gives the true picture of the facts. Also the basic justification for the additional expenditure of this $200,000, why it was needed. and necessary. Mr. MAHON. That should include the original cost of the building, and the nature of the construction. Mr. FORD. Yes, sir. (The information requested follows:) This facility at Camp des Loges was constructed in 1954 from MCA funds at a cost of $172,000. It is a separate one-story building, constructed of semipermanent concrete block, and has a stucco finish with corregated asbestos roofing. The building encompasses 10.229 square feet. A choronology of events concerning the proposed rehabilitation of the Camp des Loges officers' open mess are set forth below: March 10, 1959: The board of governors requested a grant from U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) club and mess fund for club rehabilitation. June 8, 1959: The commander in chief, Europe (CINCEUR) requested the commander in chief, USAREUR, for engineering assistance to develop engineering studies and plans. |