DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS FOR HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS RICHARD B. RUSSELL, Georgia, Chairman JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Arkansas MILTON R. YOUNG, North Dakota EX OFFICIO MEMBERS FROM ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE STUART SYMINGTON, Missouri STROM THURMOND, South Carolina WILLIAM W. WOODRUFF, FRANCIS S. HEWITT, GUY G. MCCONNELL, AND EDMUND L. HARTUNG, Staff Assistants on the Department of Defense Appropriations (II) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPPROPRIATIONS MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1970 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, at 10 a.m., in room S-126, the Capitol, Hon. Allen J. Ellender presiding. Present: Senators Ellender, Mansfield, Young, Smith, Allott, Symington, and Thurmond. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN N. CHAFEE, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY ACCOMPANIED BY: ADM. THOMAS H. MOORER, USN, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS GEN. LEONARD F. CHAPMAN, JR., USMC, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS HON. CHARLES A. BOWSHER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY (FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT) REAR ADM. WALTER D. GADDIS, USN, DIRECTOR OF BUDGET AND REPORTS, OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF NAVY REAR ADM. M. JOHNSTON, JR., USN, CHIEF OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS BRIG. GEN. E. H. SIMMONS, USMC, DEPUTY FISCAL DIRECTOR, HQMC; AND BRIG. GEN. CHARLES S. ROBERTSON, USMC, ASSISTANT DEPUTY FISCAL DIRECTOR, HQMC BUDGET REQUEST Senator ELLENDER. The hearing will please come to order. This morning, we will consider the request for the Department of the Navy which totals $21,200,700,000 for fiscal year 1971. The initial presentation will be made by the Honorable John W. Chafee, the Secretary of the Thomas H. Moorer, the Chief of Naval Operations, and Gen. Navy. He will be followed by Adm. Leonard F. Chapman, Jr., the Commandant of the Marine Corps. We are happy to have you with us this morning, gentlemen. You may proceed, Mr. Secretary. (1) PREPARED STATEMENT Secretary CHAFEE. What I thought I would do, Mr. Chairman, if it is all right with you-I have a statement for the record is make some direct remarks rather than reading from that statement. Senator ELLENDER. Your whole statement will be put in the record at this point. You may proceed to highlight it if you wish to proceed that way. Secretary CHAFEE. Rather than just reading the statement, I thought it might be somewhat better to make just a few remarks. Senator ELLENDER. All right. Proceed as you wish. (The statement follows:) Mr. Chairman, gentleman, since my first report to this Committee last year, it seems to me that the role of the Navy and Marine Corps in their support of national policy has become even greater. Over one-third of our active forces is at sea or overseas, while another one-third is available as a surge capability to augment on short notice those already deployed. Our naval forces are ready to deter nuclear aggression, to defend the United States from attacks from seaward, to protect vital ocean shipping, to sustain our allies, and to project our military power worldwide when and as required. As of today, only about 28,000 Navy and 42,500 Marine Corps personnel remain in or based in South Vietnam. These numbers do not include such offshore naval forces as the Seventh Fleet. The Third Amphibious Force, consisting of the 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, and support elements, is the major Marine combat unit remaining in Vietnam. In addition to their present combat roles, the Marines are achieving great success with the pacification program in the I Corps area. During 1969, the percentage of the population considered secure in the I Corps Tactical Zone increased from 69 to 93. The role of Navy Seabees in the Vietnamization Program includes constructing naval bases for the Vietnamese Navy in the III and IV Corps areas as well as training Vietnamese Navy personnel in construction trades. It is anticipated that the Vietnamese Navy will assume almost all riverine combat operations by mid-1970. The turnover of helicopter/fixed-wing support for riverine combat units and offshore air patrol in support of coastal surveillance will take longer. Turnover to the Vietnamese Navy of river and patrol craft is on schedule. Almost 260 boats and craft were provided to their Navy last year. Additional boats are programmed for transfer in 1970. The South Vietnamese Navy is not yet able to support these operations logistically. We are working with them on this problem to assist their becoming logistically self-supporting. The Vietnamese Navy is growing at a rate of about 1000 volunteers per month and appears to have a high esprit de corps. New promotion systems and increased emphasis on qualification and training at middle management levels are improving leadership within both the Vietnamese Navy and Marine Corps. The Vietnamese Marine Corps will have expanded to a full division by the middle of the year. CHANGES AFFECTING THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS CHANGING ROLES Consistent with the views stated by the President in his foreign policy message to Congress on 18 February, the United States role in world affairs is being significantly redefined. I am convinced, in the light of foreseeable political budgetary, military, and technological developments, that our nation must increasingly depend upon sea-based combatant and logistic forces for our defense against both conventional and strategic enemy forces as well as for support of our national objectives abroad. Sea-basing of military forces is becoming more important to the United States as overseas base rights and overflight privileges diminish and become less certain. |