S. HRG. 105±654 MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999 HEARINGS BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON H.R. 4059/S. 2160 AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR MILITARY CONSTRUCTION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEP- TEMBER 30, 1999, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 46±111 cc WASHINGTON : 1998 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0±16±057578±8 1 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont SLADE GORTON, Washington DALE BUMPERS, Arkansas MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey CONRAD BURNS, Montana TOM HARKIN, Iowa RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HARRY REID, Nevada ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah HERB KOHL, Wisconsin BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado PATTY MURRAY, Washington LARRY CRAIG, Idaho BYRON DORGAN, North Dakota LAUCH FAIRCLOTH, North Carolina BARBARA BOXER, California KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas STEVEN J. CORTESE, Staff Director LISA SUTHERLAND, Deputy Staff Director JAMES H. ENGLISH, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY CONSTRUCTION CONRAD BURNS, Montana Chairman KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas PATTY MURRAY, Washington LAUCH FAIRCLOTH, North Carolina HARRY REID, Nevada LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska (ex officio) ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia (ex officio) Staff SID ASHWORTH C. RICHARD D'AMATO, Minority (II) C O N T E N T S TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1998 Department of Defense: Department of the Army .................................................................................. 1 Defense agencies: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) .. 39 U.S. Special Operations Command .......................................................... 39 Defense Logistics Agency .......................................................................... 39 TRICARE Management Activity .............................................................. 39 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1998 Department of Defense: Department of the Navy .................................................................................. 57 Department of the Air Force ........................................................................... 87 TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1998 Department of Defense: Department of the Navy .................................................................................. 109 Department of the Army .................................................................................. 119 Department of the Air Force ........................................................................... 125 (III) MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999 TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1998 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 9:59 a.m., in room SD±124, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Conrad Burns (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Burns and Stevens. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY STATEMENT OF ALMA B. MOORE, ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY (INSTALLATIONS, LOGISTICS, AND ENVIRONMENT) ACCOMPANIED BY: MAJ. GEN. DAVID A. WHALEY, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF FOR IN- STALLATION MANAGEMENT BRIG. GEN. JAMES R. HELMLY, DEPUTY CHIEF, ARMY RESERVE BRIG. GEN. MICHAEL J. SQUIER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ARMY NA- TIONAL GUARD PAUL JOHNSON, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INSTALLA- TIONS AND HOUSING OPENING STATEMENT OF CONRAD BURNS Senator BURNS. We are going to call these hearings to order. Senator Murray will be by shortly. She has Mr. GatesÐI asked her if that is the fellow that makes the tires, and it was notÐthis morning on the Hill. And we sure want to make a space for Sen- ator Murray and her staff. She is a delight to work with on this particular committee. I made the suggestion earlier today that I think we ought to start these appropriations hearings at 8 a.m., and I see there are some heads going up and down out there. Now, to us old farm broadcasters, that is still way up in the middle of the day, but we would have a lot more time afterward to get some things done that we needed done. So, I will call this committee to order. This morning we will hear testimony on the military construction, family base housing [BRAC], and Reserve component programs for the U.S. Army, as well as the military construction programs for defense agencies. I appreciate Secretary Moore and all of you coming down this morning. We will hear from the Department of the Army first. We are pleased to have the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for (1) 2 Installations, Logistics, and Environment. Secretary Moore, wel- come. I think this is the first time you have had the opportunity to appear before this committee. If you would like to introduce some of your very elite and I would say knowledgeable support for this morning, you may do that at this time. Ms. MOORE. Thank you, sir. Joining me today representing the total Army is Maj. Gen. Dave Whaley, Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management; Brig. Gen. Michael Squier, Deputy Director of the Army National Guard; and Brig. Gen. James Helmly, Deputy Chief of the Army Reserve; and Mr. Paul Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Installations and Housing. Senator BURNS. Let me tell you right now that we are very, very proud of the U.S. Army and our people that serve in uniform. We continue to be concerned about losing some good people, and some- times it is quality of life issues that are the final decisions not only for the single soldier but also for our people with a high degree of dedication that are married and have families. I want to commend the leadership for its continued commitment toward improving the quality of life for our single soldiers. I guess I become more concerned about them as time moves on. The Army's emphasis on replacing and renovating barracks is critical to meeting the long-term recruiting and retention goals. It is essential that our service members and their families live in housing that is comparable to our civilian counterparts. I think that is very, very important. However, I continue toÐabout the low level proposed fundingÐ we know that we are going to go into some budget strains. Our overall appropriations for military construction is almost $1 billion less than 1 year ago, and so we are going to have to be very, very creative and innovative to fulfill our mission that we have before us. The National Guard. I have seen the condition of some facilities. They are completely unacceptable. We hear a lot of rhetoric about whenever we try to improve our Guard and our Reserve facilities as taking money to our home States. Whenever we see the integra- tion of the regulars with Guard and Reserves, we cannot expect our Guard and Reserves to be up to capacity unless they have the fa- cilities in order to train and to be a part of this Army. We must do more in providing those working conditions. They deserve every consideration in this process. The restoring of those five line item veto military construction I think in the last appro- priation was a good indication that there is support in the Con- gress for the thrust of which we are traveling down today to see an integrated Army as a viable force. So, we do appreciate your efforts. We look forward to working with you to ensure that those critical requirements and those needs are met. So, Madam Secretary, we are looking forward to your statement. We are joined today by the chairman of the Appropriations Com- mittee, Mr. Stevens. I know you are working on a tight schedule. Are there any questions before you hear Secretary Moore's state- ment? 3 Senator STEVENS. I would like to hear the Secretary. I may sub- mit my questions. It depends. I have to meet with Senator Byrd. They will call me when I have to go. PREPARED STATEMENTS Senator BURNS. OK. I do have statements from Senators Fair- cloth and Craig that I would like to put in the record at this point. [The statements follow:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR LAUCH FAIRCLOTH Mr. Chairman, we have just finished our work on the 1998 Military Construction Appropriation, and right on it's heels, we have to make the same types of repairs to the President's request for next year's Mil Con budget. The Administration, once again, has low-balled our nation's defense needs, leaving us the responsibility to be sure that our fine men and women in uniform are not left to operate on a shoe- string. Same as last year, we will be expected to add the funding necessary to con- tinue the essential task of rebuilding our defensive capability. If the Congress took a pass and simply agreed to the President's request, our military infrastructure would crumble. For example, the need to ensure the security of our military bases should be one of our highest priorities. At Fort Bragg, one of our largest and most important posts for worldwide power projection, we have absolutely no control over base access. Now, this deficiency has been well known for a number of years, but yet there is no request for funds in the President's budget for the security of this vital base. I'm sure that this is only one of many necessary projects that the Administration left unfunded with the expectation that Congress would pick up the slack. I intend to fight to get the extra dollars that we need so that we can have an adequate military construction budget. National security is the most important func- tion of the Federal Government, and it must be funded first. Where do we get the offsets? By cutting back those Federal programs that are not properly the function of the Federal Government. And, when we have exhausted that as a source of funding, by moving funds within this budget from lower priority programs to the most important.