European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 6 the stars and stripes / most intensive logistics Effort in history Gen. Besson again backs my 6 Rifle by de Freakley staff writer Wiesbaden Germany is the Man responsible for Supply ing american troops with the controversial m16 Rifle said Here saturday that it is basically Superior and highly sophisticated weapon. Gen. Frank s. Besson jr., com manding general of the army Materiel come told 170 senior Sarteur officers at the final Day of a three Day logistics con Ference that the soldiers who use the Rifle Are overwhelmingly i favor of  he said that recent tests i Panama under simulated com Bat conditions proved the m16 Tobe 99.8 per cent reliable and that s even better than  two malfunctions Besson added that the testing showed that there were two Mal functions per 1,000 rounds  said that "70 per cent of those malfunctions could be cleared in less than 10  the general noted that the problem with the m16 was that everyone was so pleased with stat first that extensive testing did not seem necessary. The manufacturer advertised that to clean it All you had to do was wipe Toff with an oily  but Besson said the weapon like any sophisticated Machin Ery must be Well cared for. Comparison made the head of the army s suppl Agency compared the m16 with the russian ak47 which is used by the Viet Cong. Besson noted that the lighter american Rifle was just As accurate up to 300 Yards which is All you need i Jungle fighting that it is More lethal and has a higher muzzle velocity. The russian gun is 99.9 percent reliable a pretty negligible Lead Over the m16 s 99.8 percent Besson said. He said that his command has expanded its production base and that it is planned by october that All combat elements of the South vietnamese ground forces will be equipped with the Rifle. The . Plans to deliver 100,-000 More m16s to the South Viet namese by november for Issue to the regional and popular for Ces Besson added. Polk also Speaks Gen. James h. Polk com Mander in chief Usa eur also spoke to the logisticians at the general von Steuben hotel. Polk called on the men to concentrate and continually improve the logistics operations in. Us a eur. I have a Rule in my com Mand he said. No logistics operation can Crit Izu a higher com Mand unless they can undergo and pass a rigid inspection. Don t think they can. I m not criticizing  m criticizing  Gen. Frank s. Besson or. Sub fires Polaris a3 Cape Kennedy up the nuclear powered submarine John Marshall successfully fired Polaris a2 missile More than 1,200 Miles Friday to an Atlantic Ocean target area cos urged to sell of Washington is chief master sergeant of the air Force Paul w. Airey Calls on career noncommissioned officers in the air Force to do a better Job of Selling the service to Young air men to solve the nagging prob Lem of the first term retention  in this month s official airman Magazine Aire Points out that normally about 48 per cent of the enlisted Force has been made up of career men but because of a decline in the retention rate and increased retire ments this figure could drop Toan undesirable  if the present reenlistment trend in t reversed the Ablest of our intelligent and dedicated airmen May never have the Chance to fill his Niche in the mightiest air Force in the world Airey  truly believe that retention begins with the no that we area major key to the program. If we do not support it earnestly and enthusiastically it matters Little what the air staff planner do to make the air Force a better  the no supervisor is such a motivating Factor in career decision words spewed by us in anger or frustration can contaminate All the Good air Force programs aimed at guid ing the first termer toward accepting another challenging enlistment. So self restraint is something we should All  Airey also said cos should discuss the advantages of Ca reer service with eligible first term airmen and guide by example and  firmly believe that Young men can do much much worse then make the air Force a Way of life Airey declared. Navy v new Corsair ii makes Pacific flight Lemoore Calif. Up the Navy has announced the first flight to Southeast Asia by the Navy s newest aircraft the Cor Sair  pilots from Lemoore naval air station made the8,600-mile flight in 17 hours spread Over three Days. The pilots Over lighted at Hawaii then flew to the Philippines via Wake Island and Guam. Troops get top Quality Morris by Marc hurts a Washington Bureau chief Washington is .troops in Vietnam have the High est Quality of personal food clothing and medical supplies in the history of warfare according to testimony by assistant defense Secretary Thomas d. Morris before a sub committee of the House com Mittee on government operations Morris added that troops in Vietnam have never been re it. Gen. Earl c. Hedlund Thomas d. Morris stricter in combat operation for want of essential supplies. The availability of spar parts for aircraft trucks tanks vehicles and other equipment Isas High or higher than that experienced anywhere else in  the following table gives examples for out of service equip ment awaiting parts with the first column of figures pertain ing to the army wide average and the second column pertain ing to the Vietnam average ch47 helicopters in Tho it Cav Oil 18 5 Bulldozer 20 3 5-ton truck 10 5 Materiel handling 20 8 m109 How in 5 m113 pc s 4 m48a3 tank 15 2 ten win Cash for ideas Heidelberg special for suggesting ways to save Uncle Sam $181,662 through the incentive awards program 10 Usa eur local National an military personnel received a total of $5,925 in Cash awards. Alois Quissel of the ordnance Section Vilseck 7th at Graf a Woehr saved the army a estimated $53,652 for suggesting a Way to improve the turn signal Light kits installed in army vehicles. He received $920 for his idea. Others who received Cash awards were Rudolf Boehm Giessen support Center $345cw2 Gaylord j. Gordon . Army Hospital bad Cannstatt,$545. Karl Grausam Ernst Hitt Mann and Alois Schmidt .army maintenance Plant Schwa Ebisch Gemuend $605, $625and $315, respectively Otto Helbig and Robert Rauch Mainz . Army maintenance Plant $760 and $415, and 1st  Stotts and sgt. Charles Tucker 3rd inf div $800 and$595. Also announced was an award of $795 presented to Wilhelm Geisler of the . Army maintenance Plant in Schwa Ebisch Gemuend for his $28,370 Assembly line improvement. Hedlund probing supplies by Marc Wilson stuff writer Wiesbaden is air Force it. Gen. Earl c. Hedlund director of the interservice sense Supply Agency Dsa is now touring american units i Europe to gather opinions of his Agency s service. Just returned from a trip tothe Pacific where he talked with both foot soldiers and their com Manders Hedlund is following the same pattern in Europe in order to answer the essential question is the Man in the Field getting the supplies he needs i am hopeful that the answer Here in Europe will be As reas Suring As that i received in the far East Hedlund said in addressing the Usa eur logistics seminar Here Friday. Supply Agency the Dsa is a defense depart ment Agency that buys and Dis tributes about half of the sup plies used by the . Armed forces. Its depots have an inventory valued at some $3 billion Hedlund said. A scheduled development in the transportation of Dsa sup plies which also will reduce loss or theft of goods Enro Ute to Fiel units is use of containerized  locked 1,280-cubic-foot Meta boxes will soon become a major part of Supply transportation the general said. Short lived a possible problem in the Earl stages of Container transport might be the bottle necking of ships designed to carry Only these huge boxes 20 feet Long,8 feet High and 8 feet wide. Tins is due to limited facilities at european ports for Container handling Hedlund said but the expected tie  would be Short lived with the installation of the proper , the first High ranking Dsa officer to visit european units is scheduled to meet with logistics officials of Neucom Usa eur and com z head quarters before returning tues Day to Dsa he at Cameron Sta Tion Alexandria a. Army pushes hard sell be a one Man retention stations a Ever regardless  Soldier Grade should consider himself one Man retention station to sell eligible Young officers an enlisted men on the army As a career according to the late tissue of the newsletter. Army personnel at the same time the army also released statistics on the re enlistment and retention rates for officers and enlisted me which show estimated improve ments for those with More than four years of service and declines for first term pm and  year the army loses about 10,500 officers and warrant officers and 325,000 enlisted men and women to civilian life through Normal Erid of service separations. Most of the officers leaving Are captains and lieutenants and warrant and enlisted losses in clude Many key men holding critical hard skill combat tech Nical and administrative special  officials have predicted Tho turnover would be particularly High at this time As a re sult of the separations of me who came into the service it the time of the Vietnam build pin 1966. All these losses must be replaced just to maintain strength at about 1.5 million. The turnover runs into millions of dollars each year in terms of replacement and training costs and is also a cause of excessive turbulence in army unit worldwide the newsletter re ports. Seek out and counsel those soldiers you feel would Bene both the army and themselves were they to remain m the Venice Tho publication Aduse Point out that today modern army offers a challenging rear with literally