Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/102

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 USAF Ztsoaicar. Sn[.s m 95 procurement legislation enacted m 196 muth the exception of the Strateg, c and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act (ap- proved 23 July 1946), which amended the Act of June 7, 1939, and was rotended to provide for the acquisition and retention of stocks of certain strutogre and critical ma- terials necessary to the national defenseJ 4s Some o these materials were needed in the constructran of military aircraft. Sectran 213(a) in Title II of The Na. tmnal Security Act of 1947 contained m- portent provisions in regard to procure- ment. It provided that the Mumtrans Board, which was estabhshed by the act as a part of the Natrenal Military Estabhshment, should coordinate the procurement plans of the National Mfi/ary Estabhshments' departments and agenmos, recommend asmgnments of procurement responmbfiitms among the several military services, plan for standardizatmn of specifications and the allocation of purchase authority on a single procurement basis, and perform .a variety of administrative controls in pro- curemerit matters.  The trend, indicated in the National curity Act, to consolidate and unify, as far as possible, the procurement activities of the armed services was continued in the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947, which became law on 19 February 1948. Ttus act made uniform all the laws and rules covering purchase procedures for the armed forces and repealed many obsolete and diverse laws. The Armed Serwces Pro- curement Act prowdeal for a return to normal purchasing procedures through the advertising-bid method on the part of the armed services, including, of course the USAF. It capitalized on the lessons learned in wartime purchasing and in 17 exceptruns to the advertising-bid system provided au- thority for procurement tlough negotia- tion. These exceptions were made m certain specific and litrated categories, for instance in the pxocurement of certain classified ma- toriel and equipment. It restated the rules governing advertming and making awards of contracts, and fixed the types of con- tracts which could be used. The procurement act gave the Secretary of he Air Force and the Secretary of the Army authority to make emergency pur- chases of war material abroad, an authority which the Secretary of the Navy had been given under the Act of June 20, 1914. At its conclusion, the procurement act stated that it was the intent of Congress to see that the interests of small business con- corns should be cons:tiered in the making of government purchases and the awarding of contracts for supplies and services. TM The USAF did not have a legislative pro- gram of its own at the beginning of the 80th Congress m 1948. However, a program, containing several important measures re- latmg in various ways to procurement, was formulated during th sosstun. They were: H.R. 6247, the Organic Air Act, prowding for a ?O-Group Air Force, S. 2644, Prototype Transport and Cargo Arcraft, a proposed bill to authorize construction at military installations and for other purposes (199 construction); S. 1560, to acilitate per- formance oi experimental work by and in behalf of the Army and Navy Departments; S. 2760, Radar Land-Based Warning and Control InstaHatmns; S. 2761, Joint Long- lange Proving Ground for Guided Missiles; and S. 2762, Air Engmeenng Development Center.l In 1948 the Department o the Air Force assisted the President's Air Policy Board and the Congresmona! Avlation Policy Board m œormuling a four-year program demgned to provide the sze and tppe of Air Force in being which wouId meet the mini- mum reqmrement for national security. Armed at creating by 1952 an Air Force which would be capable  meeting any international crisis, the program was built around 0 groups of combat aircraft. Stimu- lated by a reahstic wow of the interr- ttonal mtuation, which had become threat- enmg now hat Russia had shown her hand in bringing pressure to bear on Greece and Turkey and had instituted the Berlin Block- ade, such a great expansion of the Atr Force, from 55 to 0 groups, was very ex- pensive and entaded a tremendous pro- THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958