 okay move out rivers have joined their flows with the current of man's destiny like this river which in the best of times links a city with a peaceful trade binding its people to those at the other end of this water link this is Saigon yesterday a city of one million today caught up in the cross currents and eddies of conflict its population swollen to two million here an ever growing stream of supplies is being swiftly channeled through to ultimate destinations in the inland jungle I can mean life or death victory or defeat this is the story behind the drama played around the world the story of supply the story of a lifeline of identification with a very special meaning to most of us it means men well trained highly skilled combat ready men fully prepared and fully equipped to support the fight for freedom throughout the world to every man on the front line looking for much-needed supplies it means support from home supplies to live by and supplies to fight with the man on the front line knows that he is backed up with all kinds of supplies he needs aircraft combat vehicles landing craft artillery ammunition and guided missiles we must ship him vehicles clothing medicines and vaccines and special supplies and equipment of every description all of it earmarked us army the American soldier in the field must be supported by providing him with what he needs when he needs it and where he needs it what when where these words begin to tell the story of that support the story of the lifeline this is the lifeline of the United States Army strung along the global perimeter of the free world these are the supplies which an ultramodern army must have to function properly endless lines of vehicles mountains of supplies a myriad variety of specialized items our story begins in the United States the source of men and material for our armed forces the logistics of supply from the manufacturer to the user in the field is a problem global in concept and administration here in depots located throughout the nation are the sources of supply the machinery for maintenance and the means to transport these supplies and equipment from coast to coast although the functions of supply and maintenance are carried out to some extent by every depot within the army material command no one depot is large enough nor especially equipped nor ideally located to perform all these functions take the mission of supply this begins when supplies are received at the depot however the handling and storing of supplies are as varied as the entire army inventory a large part of this inventory consists of general stores the everyday needs of the soldier professional and personal supplies this variety of general supplies includes hundreds of thousands of different items they have a combined weight of several million tons volume as well as variety which requires specialized handling and storage facilities the handling of supplies within warehouses is thoroughly mechanized just as these modern self-guiding trains are used to move supplies so are equally modern methods used to control and expedite the receipt storage and issue of this tremendous inventory in some warehouses stock control is exercised by closed circuit television these TV systems link a master control room with individual TV units located in major receiving and storage areas by matching a duplicate locator card with the master locator card all incoming stock is accurately classified and tagged for an assigned storage space automatic data processing is used throughout the supply and maintenance system to keep track of the army's inventory of supplies and equipment with nearly 50,000 separate orders to be filled daily valued on the one hand in terms of millions of dollars and on the other hand in priceless terms of national defense there can be no compromise with speed or accuracy lies impervious to weather occupy open storage areas here in acre after acre ton upon ton of inventory hardware waits for shipping orders other supplies being perishable or particularly sensitive are stored under refrigeration or controlled humidity still other supplies being explosive are stored in protected isolation these are ammunition e-glues there are thousands of them at various remote depots located throughout the country ammunition like all military stores must be kept in a condition of material readiness however if ammunition is ever discovered to be defective it may be disposed of by burning or detonating some ammunition can even be demilitarized for its salvage value here live machine gun ammunition no longer useful for military purposes is being disassembled from this mechanized but risky operation the government salvages gun powder lead brass and other materials for its resale value the salvage value from this demilitarization program for various types of ammunition amounts to several million dollars annually material readiness supplies to every item large or small to keep these tiny electronic parts material ready they are packaged in moisture proof containers simply automatically moisture proof packaging material manufactured to specifications comes in all sizes this one is used to wrap up medium-sized items such as tentage and parachutes here to mechanized operations are used for speed and efficiency here's another protective wrap up larger and a bit more complicated these aircraft are being prepared for storage or perhaps for immediate shipment overseas in either case they are maintained in a state of material readiness through modern packaging methods here is an even bigger packaging problem but not too big cocooning keeps these army locomotives in prime working condition these cocoons are twice the size of a locomotive they are tugboats part of the army's fleet of watercraft right now they are storage items on the supply list but on short order these and other vessels in dry storage can wet their bottoms in a hurry army vessels like these LCMs are so ruggedly constructed they do not require a protective covering or cocooning they are always combat ready so are these craft army amphibious larks these giants are true amphibians equally at home on land or water and like all of our vehicles large or small they are always ready to roll at another depot combat readiness is maintained in a different way here tanks and other vehicles are stored in huge especially built enclosures at this one depot are more than 150 of these special buildings each building is maintained under conditions of temperature and humidity that keep every vehicle in a go condition around the clock and around the calendar an ultimate application of a protective artificial environment in contrast here is a natural environment for the protective storage of equipment these freshwater creeks located only 10 miles from the ocean provide long term trouble-free storage for the army's larger watercraft which cannot easily be maintained in dry storage everything is quiet and peaceful but also everything is in constant readiness waiting for the call to action constant material readiness requires constant maintenance depot maintenance in army language depot maintenance means the complete overhaul of a piece of equipment this includes the total tear down repair and rebuild of vehicles and equipment with factory level efficiency are several good reasons for the tremendous investment in maintenance plants and facilities most important maintenance is essential to readiness perhaps second in importance is the annual saving of millions of dollars by the expert repair of salvageable equipment another reason the ball working of our self-sufficiency in the event of a national emergency just as many different depots are needed to meet the mission of supply so are many needed to meet the mission of maintenance this depot is especially equipped for the repair of combat vehicles including all heavy tanks whenever a tank comes to the end of the rebuild line it is carefully inspected by quality control engineers when these experts give the okay other experts will drive the tank out for track testing certain other depots are geared for the maintenance of heavy engineer equipment some of this equipment may look like it's ready for the scrap yard but all of it will be made ready to look and work like new still other depots specialize in the maintenance of communications and electronic equipment for this many special techniques are employed such as ultrasonic cleaning methods for the thorough but gentle removal of microscopic debris from complicated and expensive equipment and still other depots specialize in the maintenance of aircraft such as these battle-scarred veterans of the fighting in South Vietnam to veterans of other wars human veterans pictures such as these should call back many memories the entire and complicated job of aircraft maintenance is carried out under the roof of this one giant building like all of the systems maintenance shops large and small it is fully equipped in terms of manpower and machinery here's another good example of army depot maintenance the complete tear down overhaul and repair of helicopters which might otherwise go to the junkyard some of these aircraft have been damaged in combat others have been returned for routine preventive maintenance others are undergoing improvement in engine performance airframe design or instrumentation whatever the reason the task demands a vast amount of labor and the application of many varied skills although hundreds of individuals are occupied in this one section of a depot representing draftsmen machinists sheet metal smiths and scores of other specialists their work is no assembly line operation it can't be assembly line work for an aircraft maintenance whether repairing miniaturized parts assembling entire components or even fabricating an entirely new wing for a special customer this job demands skill all maintenance requires frequent testing not only of small parts and components but also of complicated assembly here a rebuilt propeller is tested for the critical factor of dynamic stability here an entire aircraft engine is being prepared for testing testing total engine performance calls for the skills of electronic engineers as well as aviation machinists from this control room the as yet earthbound engine secured in its test cell can be powered through all cycles of sustained operation signal is given rubber up the slightest malfunction is recorded and evaluated electronically at another depot a similar electronic test facility is used to check the performance of rebuilt tank engines at this maintenance depot rebuild equipment is deliberately exposed to the environment for testing whatever critical tests are demanded on water on land any additional requirement for material readiness must be met for example these vehicles have been tested and okayed for shipment to using units they are combat ready now but will they be combat ready when and where they are ultimately delivered make sure they will be combat ready special test facilities are maintained which can simulate every possible handling hazard that might be met in transit here the effects of a prolonged railroad ride are simulated to improve tie-down specifications here packaging containers are tested for resistance to knock about here is a test for resistance to impact and here a test for resistance to compression how many containers same type and weight can be stacked on top of each other this test will provide the answer this is a foul weather test to determine the resistance of containers to driving rain as well as simple dampness and here is a vibration test used mostly to determine packaging specifications for electronics equipment protectively packaged all material moves out to using units in an endless stream many routine small item shipments are handled by parcel other shipments go by railroad others by air by steam ship by truck out to using units throughout the United States and to our armies and our allies overseas overseas is many places throughout the world and one of these is South Vietnam here on the beaches of a nation struggling for its freedom the U.S. Army supply and maintenance system meets the acid test of combat remember our mission to support the American soldier by supplying him with what he needs when he needs it and where he needs it we depend on these men and in turn they depend upon us to assure them the material the lifeline they need to fulfill their mission