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    "label": "Electronic Environmental Health Facility, 1960",
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    "id": "4525754",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Electronic Environmental Health Facility, 1960",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525754",
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        "Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers",
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        "logicalDate": "1960-12-31",
        "year": 1960
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    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0054/642080/4525754.pdf",
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D15, folder \"\"Electronic Environmental Health\nFacility, 1960\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the\nGerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D15 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nPost 1959-Julj\nELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENTAL TEST FACILITY\nGENTLEMEN:\nFor many years the Army has required newly developed equipment to\nbe subjected to extensive tests in the form of engineering tests con-\nducted at our laboratories and proving grounds and then subjected to\nuser tests conducted by the Army's Test Boards supervised by the\nU. S. Continental Army Command. In addition, the Army has regularly\nassembled its electronic and communications systems in field exercises\nwhich simulate battlefield conditions as closely as possible. However,\nas the number and types of electronic devices have increased in recent\nyears, we have been experiencing compatibility problems during these\nmajor exercises. We could not isolate the cause of these problems by\nindividual test or in the uncontrolled environment found in a field\nexercise,\nTherefore, the requirement for this facility has arisen from the\nneed of the Army for electronic environmental testing of communica-\ntions-electronic equipment under controlled conditions. / We know\nthat\nr\nif we go to war today, an Army Corps will have about 23,000 electro-\nmagnetic emission devices in a square 60 miles on a side, whereas\nthere were something like 9,000 such devices in use in 1948 in the\nsame area.\nThis program will create a field laboratory which will determine\nthe incompatibility among existing equipments. It will acquire data\nFORD & LIBRARY GERALD\non which to base specific recommendations for modification of equip-\nment to reduce interference. It will provide the basis for the\nestablishment of standards and specifications to limit interference\nin future development; and will test frequency allocation plans and\noperational concepts under controlled conditions. Newly developed\nequipment will be tested in a realistic electromagnetic environment\nprior to standardization. Also, it will provide a range for engineer-\ning and operational testing of surveillance devices and systems.\nThe environment, when in operation, will be a vital training\nground for signal, electronic warfare, and Army Security Agency units\nfor coping with the problems which combat troops will face in this\narea on the future battlefield. Through this effort the battlefield\ncommander will be assured that his command control and surveillance\nequipment will operate properly in any and all electromagnetic\nsituations.\nIt was determined that the problem was of such magnitude and\ncomplexity that a major contractual effort would be necessary to\ninstall and operate such a facility under the management, supervision\nand control of the United States Army.\nAccordingly, a meeting W&B held in Tueson, Arizona, in January\n1959, to acquaint Industry with the Army's requirements. This meeting\nwas attended by approximately 400 individuals representing more than\n2\nDERALD FORD\n130 concerns. At this time the intent of the Army to solicit pro-\nposals for this program was disclosed with the details as to the\nrequirement. A request for quotation was issued in July 1959 to\nall concerns that had indicated an interest in submitting a proposal.\nThe solicitation went to 127 companies - of which 80 were large busi-\nness and 47 small business.\nA pre-bidders conference was held 27 July 1959 in Tucson, Arizona,\nto permit Industry to query the Army as to any points not clear. At\nthis time it was disclosed that this procurement would be made by means\nof a two-phase method. The first phase would consist of the submission\nof technical proposals without pricing and their evaluation to insure\nthat the proposals were technically acceptable. Bidders were advised\nthat the technical evaluation of their submissions would be utilized\nto reduce the number of bidders to those concerns whose offers were\nconsidered most advantageous to the Government from a technical stand-\npoint. Twelve technical proposals were received by 31 August 1959.\nThe concerns submitting these proposals were identified in the material\nwhich has been forwarded to the Committee.\nThe 12 proposals were submitted by the contracting officer for\ntechnical evaluation to an evaluation panel established by the Chief\nSignal Officer of the Army. The evaluation by this panel resulted in\nthe conclusion that four proposals were considered sufficiently high\nin technical quality to warrant consideration in Phase II. The\nconcerns which submitted these four proposals were also identified\n3\nGERALD FORD LIBRART\nin the material forwarded to the Committee.\nFull and free price negotiations were then conducted with these\nfour concerns and with their proposed subcontractors by military\nteams representing the Chief Signal Officer to insure a complete under-\nstanding of each proposal. After thorough negotiations, cost and price\nanalyses, and reexamination of the technical aspects of these four\nproposals, the recommendations of the Chief Signal Officer were for-\nwarded to the Army Staff for final processing and decision by the\nSecretary of the Army.\nThis program is so designed that the contractor will not himself\nevaluate equipment in the operation of this facility or determine the\nequipment to be tested. The contractor will be charged with installing\ntesting equipment and the conduct of testing operations.\nThe equipment to be tested in the initial phases will be standard\nitems of equipment available in the Army inventory plus new items be-\nginning to emerge from the development program which are suitable for\nthe conduct of field engineering tests. During the course of the tests\nthe contractor, under supervision of the Army, will collect the necessary\ndata, reduce them to manageable proportions; and deliver them to the\nmilitary authorities at Fort Huschuca. The final analysis of the data,\nthe evaluation of the test, and the determination of the suitability of\nthe tested equipment for inclusion in the Army inventory will be the\nresponsibility of the Army and not the Contractor.\n4\nGERALD FORD LIBRARY\nThe Army will direct and control the manner in which the\ncontractor prosecutes this contract. A team of military and civilian\npersonnel from the U. 5. Army Electronic Proving Ground will be directly\ncontrolling, reviewing, directing and approving the performance of the\nwork.\nThis is not a management type contract; it requires skills for\ndevising, fabricating, installing and operating a test facility.\nThe Army feels that this facility is a most urgently needed prov-\ning device which will obviate the development and introduction of\nequipment into a battlefield environment where it may not function,\nand which will save critcally short Research and Development funds\nneeded for the Defense Effort. It has the full support of the\nDirector of Research and Engineering in the Office of the Secretary\nof Defense.\n5\nFORD in LIBRARY"
}