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Front & Center
50 Years Ago in ARMY
Is That Paper Necessary?
By Col. H.E. Alphin
Paperwork and nonessential administration are not only expensive, but they also reduce our fighting effectiveness. We expend millions of precious man-hours in preparing, processing, reading and filing papers. This appalling waste is inexcusable during peacetime, but more deplorable in wartime when every man’s effort is vital to victory. If we do not streamline administration now, we cannot expect to do so in the thick of an emergency. Our administrative burden is not confined to personnel matters or adjutant general activities, but embraces all staffs, branches, services and command echelons. A large part of the paper empire, from company level up, concerns supply, training, communications, procurement, maintenance, transportation, storage and distribution.
Few of us realize that the average field army has about 48,000 paper shufflers who use about 18.5 percent of its vehicles, 41 percent of its housing and 14 percent of its tonnage. We can do without this mountain of paper and accompanying actions. While some paperwork is essential for administrative effectiveness, much of it is a millstone around our necks.
Many factors brought about this condition. Various reports, forms and summaries are retained because they are nice to have, or are held in file just in case someone might call for them. Sometimes a considerable volume of nonessential paperwork is maintained by an overzealous empire-builder in an attempt to justify his position.
Our primary concern, then, is to reduce the size of this ever-growing colossus. The solution is not an easy one. It would be simple for the Secretary of the Army to publish an order discontinuing certain procedures, reports, forms, regulations and certificates. Our system is so complex, however, that each directive or form must be evaluated for its essentiality. Every person, from company clerk to Army Chief of Staff, can help to chase paper or cut red tape.
We must ask ourselves if this paper or administrative action is really necessary. Nonessential records must be destroyed instead of being initialed and filed, and we must recommend elimination of any nonessential action required by higher headquarters.
Here are some actions that should reduce the paper burden. Publish or prepare only forms and reports that are positively essential. Delegate responsibility for control and corrective action without requiring funneling at each unit level. File only that needed material which will facilitate search by using a smaller number of expensive cabinets and saving thousands of man-hours. If it isn’t required, burn it. Eliminate letters involving transmittal, receipt acknowledged, reports of corrective action and the like. Maintain only needed publications. More than 10,000 persons are posting complete sets of Army regulations when only a few directives are really needed. If a report cannot be eliminated, reduce the number of copies and the number of line items, and eliminate duplication of other reports. Retire only essential documents. Not only are we saving nonessential trash, but we are needlessly duplicating the retirement of letters and publications at every command level.
Unfortunately, those responsible for Army administration have failed to keep pace with streamlined improvements in other services. For the most part, we are employing the laborious methods of 75 years ago. We have not taken complete advantage of office machinery and other systems to facilitate processing of paper. Progress is mostly imaginary, for in reality we still can’t see the forest for the trees. Of course less resistance is encountered to administrative changes and improvements when we merely skirt the problem. Demonstrations of machine speeds and capabilities are not the complete answer by any means. We must eliminate the generation of paperwork, and streamline those actions which are essential. Too much effort has been spent on mechanizing those administrative actions which create an unnecessary burden.
Many commanders have asked whether paper-cutting drives have been successful. The answer is a resounding yes. For example, two paper-chase drives in U.S. Army Europe eliminated 1,898 local forms and 7,054 local reports; 596 reports and 217 forms or certificates were recommended to Department of the Army or higher headquarters for elimination; 37,973 linear feet of unnecessary records and convenience files were destroyed; 12,150 linear feet of publications were saved by distributing only on a need-to-know basis; 4,305 four-drawer filing cabinets were turned back to supply channels; 50,757 reams of paper were saved annually by revising distribution of local publications.
Paper-chase drives initiated by the Department of the Army have been devoted primarily to restricting distribution of publications to a strictly need-to-know basis, thus saving hundreds of tons of paper and thousands of man-hours. Much remains to be done at DA level, however, to eliminate those nonessential administrative actions which burden our fighting units. Only continuous vigilance will reduce paperwork and eliminate unnecessary actions so as to keep our Army combat-ready.
COL. H.E. ALPHIN was secretary of the Regular Army Officer Augmentation Board, The Adjutant General’s Office. Commissioned in the Infantry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, he transferred to the Adjutant General’s Corps with primary assignments in personnel accounting and administration.
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