. ..
.PH ll/1 ~w~v\·
·-~The . magnitude :0( the- pro.ble'm is-;··:
staggering;·~ ,.pingell , ~id. "Ameri." ·:1
can"S use- n~arty 200 .bill1on fasteners · 1:
annually. Justone .type of.fastener·- ·...1
Grade 8 automotive bolts - is used- 1
by the Department o'f Defense . in . ~'\
about .SOO diff~rent weapons systems. .. ·
And JUSt o~e of the military purchas- '
mg agencres. t he Defense Logistics ·\
~gency, has found 29 percent of its
mventory - ·eight .to 1.0 .million ..
Gr;ade s· bolts __,are substandard."
'fhougli all fastenerS were the sub- -.. :.
ject of the
'inquiry by Dingell's En- · ..
ergy ~t)d Cbmmerce .. subcom111ittee ·
on ov~rsight and investigations, the ·
probl~s ·.'i;vitb Grade 8 l;>olts were ' .~
examined ·most-·closcly:--·- -~.. .......... :.~
in June, the Defense Industrial
Supply Center of the Defense Cbgis·
ucs Agency froze all shipments of
Grade 8 bo lts from its supply depots
to military bases that needed them
until each shipment could be tested . ..
"Mr. Chairman. we've.' been. bilked ·
just Uke everybody '€lse," Pigaty told
DmgeJL ."But we've got il good han-
dle on it now, and we shouldn't be an
easy prey anymore." · ··
The members of the subcommittee
were more critical of the policies of
the U$. ·-Anny. Materiel -Command,
whicb.. does not purchase .fasteners .
itself but finished vehicles and weaJr-.
ons .systems. many of which have
been found to·have substandard fas- .
teners. . . :.· ~. ·
In testimony ye~terday, Seymour J. \
Lorber, deputy chief of staff for prod· '
. uct . assurance and testing for the ·
Army Materiel Command, told skep-
tical subcommittee members that
"all major weapons systems ana ve-
hicles 'are proof-tested and road- -~·
tested pf.ior to· iheir ·~tanee and·;-":';
before dellveq tp.:Arrny iriventory.:·...:~
. . ..... ,.
- ~
!rJfl)ill (!If_ ' \
~
4-A .. Thursday, Aug. 6, 1987
Gep~'e~~:~~\
ta~}ty bOlts l
...
, ,.. ..... ··. . ,.,... . ,,. .·.. : ·: ·~
·
By :-&rt M. Cannon ~~~~-:-;.~.~:·:;::~ ··
Jnqutrer Wasl'li"rton Suruu :. . <\.' .:.j ' ·"'· · · ; "'·... .~
~ · ~Jl :::.. - ~ t...· · -~· .. ... ,.~ ·~:, •: ..-: ~
· W.ASl'!IN(}TON - · A A.S. ,:(\rmy ,gen- ~
eral - frustrated because the- Army 1
has been sold millions of cciunte'rfeit, ~
mismarked or substandard bolts that ··•
have eaused more .than 1.:200 .tanks to .. ~
be.ta~en.Qut of serY.ice acone time or -~ ~
another - told a House subcommit· ~
tee y~sterday th?,t "we,~d ~~~ t5> ~ee .a , ~
public hangmg. . , ·· " : t '
Brig. Gen. Leo J . Pigaty. w.ho.over:- .
sees Defense Department procure- · ;
J
ment, was speaking figuratively and i
explained that actually he- -hopes a ·-
distrib\ltor "who ~lls ·substandard
bolts and other ·fasteners .wUl be sen·
tenced •tO jail· 8S an example.
An ihvestigatfon "d!scovere,d that
1,220 ofthe Army 's 10,000 M-60 battle
:
tanks, 'which.·cast '51.6 t!llllion each, .I
were oi.lt of service acsome :point /
because of substandard bolts, .said
subcommittee chairman · Rep. John
D. Dingell (D .. Mich.). He added that
such .bolts.:Jlut$, ·rivets and scr~ws l
are comiDQn in the military, where .··~
they are used 'in almost all vehiCles
and weapens systems. and in the 'CI· '
VIhan sector. where they are used in :
- . - 1.. everything from bridges to nuclear ··~
power ' p~an~~.:: · - . -~•