TABLE OF CONTENTS The July/August 1989 issue of the Journal of Environmental Sciences included an overview [1] of military standards, directives, pamphlets, and other guidance documents describing ESS. This overview summarized the salient features of nine different ESS documents issued by the Department of Defense, Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Institute of Environmental Sciences.
However, in the two and a half years since this overview was published, some of these documents have been revised. In addition, a few new ESS documents have been added to those reviewed previously. Furthermore, the proliferation of ESS documents continues and the administrative confusion over which documents to use and how to apply ESS most effectively has not diminished. This is especially unfortunate since all of the documents describe ESS as essentially the same core technical process. It is the dozens of variations in details that create the seeming chaos.
The following overview [2] updates the previous summary by a brief commentary. The commentaries are intended to establish a perspective for assessing the relationships or conflicts between the various documents and the potential implications of using them as a guidance.
One potential shortcoming of nearly all of the documents reviewed is that they seem to apply primarily to the procurement of new hardware. When applied to spares, retroactive screening of previously unscreened (or differently screened) hardware, repaired hardware in service, or second-source procurements, some of the guidelines and requirements in these documents may not be practical, sensible...
