were not normally stocked by CONUS depots and therefore procurement had to be initiated each time a requisition was received. The rates for nonstandard stocked items were: (Note 1) Although the rates were the same as for stocked items in January and February, they dropped significantly in the remainder of the year. Requisitioning Objectives The dollar value of the Requisitioning Objective at the end of December 1969 was $11.1 million. Nursing Services In February, the jungle hat was approved for female nurses. A shortage of quarters for female officers at residual hospitals was recognized in February. A Memorandum for Record was sent to the USARV Deputy Commanding General by the brigade commander requesting trailers at the residual hospitals. The last of the tent quarters went with the closure of the 2d Surgical Hospital at Lai Khe before its subsequent inactivation on 10 March 1970. Optician Consultant Eyeglass Fabrication in Vietnam Information Office Attesting to the quality of the "44th Brigadier" in comparison with other multilith newspapers was its 3d place award in March 1970 in the USARV Newspaper Contest for 1969. The newspaper placed third in a field of 24 similar multilith-produced newspapers. "Redeployment" of the Brigade Although the 44th Medical Brigade headquarters had been reduced to zero strength and all personnel had been reassigned to the United States Army Medical Command, Vietnam (Provisional) on 1 March 1970, the brigade itself was still considered deployed by the Army and would remain deployed until December 1970. on 2 December 1970 Brigadier General Thomas redeployed to the United States to assume command of Brooke Army Medical Center, and on 14 December an enlisted color guard consisting of an E-6 and an E-5 carried the 44th Medical Brigade's colors to Fort Meade, Maryland, where the brigade had been formally transferred. On 14 December the Army formally established the United States Army Medical Command, Vietnam as a table of Distribution and Allocation unit, and the (Provisional) designation was dropped from its name. The 44th Medical Brigade at Fort Meade, Maryland There had long been a medical command and control headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland. The 68th Medical Group had been the senior command and control headquarters from when it was activated on 27 July 1954 until it deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in early 1966. To replace it, the 18th Medical Brigade was transferred from Fort Lee, Virginia, where it had been stationed