Office of the Historian

S/S–Files: Lot 63D351: NSC 25 Series

Report to the National Security Council by the Secretary of Defense

Washington, August 12, 1948.

NSC 25

Note by The Executive Secretary to the National Security Council on Interim Terms of Reference of Sanacc 1

The Secretary of Defense has indicated his approval of the enclosed Interim Terms of Reference of the State–Army–Navy–Air Force Coordinating Committee, which had been previously agreed to by the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force and by the Under Secretary of State. The Secretary of Defense has suggested that the National Security Council formally concur in the enclosure inasmuch as it establishes a relationship between the National Security Council and SANACC and calls upon the Executive Secretary of the Council to perform certain specified functions.

Accordingly, the enclosure is submitted herewith for consideration and concurrence by the National Security Council at its next regular meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 19, 1948.2

Sidney W. Souers
[Enclosure]

Interim Terms of Reference of the State–Army–Navy–Air Force Coordinating Committee

26 July 1948.

The State–Army–Navy–Air Force Coordinating Committee shall be continued in operation for the next six months, subject to the following terms of reference which will be reviewed at that time.

1. Membership. The Committee will consist of either an Under or Assistant Secretary from each of the Departments of State, Army, Navy and Air Force. The representative of the Department of State will be Chairman of the Committee. The SANACC is authorized to establish such standing and “ad hoc” committees as are necessary for the accomplishment of such functions.

[Page 606]

2. Functions. The SANACC will perform the following functions:

a.
Advise and assist the National Security Council, including the preparation of such reports and studies as may be requested by the National Security Council.
b.
Be responsible for the coordination of matters referred to it by any of its members or by the National Security Council. It shall not, however, be used for the coordination of either (1) matters concerning occupied areas (provided that matters of strategic importance or direct interest to the Departments of the Navy or the Air Force will be referred to SANACC even though the area concerned is an occupied area) or (2) matters of limited interest which can be more expeditiously coordinated by direct interdepartmental consultation.
c.
Consult in appropriate cases with non-member departments and agencies of the government. Representatives of these agencies may be invited to participate as “ad hoc” members of the Committee when matters of interest to them are under consideration.

3. Powers. All matters requiring major policy determination and those on which the Departments represented on the SANACC are unable to reach agreement within a reasonable length of time will be submitted to the National Security Council. In matters consistent with established governmental policy, unanimous actions and decisions of the SANACC will be construed as effective decisions of the Secretaries of State, Defense, Army, Navy and Air Force.

4. Secretariat. The Secretariat of SANACC will be headed by an Executive Secretary nominated by the Secretary of State and approved by the Committee. Additional personnel for the SANACC Secretariat will be detailed by the member departments as agreed upon among themselves. In order to effect coordination between SANACC and the National Security Council, the Executive Secretary of SANACC shall keep the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council immediately advised of all matters referred to SANACC and of all proceedings and all actions by SANACC. The Executive Secretary of the National Security Council shall advise the SANACC whenever it appears that such activities duplicate or conflict with matters under consideration by the National Security Council.

The above Interim Terms of Reference are concurred in.

  • Kenneth C. Royall
    Secretary of the Army
  • John L. Sullivan
    Secretary of the Navy
  • W. Stuart Symington
    Secretary of the Air Force
  • Robert A. Lovett
    Under Secretary of State
  1. The State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee was established in December, 1944, as the principal inter-departmental organization concerned with the coordination of foreign and military policies; for documentation on the establishment of SWNCC, see Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. i, pp. 1466–1470. The committee was reconstituted as the State–Army–Navy–Air Force Coordinating Committee in October, 1947, in view of the National Security Act of 1947.↩
  2. The National Security Council concurred in this report at its 18th Meeting, August 19.↩