740.00119 Control (Germany)/9–1548
The Department of State to the French Embassy 1
Aide-Mémoire
The aide-mémoire left by the French Ambassador on September 15, 19482 has been considered by the Department of State and the National Military Establishment of the United States.
On July 16, 1948, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff received the recommendations, referred to in the Ambassador’s aide-mémoire, of the French, British, and United States Commanders in Chief in Germany and on the same day authorized General Clay to participate in the formation of a joint planning staff for the purpose of planning coordinated operations involving initial withdrawal to and defense on the Rhine. It is understood that representatives of the three Commanders in Chief are currently engaged at Wiesbaden in preparation of such plans, completion of which is expected early in October. General Clay was instructed that the designation of Allied Commanders would be deferred until the views of the Brussels Treaty Chiefs of Staff have been considered.
The United States Chiefs of Staff have already transmitted to Major General Kibler, the United States representative in talks with the Brussels Treaty Permanent Military Committee, their preliminary views concerning the Inter-Allied Western Europe Command plan in case of war. Its views are that the command arrangements outlined in the Ambassador’s aide-mémoire are generally satisfactory except that the Allied Commanders-in Chief, Western Europe, should be either British or French and the Deputy Commander an American.
The United States Chiefs of Staff believe that the Brussels Treaty Chiefs of Staff should undertake in time of peace the coordination of planning for the Western European front.