Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, East Asia and the Pacific, Volume XII, Part 1

Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 161

Agreed Record of Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council¹

secret

Pearl Harbor, T.H., September 4, 1953.

The second meeting of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council convened at 10:00 a.m. on 3 September 1953 at Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet Headquarters, Pearl Harbor, T.H.

Admiral Stump² acted as Chairman in accordance with the procedures agreed upon at the first meeting that the Military Representative of the host nation would be the Chairman.

The Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council agreed to the following:

A. Status of ANZUS Military Planning

1. The “Report by Staff Planners to Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council, Report No. 1”³ was reviewed by the Military Representatives. It was determined that each of the Military Representatives had submitted this report to respective Chiefs of Staff, or equivalent, with appropriate recommendations. The actions of the respective Chiefs of Staff were reported to be as follows:

a. Australia

The objective stated in the ANZUS Staff Planner’s Report of associating United Kingdom and France with the course of action recommended has been achieved by the development of the Five-Power Planning Studies which have largely undertaken [overtaken?] and absorbed the proposals in the former. Therefore, no further action is now necessary on Report Number One by the ANZUS Staff Planners which, however, provided a most valuable basis for the Five-Power Planning Studies subsequently developed and demonstrated the efficacy and value of the ANZUS military machinery as a joint planning agency.

b. New Zealand

The report was considered by the Chiefs of Staff who supported the thought that every effort should be made to obtain agreement and recommended support for Five-Power discussions which might lead to an agreed policy regarding action to be taken to counter further Chinese Communist aggression. However, the Chiefs of Staff recommended that the course of action in the ANZUS Report should not be adopted as the basis of ANZUS military policy on the grounds that the ANZUS military organization did not provide a suitable forum for the consideration of Southeast Asian problems when the United Kingdom and France who were intimately concerned were excluded.

c. United States

The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff have noted the report. They consider that it is consistent with their intent that studies of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council be used as background material in development of national plans. Further, appropriate parts of the report should be used in connection with further Five-Power coordination. It was observed that no comment had been made by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on the paper submitted by the Australian Military Representatives at the First meeting of the ANZUS MilRep entitled “Recognition of the Status of the ANZAM Region as a Possible Theater of War.”⁴

B. Future ANZUS Military Planning

1. It was noted that the military courses of action in the event of further Chinese Communist aggression in Southeast Asia recommended by the Staff Planners have either been studied or are on the agenda for planning studies by the Military Representatives of the Five Powers on Southeast Asia. Since both France and the United Kingdom have considerable interest and might be involved in each of those courses of action, it is considered that the continuation of the planning studies by the Five Powers is the appropriate means for the exchange of planning information on which to base coordinated national military plans.

2. It was further noted that the courses of action to meet the current Communist threat in Southeast Asia are broad in nature and that France and the United Kingdom would also have considerable interest in their application. It is therefore considered that these courses could also best be studied by the Military Representatives of the Five Powers on Southeast Asia.

C. Recommendations to the ANZUS Council

1. It was agreed that the following recommendations should be made to the ANZUS Council:

a. The “Report by Staff Planners to Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council, Report No. 1” be used by the Australian, New Zealand, and United States Representatives as a guide for planning studies by the Military Representatives of the Five Powers on Southeast Asia.

b. No other military studies on measures which might be taken to increase mutual assistance and self-help, looking to the improvement of the defense of Australia and New Zealand and their territories as related to the overall strategic defense in the Pacific be undertaken at the present time.

The meeting was concluded at 1120 4 September 1953.

• S.F. Rowell
  Lieutenant General,
  Military Representative of Australia
• W.G. Gentry
  Major General,
  Military Representative of New Zealand
• F.B. Stump
  Admiral,
  Military Representative of the United States

1. This document is part of Annex F to the Agreed Record of Proceedings of the Second Meeting, ANZUS Council. The remainder of Annex F, other annexes, and the Agreed Record itself are not printed.
2. Adm. Felix B. Stump had succeeded Admiral Radford as CINCPAC and CINC–PACFLT on July 10.
3. Dated Nov. 25, 1952, p. 242.
4. Printed as Appendix B to the Agreed Record of Proceedings of the First Meeting of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council, p. 225.