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

790.5/1–253

Agreed Record of Proceedings of the First Meeting of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council, Held September 22–25, 1952¹

secret

Pearl Harbor, T. H., [September 25?,] 1952.

The first meeting of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council convened at 9:50 a.m. on 22 September 1952 at Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet Headquarters, Pearl Harbor, T.H.

It was moved by General Rowell, and seconded by General Gentry, that Admiral Radford would act as Chairman for this meeting.

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

A. Rules of Procedure

1. Times for Meeting

The Military Representatives will meet annually immediately prior to the ANZUS Council meetings and at such other times as requested by the Council or as requested by a Military Representative and agreed to by the others.

2. Seat of Meeting

The seat of meeting will be rotated between Pearl Harbor, Melbourne, and Wellington. When so requested by the Council they will meet in Washington, Canberra, or Wellington in conjunction with regular annual Council meetings.

It is considered, however, that the rotation need not adhere rigidly to the above stated order.

3. Participants

(a) The accredited Military Representatives or properly designated alternates will attend.

(b) Technical advisors and Staff Officers of the Military Representatives may form working committees, and may attend sessions of the meetings as advisors as required by the Military Representatives.

4. Procedures at Meetings.

(a) Chairman. The Military Representative of the host nation of each meeting shall be the Chairman.

(b) The host nation will arrange for the provision of the Secretariat for the meeting.

(c) Verbatim minutes of proceedings will not be kept. A record of proceedings will be kept and copies thereof furnished each participant.

(d) The Basic Terms of Reference for the Military Representatives are:

(1) Advise the Council on problems of military cooperation which may arise in connection with the application of the ANZUS Treaty.

(2) Consider and make recommendations to their respective Chiefs of Staff on the 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 over-all strategic defense of the Pacific.

(3) Furnish to the Council those recommendations which have received approval of their respective Chiefs of Staff.

(e) Press releases appropriate to the course and conclusion of the meetings will be prepared under the direction of the Chairman for consideration of the meeting prior to release.

(f) The normal channel of communication on matters of concern to the Military Representatives will be through the Liaison Officers when assigned to Pearl Harbor, Melbourne, and Wellington, or through existing channels.

5. Liaison Officers.

Liaison Officers may be assigned for the purpose of exchanging information and providing continuity of effort among the three Military Representatives. These Liaison Officers will not be higher in rank than field grade (i.e., Colonel). It is considered that for the present they need not be assigned and stationed on a continuous basis but rather on a “when necessary” basis.

6. Staff Planners

(a) Staff Planners will be designated by the Military Representatives. Liaison Officers may fulfill these functions.

(b) The Staff Planners will carry out such planning directives as are laid down by the Military Representatives.

(c) Staff Planners will normally meet at Pearl Harbor at such times as agreed upon by the Military Representatives.

(d) The U.S. Military Representative will furnish clerical and material assistance required.

(e) A Chairman will be designated by the U.S. Military Representative and will be responsible for the coordination of the work of the Staff Planners. The Chairman will forward the completed results of such planning directives to the Military Representatives.

(f) Meetings of the Military Representatives to act upon the work of the Staff Planners will be arranged if approval of the Military Representatives cannot be reached through exchange of messages.

B. Determination of Planning Tasks

The Military Representatives will undertake the following immediate planning tasks:

1. A review of the military situation in Southeast Asia. This is essentially an intelligence estimate to be used in planning procedures.

2. Develop a strategic estimate on Southeast Asia.

3. Determine possible courses of action to meet the current Communist threat in Southeast Asia and in the event of further Communist aggression in this area short of a general emergency.

4. Recommend to their respective Chiefs of Staff or equivalent those possible courses of action for approval. Upon approval by respective Chiefs of Staff, furnish the Council these approved recommendations.

C. Directive for Staff Planners

Subject to later confirmation, Staff Planners will meet at Pearl Harbor on or about 1 November 1952 to carry out the following planning tasks as a matter of priority:

1. A review of the military situation in Southeast Asia. This is essentially an intelligence estimate to be used in planning procedures.

2. Develop a strategic estimate on Southeast Asia.

3. Determine possible courses of action to meet the current Communist threat in Southeast Asia and in the event of further Communist aggression in this area short of a general emergency.

4. For the purpose of these tasks, the Southeast Asia area to be studied will include: Hong Kong, Formosa, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, the Crown Colony of Singapore, British North Borneo and Sarawak, the Sultanate of Brunei, Indo-China (now the independent states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), the Philippines, Portuguese Timor, the Republic of Indonesia, Dutch New Guinea and such other areas as deemed appropriate.

D. Miscellaneous

1. A paper (enclosure (2))² was submitted by the Australian Military Representative entitled “Recognition of the Status of the ANZAM Region as a Possible Theater of War” and made a matter of record.

2. The record of proceedings of the Military Representatives will be made available to the ANZUS Council members and such extracts as may be pertinent may be made available to the United Kingdom through normal channels.

3. A very brief statement was prepared for release to the press (enclosure (3)).³

The first meeting of the Military Representatives to the ANZUS Council was concluded at 1000 on 25 September 1952.

Appendix “B”

Recognition of the Status of the ANZAM Region as a Possible Theater of War

paper by australiam military representative

1. The ANZAM Region, which comprises broadly the Australian, New Zealand, and Malayan areas, was delineated by agreement in 1950, between the United Kingdom, Australian, and New Zealand governments as a possible theater in global war in which planning would be conducted in peace.

2. Planning tasks for the defence of the ANZAM Region were agreed between the three countries concerned. These tasks cover a wide range of strategic, service, and related plans, in which considerable progress has been achieved.

3. As a result of the Radford/Collins Conference of February-March, 1951, at which the boundaries of the Region were amended, the United States of America at the Service level now recognize the ANZAM Region for the following naval purposes only:

(a) Escort, convoy routing, and diversion of traffic.

(b) Reconnaissance.

(c) Local defence Anti-Submarine Warfare.

(d) Search and Rescue.

4. In order that ANZAM planning may be linked with the planning of the United States relating to areas contiguous to the boundaries of the ANZAM Region, the Australian Military Representative proposes that the ANZUS Military Representatives take cognizance of the planning which is proceeding for the ANZAM Region and of the organization which has been set up for that purpose. Further, that it be agreed that such ANZAM planning is not in any way inconsistent with the planning to be done under the ANZUS Treaty.

1. This document is the enclosure to a memorandum of Dec. 15, 1952, to the Secretary of Defense, signed for the Joint Chiefs of Staff by General Bradley. Both were transmitted to the Department under a covering letter of Jan. 2, 1953 from Acting Secretary Foster to Acheson. The JCS memorandum reads in part: “The content of the Agreed Record of Proceedings is generally within the framework of the agreed State-Defense negotiating paper on this subject.” (Reference is to HON D–2/1 of July 30, p. 165.) In his letter of Jan. 2, Foster concurred in the JCS comments.

   The representative of Australia was Lt. Gen. Sydney F. Rowell, Chairman of the Australian Chiefs of Staff Committee. New Zealand’s representative was Maj. Gen. W.G. Gentry, Chief of General Staff. Admiral Radford represented the United States.

2. Reference is to Appendix “B”. Appendix “A”, a list of the 16 participants, is not printed here.
3. Reference is to Appendix “C”, not printed here.