Office of the Historian

38. Telegram From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Commander in Chief, Far East (Hull) and the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Stump)1

Washington, January 25, 1955.

JCS 974723. From JCS. The Secretary of Defense has given authority to station a USAF fighter bomber wing in Formosa on a temporary duty basis. The JCS direct that one F-86 wing from forces assigned to COMFEAF be deployed to Formosa at the earliest practicable date. This action is in lieu of the rotation of a FEAF F-86 wing by squadrons to Formosa,2 details of which have been coordinated between the headquarters concerned. Command relationships and support will be covered separately.

The classification of the deployment is downgraded to unclassified upon implementation.

  1. Source: JCS Records, CCS 381 Far East (11–28–50) Sec. 25. Top Secret; Operational Immediate. A copy was received in the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs on January 25. (Department of State, CA Files: Lot 59 D 110, Air Force Communications Project—Formosa) No time of transmission is indicated on the source text.↩
  2. The plan to rotate the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing from the Far East Air Force by squadrons to Formosa for 10-day periods of familiarization and training, in order to prepare for the possible movement of the wing to Formosa and operations in that area, was set forth in a letter of January 15, from H. Struve Hensel, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, to Dulles. (ibid., Central Files, 794A.5/1–1555) Department of State concurrence was conveyed in a letter of January 20, from Robertson to Hensel. (Ibid.)↩