Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, National Security Policy, Volume XIX

143. Memorandum From the Secretary of Defense (Wilson) to the President¹

Washington, September 12, 1957.

SUBJECT

• Military Personnel Strengths for FY’58 and FY’59

REFERENCE:

• Record of Action of the National Security Council at its 332nd Meeting held on July 25, 1957. Action No. 1755²

At the National Security Council Meeting on July 25th Department of Defense presented information on the military programs for FYs ’58 through ’61. On August 6, 19571 addressed a memorandum to the Secretaries of the Military Departments and the Chiefs of Staff in which I requested them to study further the military program for FY ’59 and the program for FYs ’60 and ’61 to the extent required in preparation of the FY ’59 budget.³ A copy of this memorandum is attached as Tab (A). The Secretaries of the Military Departments replied to this memorandum and copies of these studies are attached as Tabs(B),(C)and(D).⁴

On September 10th this matter was discussed in detail at a meeting of the Armed Forces Policy Council.⁵ At this meeting the full implications of the reduction in our military program necessary in order to retain expenditures within a level budget of $38 billion annually during the FYs ’59, ’60 and ’61 time period were explored. In addition, the FY ’58 military program was discussed in relation to the subsequent years.

It was the opinion of the members of the Armed Forces Policy Council that it was highly important that we be able to announce the FY ’58 end year strengths for each of the Military Services as promptly as possible in order that an orderly reduction to these figures could be planned and the maximum benefit derived in holding expenditures for FY ’58 within the approved figure of $38 billion. In some cases the Military Services may wish to reduce their strength below the figures presently approved for 1 January 1958 in order to achieve maximum savings. It was obvious that the figures for end FY ’58 are well above the totals which we will be able to maintain during FY ’59 and it appears that they can be reached without materially affecting our deployments abroad.

For your convenience I have attached as Tab (E) my recommended end strength figures for FY ’58.1 would like your permission to proceed on this basis, recognizing that the information will become public as soon as we begin to implement the plan in the Military Services.⁶ The Secretary of State is satisfied for us to proceed immediately with the ’58 adjustments on this basis.

I have also attached as Tab (F) the figures which were discussed with the National Security Council on July 25th and which you approved for initial budget planning for FY ’59. To date these figures have been held on a highly classified basis and the Military Departments now feel that they need permission to utilize them to a wider degree within their staffs as the basis for the initial ’59 budget submissions. After the review on September 10th I see no reason to use any different figures for our initial budget planning. I would like your permission at this time to downgrade these figures from “top secret” to “secret” so that the normal and necessary staff work on the details of the ’59 budget may proceed. The proposed figures are for planning purposes and, of course, are subject to your approval or modification after submission and after the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Service Secretaries have had an opportunity to make their final views known to you.

This proposed tentative ’59 plan is also satisfactory to the Secretary of State but he would like to have a week or ten days to clear certain features of it with certain of our Ambassadors who are in close touch with our allies and who the Secretary of State wishes to have advance information before we risk the information becoming public property. Following your approval I would withhold any formal documents to the Services until the Secretary of State has had the time he feels necessary.

This memorandum in substantially its present form was read at the Security Council Meeting this morning for the general information of the members⁷ and General Cutler is familiar with the problems involved.

C. E. Wilson

Tab (E)

RECOMMENDED END STRENGTHS FOR FY ’58

Army	900,000
Navy	645,000
Marine Corps	188,000
Air Force	875,000
	2,608,000

Tab (F)

PLANNING FIGURES FOR END STRENGTH FY ’59

Army	850,000
Navy	630,000
Marine Corps	170,000
Air Force	850,000
	2,500,000

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, White House Central Files, Confidential File. Top Secret. Copies were sent to Secretary Dulles and Cutler.
2. See footnote 8, Document 133.
3. Document 136.
4. Attached memoranda from Brucker to Wilson and from Acting Secretary of the Navy W.B. Franke to Wilson, both dated September 3, and an unsigned memorandum (presumably by James H. Douglas, Jr., Secretary of the Air Force), dated September 5, are not printed.
5. No record of this meeting has been found in the Eisenhower Library or Department of State files.
6. In a memorandum to Secretary Wilson, dated September 17, Cutler wrote that the President had approved the permissions Wilson requested in this and the following paragraph, and his approval was reflected in the note he added to NSC Action No. 1787, which was adopted by the NSC on September 12 and approved by the President on September 16. (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Administration Series, Cutler) The note to NSC Action No. 1787 directed the Secretary of Defense “to continue urgently the search for unnecessary defense expenditures, with a view to avoiding reductions in combat forces and maintaining necessary military capabilities.” (Department of State, S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) Files: Lot 66 D 95, Records of Action by the National Security Council)
7. The memorandum of discussion of the NSC meeting on September 12 is not printed. (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)