67. Letter From the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Dillon) to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Irwin)1
Dear Mr. Irwin: I refer to Mr. Knight’s letter of December 30, 1958 (I–17367/8),2 to the Assistant Secretary for Far Eastern Affairs, relating to United States military requirements for airfields in Viet Nam capable of sustaining jet operations to accommodate United States forces in support of United States contingency plans for defense of Viet Nam.
With respect to the airfield at Tan Son Nhut (Saigon), I am informed by the International Cooperation Administration that the bulk of the United States contribution to the construction of a new, heavy-duty runway with a length of 10,000 feet is being programmed within the FY 1959 defense support program and that the remaining United States funds necessary to complete the runway are included in the proposed FY 1960 program. The engineering work on the runway is now underway, and completion of the new runway is expected by March 1961.
It should be noted that the programming of the heavy-duty runway at Ton Son Nhut was undertaken in recognition of an economic requirement, within the criteria applicable to the defense support program. The circumstances that present international commercial air traffic contributes to the Vietnamese economy and that Saigon could retain its share of traffic in the future only by providing landing facilities for jet air transports were prominent factors in reaching a decision to utilize economic assistance funds for the project. Fortuitously the new runway should, in the event of emergency, be able to support United States’ contingency plans for the defense of Viet-Nam.
With respect to the construction of a second jet facility in Viet-Nam, Mr. Knight’s letter proposed its location at Cap St. Jacques. It is our understanding that the Department of Defense has more recently recommended that the second facility be located at Tourane.3
The Defense letter proposes that appropriate action be initiated with the International Cooperation Administration to secure the programming [Page 188] of the second jet strip. All of the limited defense support funds available to us are required to meet urgent economic needs and the diversion of any of them to meet this military requirement is not, I believe, justified on either economic or political grounds. Moreover, as Mr. Knight’s communication indicates that the construction of the second jet facility is required in order to accommodate United States forces in support of Unites States contingency plans for the defense of Viet-Nam, it would appear appropriate that the necessary funds be provided from the Department of Defense budget.
Mr. Knight’s letter also notes that it may be some time before the Geneva Accords can be interpreted to permit the equipping of the Vietnamese Air Force with military jet aircraft. Therefore he suggests that the construction of the new runway could be justified, for cover purposes, as required for commercial use. In order to sustain this cover, it would appear necessary that Defense funds for construction of the runway be confidentially transferred to the International Cooperation Administration, which would appear for all public purposes to be the United States Government agency responsible for the project. While we believe, on the basis of information available in Washington, that such an arrangement would be feasible and plausible, we would wish to confirm this view by obtaining a formal expression of views from the country team in Saigon. Prior to doing so, we would like to be advised whether the Department of Defense is prepared to provide the necessary funding for this project.
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD/ISA Files: FRC 63 A 1672, 686 Vietnam. Secret. Drafted by L.E. Frechtling of W/MSC with clearances in substance from Moyer of ICA and by Palmer. A copy is also in Department of State, Vietnam Working Group Files: Lot 66 D 193, Tan Son Nhut Airport.↩
- See footnote 3, Document 43.↩
- See the memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense, JSCM–97–59, March 19, 1959, United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967, Book 10, p. 1184.↩