152. Memorandum of Discussion of the 403d NSC Meeting1
SUBJECT
- Discussion at the 403rd Meeting of the National Security Council, Thursday, April 23, 1959
Present at the 403rd NSC meeting were the President of the United States, presiding; the Vice President of the United States; the Secretary of State (Item 1); the Under Secretary of State (Items 2 and 3); the Secretary of Defense; and the Acting Director, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. Also present and participating in the Council actions below were the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director, Bureau of the Budget. Also attending the meeting were the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Director of Central Intelligence; the Director, U.S. Information Agency; the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Assistant Secretary of State Gerard C. Smith; Mr. Robert Amory, Central Intelligence Agency; Special Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs; for Science and Technology; and for Security Operations Coordination; the White House Staff Secretary; the Assistant White House Staff Secretary; the Executive Secretary, NSC; and the Deputy Executive Secretary, NSC.
There follows a summary of the discussion at the meeting and the main points taken.
[Omitted here is agenda item 1.]
[Facsimile Page 2]2. U.S. OVERSEAS MILITARY BASES
(NSC Actions Nos. 1876 and 2034; SNIE 100–10–58; SNIE 100–3–59; Memo for NSC from Executive Secretary, same subject, dated March 17, 1959)
Mr. Gray briefed the Council on the problem of U.S. Military Bases overseas and noted that the last time the Departments of State and Defense had reported to the Council on various U.S. Bases (January 15), they had covered everything except our bases in Brazil, the Caribbean area, and the Philippines. He understood that the Secretaries of State and Defense were now prepared to render a supplementary report covering these areas.
The report was summarized for the Council by General Twining who indicated that the Memorandum addressed to the Council by the Secretaries of State and Defense on these bases showed no apparent adverse factors sufficient to over-ride the desirability of continuing to maintain these bases and their facilities. However, the Secretaries of [Typeset Page 696] State and Defense in their Memorandum did indicate that it would be desirable to review carefully U.S. military requirements prior to renewing the existing agreements with Brazil and the Dominican Republic. It was likewise indicated that certain facilities in the Philippines and Caribbean areas could probably be released because there was no clear military need for them. Similarly, with respect to the Philippines [Facsimile Page 3] it was planned that areas no longer required by U.S. forces would be released during the current negotiations.
Secretary Dillon, who had taken the place of Secretary Herter at the beginning of discussion of this item, said that the State Department had found this review of our base requirements a very useful exercise indeed. In the course of the review, it had become obvious that the State Department lacked important information on a number of bases. Accordingly, the Department was instructing the appropriate embassies and legations to report regularly on U.S. bases within their jurisdiction.
The Vice President inquired specifically about the U.S. base at Guantánomo Bay in Cuba. He wondered whether it might not be a good idea for us to withdraw from this base in view of Fidel Castro’s suggestions and the rash statements which he had been making in criticism of the U.S. The Vice President said that he did not imagine that the Guantánomo base was very important to U.S. security.
General Twining replied that on the contrary this base was considered the key to the whole military defense of the Caribbean. We should certainly not abandon the base at Guantánomo Bay if we could avoid doing so.
Mr. Gray then raised the question originally posed by the President as to the necessity for the U.S. to continue to maintain base facilities at Sangley Point in the Philippines. General Twining replied that the Department of Defense had a report in response to the President’s question which they would send to General Goodpaster. The President said that it would be sufficient for this report to come to him and that it need not be brought up in the Council.
Mr. Gray then inquired about the report requested by the President with respect to the feasibility of concentrating U.S. military installations on Okinawa in a single area. General Twining said that this problem was still under active consideration in the Defense Department and that a report on it would be forthcoming soon.
The National Security Council:
- a.
- Noted and discussed the report on the subject by the Acting Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense pursuant to NSC Action No. 1876, transmitted by the reference memorandum of March 17, 1959.
- b.
- Noted an oral report by the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff,
that:
- (1)
- A report was being submitted to the President pursuant to NSC Action No. 2034–c–(1), stating that the Sangley Point naval base in the Philippines was still considered militarily important.
- (2)
- The study as to the feasibility of concentrating U.S. military installations in Okinawa in a single area was being actively conducted by the Department of Defense pursuant to NSC Action No. 2034–c–(2).
NOTE
Immediately preceding the above regular meeting, the President held a special NSC meeting to note and discuss two studies analyzing possible contingencies relating to the maintenance of Western access to Berlin.
- Source: Agenda item 2: U.S. Overseas Military Bases. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Extracts—4 pp. Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records.↩