Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Volume III, National Security Policy; Arms Control and Disarmament, Microfiche Supplement

222. Briefing Note for the December 16 NSC Meeting¹

Washington, December 16, 1959

SUBJECT

• Emergency Relocation Plan—NSC
• (NSC 5521)

1. The Emergency Relocation Plan for the NSC (NSC 5521, approved by the President on 6–9–55) has been reviewed by the Planning Board, and there has been circulated to the NSC a draft revision of the Plan.

2. The review of the NSC Plan was undertaken on the basis that considerable time had elapsed since its approval in 1955, and because the Cabinet approved on 6–9–59 a new Interim Emergency Relocation Plan which OCDM had proposed for the Executive Branch.

3. The Interim Emergency Relocation Plan approved by the Cabinet provides in essence as follows: (a) of the 58 emergency headquarters sites which had been established by agencies in the 300-mile arc extending from Washington, D. C., 17 of those sites were selected as “hardened sites” for operation during the first 30 days after an attack; (b) of the 17 sites selected, 14 will require improved fallout protection through new construction costing an estimated $12 million, not including cost of blast protection for the State site at Front Royal for which no cost estimates are available, (c) 3 sites (AEC, Raven Rock, and High Point) are already adequately protected; (d) should an attack emergency arise prior to the availability of the hardened sites, the various agencies’ relocation staffs will relocate to the OCDM underground facility at High Point, under the “Interim Plan,” to carry on essential headquarters functions under the direction of the respective agency heads or officials designated to act for them; and (e) those relocation forces at High Point will include the member and advisory agencies of the NSC (with the exception of Defense and JCS [text not declassified]—although Defense will have 3 liaison representatives at High Point under the “Interim Plan”).

4. Substantive provisions of the Emergency Relocation Plan for the NSC, which are recommended by the Planning Board, are as follows:

Paragraph 2, page 1, would be revised to reflect that the wartime composition of the NSC would be statutory members and advisers with flexibility reserved to the President as to the designation of additional participants in the policy advisory function of the NSC in wartime. There is no change proposed in the presently approved concept that the President would use the NSC as his key policy advisory body under wartime conditions.

The revised language proposed for paragraph 3–b reserves complete flexibility as to the relocation site to which the Vice President would proceed (and the Planning Board understands that the emergency relocation site of the Vice President would most likely be one other than that to which the President might proceed).

Paragraph 3–c would be revised to reflect that NSC members and advisers would proceed to the relocation sites of their selection; and the footnote to this subparagraph refers to the Cabinet paper which reflects approval of the new Interim Emergency Relocation Plan for the Executive Branch.

Also, under this paragraph, the NSC staff relocation site would be changed [text not declassified]. At that site would also be the Planning Board members, advisers, and designated observers, or their alternates. However, the Chairman of the JCS has recently recommended to the Secretary of Defense that the current allocation of 22 spaces for the Planning Board and NSC Staff at the AJCC be withdrawn. If this recommendation is approved by the Secretary of Defense, provision would then have to be made for the NSC Staff and the Planning Board to relocate to the OCDM High Point site.

5. JCS views, received just prior to this meeting, take issue with paragraph 3–d and 3–e of the proposed revision of the NSC Plan under which the NSC Staff and Planning Board members, advisers, and designated observers (or alternates) would relocate to the [text not declassified]. In lieu of such provision, the JCS recommend that the Plan call for (a) the NSC Staff to be relocated to the OCDM protected site [text not declassified] and (b) the Planning Board members, advisers, and designated observers to relocate to their respective agency sites and remain available on call by the Chairman of the Planning Board at such place as he might elect. The JCS views are based on the belief that Planning Board members lose much of their value to the Planning Board when separated from their parent agency. (Observation: Such reasoning appears appropriate for consideration in the light of such additional factors as (a) the need for continuous integrated functioning of the Planning Board at a single location, and (b) the availability of communications which would keep the Planning Board members in touch with their parent agencies even though assembled at a distant location on a continuing basis.)

6. CALL ON: OCDM—for any comments on the draft NSC Plan from the standpoint of over-all emergency relocation plans for the Executive Branch.

Defense and JCS—for any comments in elaboration of the JCS views [text not declassified] by the NSC Staff and Planning Board.

Enclosure

Washington, December 16, 1959

TESTING NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY-MAKING IN A CRISIS BY WARGAMING

Proposal

Apply the principle of wargaming used extensively by the military to a simulated crisis situation which would call into play a whole range of interrelated political, economic and military decision making.

Purpose

1. To illuminate the functioning and interdependence of the NSC and its constituent agencies in the flow of information, Presidential decision-making and resulting operations during a simulated crisis.

2. To test the response to unforeseen Soviet actions.

3. To test the relocation and readiness plans.

4. To develop a technique for rapidly acquainting the next Administration with the character and range of the kinds of decisions they may be called upon to make.

Scope

Wargaming would focus on the problems of: (1) a period of tension leading either to war or relaxation, (2) limited war, (3) general war.

Structure

(a) Design of the Game

A technical committee would be set up to design the game calling upon available experienced resources as may be necessary. This committee would set up the conditions under which the game would be played, including such questions as the freedom of the game; the committee would prepare a scenario, choose the umpire, present and discuss the scenario with the participants.

(b) Who Will Play

The U.S. side will consist of the NSC and its constituent agencies. To test the process of decision-making in the U.S. Government, each of the agencies would provide a participating team. Other allied governments could be represented by individual players as seemed desirable. The Soviet side would be represented by one team chosen by the technical committee.

The moves in the game would be prepared in writing by the staffs assigned to the game. The results of the game should be presented in the form of conclusions and evaluations and might be presented in extended briefing to the NSC.

(c) Cover

The game should be played during and under cover of, but not as a part of, a future Operation Alert, thus minimizing problems of “visibility” and public reaction.

1. Source: Emergency relocation plan, NSC 5521. Top Secret. 4 pp. Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records.