Office of the Historian

227. Record of Action, January 101

January 10, 1961
[Facsimile Page 1]

The Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, and the Director, Bureau of the Budget, participated in the action below.

ACTION NUMBER SUBJECT
2373.

RESERVE MOBILIZATION REQUIREMENTS

(NSC 5420/3; NSC Action No. 2215–c; Memo for NSC from Executive Secretary, same subject, dated November 25, 1960)

Concurred, with the exception of the Secretary of Labor, in a recommendation to the President (as proposed by the NSC Planning Board in the reference memorandum of November 25, 1960) that, because the objectives thereof have been accomplished, NSC 5420/3 be rescinded. The Secretary of Labor dissented on the grounds that the following inherent and fundamental problems requiring administrative action of a high order have still not been resolved to his knowledge:

a. A complete review of the capabilities of the Officer Corps of the National Guard and the Reserves, followed by a determined “weeding-out” of incompetent personnel.

b. A constant, continuing review of the unit structure of the National Guard and the Reserves, so as to keep the structure coordinated with mobilization plans.

c. Continual scrutiny to ensure that there is a qualitative distribution of personnel in accordance with the realistic requirements of the three Services.

NOTE: The above action was subsequently submitted to the President. The President rescinded NSC 5420/3 on the grounds that the policy therein was no longer valid. The President, referring to his comment in NSC Action No. 2342–b, indicated that he was asking the Secretary of Defense to call to the attention of his successor the value of continuing studies along the lines of the three points made by the Secretary of Labor. The Council action and the Presidential decision subsequently transmitted to all holders of NSC 5420/3.
  1. NSC Action No. 2373 on reserve mobilization requirements. Confidential. 1 p. Department of State, S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) Files: Lot 66 D 95, Records of Action by the National Security Council.↩