108. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense Brown to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)1
SUBJECT
- Force Posture During the Holiday Season (U)
1. (U) The purpose of this memorandum is to confirm our discussions of 19 December 1979 regarding force posture and response times during the holiday season.
2. (TS) Training for the rescue option is scheduled to be completed with a full-scale rehearsal on 21 December 1979. Following successful completion of this rehearsal, combined training would be suspended until about 7 January 1980 to provide the Delta team, Ranger and helicopter personnel with an opportunity to return to their home bases [Page 290] for the holidays. Each of these groups will have a reassembly plan which will provide us with the capability to reconstitute the rescue force within 24 hours. As a result, our reaction time for the rescue option would be extended by a like amount of time.
[Omitted here is information unrelated to the hostage crisis.]
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 30, Iran 12/10/79–12/31/79. Top Secret. A stamped notation at the top of the memorandum reads: “ZB has seen.”↩