Office of the Historian

189. Summary of Conclusions of a Special Coordination Committee Meeting1

Washington, June 30, 1980, 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Thailand

PARTICIPANTS

  • State

    • David Newsom, Under Secretary for Political Affairs
    • Michael Armacost, Dep. Asst. Sec. for Bureau of East Asian & Pacific Affairs
    • Daniel O’Donohue, Dep. Dir. for Political Military Affairs

  • JCS

    • Lt. Gen. John Pustay, Asst. to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • General James Granger, Asst. Dep. Dir. for International Negotiations

  • AID

    • Dennis Chandler, Dir., Office of Philippines/Thailand/Burma Affairs
    • Frederick Schieck, Dep. Asst. Administrator, Asian Bureau
    • White House
    • David Aaron

  • NSC

    • Donald Gregg, NSC Staff Member

  • OSD

    • Frank Kramer, Principal Dep. Asst. Sec. of Defense
    • General T. C. Pinckney, Dir. of East Asia and Pacific Region
    • Jerome H. Silber, Legal Counsel to the Dir. of Defense Security Assistance Agency

  • DCI

    • Ambassador John Holdridge, National Intelligence Officer for East Asia
    • [name not declassified] Asst. NIO for East Asia

  • OMB

    • Edward Sanders, Dep. Associate Director for International Affairs

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS

At a mini-SCC meeting on aid to Thailand, the costs and benefits of shipping US arms to Thailand by US aircraft were discussed. The facts are that each C–141 flight costs approximately $150,000, and that seven flights could carry the key elements of our expedited aid shipment. These would include:

—18 105 mm howitzers

—38 recoilless rifles (106mm)

—1,000 M–16 automatic rifles

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The cost of such delivery would be about $1m. (S)

Those in attendance at the SCC meeting favored making this shipment by air, believing that this specific gesture of US support would help deter further SRV attacks on Thai territory. State is to forward a formal Presidential Determination paper2 for signature. Following signature, Congress will be notified, and the arms delivered. (S)

  1. Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00112R: Subject Files, Box 16, Folder 48: (SCC) Thailand. Secret. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.↩
  2. Presidential Determination No. 80–21 was issued on July 1. (3 CFR, 1980 Comp., p. 327) The White House issued an announcement on the airlift on July 1. See Public Papers: Carter, 1980, Book II, p. 1267.↩