742.5/8–3054
No. 998
The Acting Assistant Secretary of State
for European Affairs (Barbour) to the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Hensel)1
Dear Mr. Hensel: There is enclosed for your information a copy of Despatch No. 145 dated August 30, 1954,2 from the United States Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, reporting on the proposed establishment by the United States Air Force of a Central Coordinating Staff in Ottawa.
The Department of State understands that the proposed organization, which would establish liaison and coordination between all Canadian and United States Air Force agencies concerned with United States Air Force activities in Canada, has been under consideration by the Air Forces of the two countries. Although the Department of State has not received any information regarding the matter from the Department of Defense, the United States Embassy in Ottawa has carried on informal and exploratory discussions with high Canadian officials regarding the United States Air Force proposals. As indicated in the attached copy of a letter of August 27, 1954, from the Chief of the Air Staff, RCAF to the Chief of Staff, USAF,3 the Canadian authorities have agreed to the establishment of the Central Coordinating Staff but “suggest that the Staff should come under the general supervision and guidance of [Page 2140] the United States Ambassador and also that, for official purposes, the offices of the Central Coordinating Staff be identified as a United States Embassy Annex.”
The Department of State and the United States Embassy are generally favorable in principle to the establishment of the Central Coordinating Staff and believe that such an arrangement could provide greater efficiency and coordination of United States Air Force activities in Canada. In the light of the large volume of activities within Canada, however, as well as the known sensitivity and attitudes of the Canadian Government, this Department feels that the Central Coordinating Staff would benefit by political guidance on the Embassy’s part if it is to operate effectively and that, in the interests of all concerned, the closest liaison should be maintained with the Embassy. While many of the day-to-day problems of the proposed United States Air Force representative in Ottawa would be administrative and operational, some of them undoubtedly would involve policy matters in which the United States and Canadian Governments would wish to participate, e.g., the establishment of additional installations, requests for facilities, or questions related to customs and taxes. There is also the fact that, owing to different methods of operation in Canada, many problems which in the United States could be settled on a Service-to-Service basis are considered by the Canadians as matters of Government policy. In short, this Department and the Embassy at Ottawa are in a position, I think, to render valuable counsel and assistance to the Central Coordinating Staff.
In view of the foregoing considerations and of the possible overall impacts on our political relations with Canada I am sure you will agree that the proposed Central Coordinating Staff should, as the Canadian Government suggests, come under the general supervision and guidance of the United States Ambassador, and that the staff should keep the Ambassador generally informed of its activities. I hope this can be set out in the terms of reference of the group when it is established. I believe that this will insure the avoidance of some of the difficulties that have arisen in the past and that it will contribute to the advancement of the objectives of the United States Air Force.
Sincerely yours,