25. Report by the Commander in Chief, Pacific Command (Stump)1
February 24, 1955
24 FEBRUARY REPORT OF U.S. MILITARY ADVISOR ACTIVITIES
- 1.
- Sir John Harding approached Admiral Stump and requested a private discussion in order to exchange views on the impending military [Page 56] advisor meeting and of the subsequent coordination arrangements that would be evolved. Conversation was conducted with Captain Kenny and Colonel Cunningham of CINCPAC Joint Staff present.
- 2.
- Sir John Harding opened the discussion by
stating that he thought it would be mutually advantageous to
exchange these preliminary views and to see whether there were any
particular points of difference. He then went on to state at some
length his views covering:
- a.
- Organization and business of first military advisor meeting at Bangkok. The matter of temporary chairman was discussed and both parties agreed that the meeting should be chaired on a temporary basis by the Thai military advisor.2 General agreement was reached as to objective of this meeting, which is to lay the groundwork for an early meeting of the staff planners, to include providing them with an agreed upon agenda list. It was likewise felt that perhaps the military advisors might find the desire to establish an ad hoc committee to make appropriate recommendations to the military advisors.
- b.
- The initial staff planners meeting followed by an early military advisors meeting was likewise discussed. It was generally agreed that the meeting should be informal, that the approach should recognize the urgency requirement by working towards preventing hasty action, that no permanent body be established, and that the seat of meetings be rotated. Sir John Harding indicated that his country was opposed to a NATO type organization. He suggested, and it was agreed in by Admiral Stump, that it would be desirable to have a liaison type officer physically present at the permanent seat of the council.
- 3.
- There was a complete unanimity of views between Sir John Harding and Admiral Stump. The former raised the matter of an informal unnamed military coordination arrangement between the U.K., U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. He rejected ANZUS with U.K. in observer status because of political reasons. Admiral Stump pointed out that he favored bilateral type arrangements wherever indicated and pointed out that these had been completely satisfactory in the past. Sir John Harding indicated that the U.K. would probably appoint one of the commanders in chief from Singapore as the point of contact at the military advisor level, but that the U.K. would at times augment its representations from London.
- 4.
- On 23 February, Brigadier Daly of Australia and Colonel Cunningham of CINCPAC entered into informal discussions on the above matters and it was very definitely indicated that Australia was in complete accord with U.S. views and approach, and was likewise [Page 57] properly cognizant of the additional considerations caused by the Asiatic inclusion in the Manila Pact.
F.B.
Stump