18. Memorandum by the Presidentʼs Military Representative (Taylor)1
SUBJECT
- Points at Issue with Regard to the Command Structure in South Vietnam
Ambassador Nolting wishes the directive to the Senior U.S. Military Commander in South Vietnam to include specific language recognizing the Ambassador as the senior U.S. representative in Vietnam. He also wishes the Senior U.S. Military Commander to serve as a member of a unified task force under the chairmanship and over-all direction of the Ambassador. Finally, he wishes to make clear that the operational command of U.S. military personnel and units is the direct responsibility of the Senior U.S. Military Commander.
The Secretary of Defense would be agreeable to specific language covering the first and third points of the Ambassador. That is, he does not argue the point that the Ambassador is the senior U.S. representative, nor that the command responsibility for U.S. Forces in South Vietnam rests with the Military Commander. He does not agree to placing the Commander under the over-all direction of the Ambassador as a member of the Country Team. He feels that this blurs the responsibility for the military program. He would meet this point by clearly setting forth the direct responsibility for military policy, operations, and assistance of the U.S. Military Commander, but would require him to keep the Ambassador informed in advance of his plans for the future so that the Ambassador could appeal to Washington if he disagreed with the U.S. Military Commander.
- Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, T-628-71. Secret.↩