Office of the Historian

171. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara0

JCSM-269-62
Washington, April 10, 1962.

SUBJECT

  • Outline of Basic Provisions of a Treaty on General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World (ACDA Draft of April 9, 1962)1 (U)
1.
The subject draft treaty has been reviewed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their views and comments are contained in the Appendix and Annexes A, B and C hereto.2
2.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff note with satisfaction that the current draft treaty in several respects is more nearly in consonance with their previously expressed views than earlier drafts. Of grave concern, however, is the expansion of previously expressed proposals concerning the untested, controversial and inadequate concept of inspection by random sampling. The recent history of disarmament negotiations with the Soviets has hinged in large measure on the critical issue of inspection. The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that provision for complete inspection is a requirement that must be met as part of any agreement to a reduction of armaments. They consider that the security of the United States is contingent upon this principle. Any proposals which are deliberately designed to be “unintrusive” and therefore, acceptable to the Soviets are a hazard to the security of the country.
3.

Other objectionable features of the proposed draft treaty are listed as follows:

a.
No provision for inclusion of Communist China or other militarily significant states in Stage I.
b.
No provision for establishing an International Disarmament Organization prior to start of Stage I reductions.
c.
Reduction of armaments by categories which could be disadvantageous to the United States.
d.
Complete elimination of armaments for reserve forces in Stage I. (While this is a problem affecting all the Services, it particularly strikes at the 480 ships in the US reserve fleets which have no Soviet counterpart.)
e.
Inclusion of launching pads as an item of armament.
f.
Limitation on production during Stage I tied to armaments inventory.
g.
Prohibition on replacement of military personnel by civilians.
h.
Provision for compulsory jurisdiction of an International Court of Justice in Stage I.

Changes recommended in the Appendix would make the draft treaty satisfactory to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

4.
It is recommended that the appended views be used as the basis for establishment of Department of Defense position, and that vigorous efforts be made to influence interdepartmental agreement toward this end.
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
L.L. Lemnitzer
Chairman
Joint Chiefs of Staff
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 71 A 3470, McNamara Records, NATO-NSC Meeting. Confidential.↩
  2. Not printed. (Washington National Records Center, RG 383, ACDA/D Files: FRC 77 A 23, Eighteen Nation Committee)↩
  3. A 16-page Appendix entitled “Specific Comments” and Annexes A, B, and C are not printed.↩