61. Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs (Johnson) to Secretary of State
Rusk0
Washington, November 29,
1961.
SUBJECT
Attached is a copy of a brief memorandum reflecting conversations which my
staff has had with General Taylor’s
people on last weekend’s Hyannis Port discussions1 of the FY 1963 Defense
Budget (Attachment A).
You will note that, whereas the 16-division level was agreed to, apparently
Secretary McNamara felt that this
could be done within a 960,000 manning level. This would be about 175,000
below current force levels and about 100,000 below what I understand are the
service recommendations. How this can be done, of course, remains to be
seen. If such economy of personnel can in fact be obtained it will be most
desirable. However, our proper concern in State is how the matter comes out
publicly. If it comes out in the form of a 16-division force it would meet
our purposes. However, as I understand the budget presentation, it is likely
to come out in terms of the manning level and, therefore, in terms of a
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very marked reduction below our
current force levels. This has obviously serious implications with respect
to our current Berlin strategy, both in its effects on the Soviet Union and
on our allies.
I recommend that you discuss the matter in the foregoing terms with Secretary
McNamara.
Attachment A2
Washington,
November 29,
1961.
Memorandum for the Record
SUBJECT
- FY ‘63 DOD Budget Decisions
1. The following reflects the debriefing received from Colonel Ewell, of
General Taylor’s staff, on the
status of the decisions on the FY ‘63
DOD Budget as reflected in the
series of Presidential meetings held at Hyannis Port over this last
weekend:
- a.
- General War Offensive Forces. The only
major decision was to omit mobile Minutemen. This reflects the
consensus judgment that the GWO category was too large. The mobile
Minuteman was considered the least soundly justified of the various
components within this category.
- b.
-
General War Defensive Forces. The 12
battery Nike-Zeus program was approved. Apparently the so-called
six city program as such, was not agreed to. I take it that this
means that the Research and Development and the Production will
move forward on the 12 battery program, but that the deployment
of the missiles is left open.
A Civil Defense program of $700 million per annum, projected over
a five year period (for a total of $3.5 billion) was agreed to.
As I understand it this represents the mid-range as between a
$400 million proposed program and a $900 million program. The
lower end of the range would involve maximum individual self
help efforts. The $700 million range adds to this, assistance to
selected institutions in meeting civil defense requirements
(e.g. hospitals). The upper end of the range, the $900 million
program, would have included assistance to other major social
institutions (particularly in the industrial area).
- c.
- General Purpose Forces. The 16, as
contrasted to the 14, division level was agreed to. However, the
significance of this decision, from a political point of view, was
significantly undermined by virtue of the decision reached on the
force levels. Apparently, Secretary McNamara proposed a 960 thousand level for meeting
the 16 division requirement. This would be about 100 thousand below
the minimum service recommendations and about 175 thousand below
current force levels. Apparently the President took the initiative
in arguing for a higher level and Secretary McNamara was directed to take
another look at the numbers implications. (On this point, however,
the best guess seems to be that the likely revised recommendations
from Secretary McNamara will
probably not exceed 980 thousand. In short, we must still accept a
fairly sizeable force cut within the new budget.) Finally, there was
apparently no discussion of reserves versus regular forces.
- d.
- MRBM’s.
These were approved for Research and Development purposes, I gather
with an expression of a certain amount of reluctance on the part of
the President. Interestingly enough, part of the justification for
the MRBM increment was that it
would serve to develop a new generation of mobile missiles which
would offset the loss of the mobile Minutemen program. By
implication this certainly means that some emphasis will be placed
on a mobile land-based weapon. There was no indication that sea
versus land deployment was discussed.
