SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY STAFFING AND OPERATIONS HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, Minnesota KARL E. MUNDT, South Dakota DOROTHY FOSDICK, Staff Director FOREWORD Free men are engaged in a bitter contest with powerful and resourceful foes. At stake is the safety of the Nation and the future of individual liberty. The challenge is mortal and the tests ahead will be exacting. The machinery of our Government must therefore be a help and not a hindrance to both policymaking and action. In May 1962 the Senate established the Subcommittee on National Security Staffing and Operations to review the administration of national security at home and in the field, and to make findings and recommendations for improvement where appropriate. The subcommittee is a successor to the Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery. In the 2 years since that subcommittee submitted its first reports, a new administration has taken office. It has made important organizational changes and important changes in national security policy. The two may not be unrelated. But difficult problems of administration remain, and may hamper prompt and effective action. The present subcommittee is concerned with the administration of national security-with getting good people into key foreign and defense posts and enabling them to do a job. It is not inquiring into the substance of policy. The subcommittee's approach to its task is nonpartisan and professional. The executive branch has extended its cooperation. During the first stage of its study, the subcommittee has sought the views of present and former officials of the Government, eminent military leaders, and distinguished students of the national security process. Its staff has prepared several background studies on the problem of the inquiry, and has taken a firsthand look at staffing and operations of U.S. missions and military establishments in Asia and Europe. This initial staff report examines a number of the central issues before the subcommittee. During the present Congress, the subcommittee plans to hold hearings covering the main subjects discussed in this report. JANUARY 18, 1963. HENRY M. JACKSON, 3 CONTENTS II. Dilemmas of administration__ The President and the national security organization_ The interagency task force. __ IV. The ambassador and the country team. The planning function in the field. Personnel for the country team. 5 |