Date

Jun 18, 1962

Description

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer testified during a JCAE executive session, although the committee members did most of the talking. Permissive action links were one of the topics as was the role of conventional and tactical nuclear forces in NATO. Holifield provided some background on the Committee’s role in advancing the PAL concept but noted that “our Committee has become concerned lest there should be a premature decision to install devices in all weapons systems prior to obtaining operational experience.” Lemnitzer had a similar concern about moving “too rapidly to install the permissive links … with respect to weapons strictly in U.S. custody.” He observed that “we can be disarmed, in effect, by having a device that is hurried through and does not permit the commander to employ the weapons effectively.” This was a tacit criticism of NSAM 160, but Leminitzer did not take it any further.

As they had in their report, the Committee members remained concerned about

custody and control issues, but they were more optimistic about the situation than Pender. Commenting on the AEC-DOD survey of stockpile sites, in which a JCAE staffer was involved, Holifield saw “great improvement in the security of nuclear weapons assigned to the NATO forces.” One of the improvements was the “greater attention …to the selection and training of American custodial and maintenance personnel including consideration of emotional stability and security background checks.”

Source

NARA, Record Group 128, Records of the Joint Committees of Congress. Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 1946-1977, JCAE Executive Session Transcripts, box 53, Item 7369

Document published in following posting(s):

The U.S. Nuclear Presence in Western Europe, 1954-1962, Part II

Sep 16, 2020

Executive Session, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Meeting No. 87-2-40, 18 September 1962, Secret, excised copy, with Lemnitzer’s handwritten corrections, with attached memo on “Points of Interest to Discuss with General Lemnitzer,” 18 September 1962.