The McNamara Line and the Turning Point for Civilian Scientist-Advisers in American Defence Policy, 1966-1968

Minerva

Volumn 37, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 235-258

  Twomey, Christopher P ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 33751035571     PISSN: 00264695     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1004741523654     Document Type: Article

References (138)

1. Trenn, Thaddeus J., America's Golden Bough: The Science Advisory Intertwist (Cambridge, Mass.: Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain, 1983), p. 31.
2. Longer histories include America's Golden Bough: the Science Advisory Intertwist ibid.;
3. Smith, Bruce L. R., American Science Policy since World War U (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1990),
4. and The Advisors: Scientists in the Policy Process (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1992);
5. Price, Don K., The Scientific Estate (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967);
6. Sapolsky, Harvey M., Science and the Navy: The History of the Office of Naval Research (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990);
7. and Gilpin, Robert and Wright, Christopher (eds), Scientists and National Policy-Making (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964). For a good, short survey of the role scientists themselves thought they played,
8. see "The Bulletin and the Scientists' Movement", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XLI (December 1985), pp. 19-30.
9. Van Creveld, Martin L., Technology and War From 2000 B.C. to the Present (New York: Free Press, 1991);
10. McNeill, William H., The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since AD 1000 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982).
11. Lakoff, Sanford A., "Scientists, Technologists, and Political Power", in Spiegel-Rösing, Ina and de Solla Price, Derek (eds), Science, Technology and Society: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1977), p. 355;
12. Bernard Brodie, "The Scientific Strategists", in Gilpin, R. and Wright, C. (eds), Scientists and National Policymaking, op. cit., pp. 240-256.
13. (Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1945).
14. See Kaplan, Fred, The Wizards of Armageddon (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983);
15. and Rhodes, Richard, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995).
16. On the former, see Wood, Robert C, "Scientists and Politics: The Rise of an Apolitical Elite", in Gilpin, R. and Wright, C. (eds), Scientists and National Policymaking, op. cit., pp. 41-72. On the latter,
17. see Skolnikoff, Eugene B., Science, Technology, and American Foreign Policy (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1967), pp. 241-242.
18. Schilling, Warner R., "Scientists, Foreign Policy, and Politics", in Gilpin, R. and Wright, C. (eds), Scientists and National Policymaking, op. cit., pp. 155-157.
19. Wohlstetter, Albert, "Strategy and the Natural Scientists", in Scientists and National Policymaking, Op. Cit. ibid., pp. 192-203 and 203-217.
20. Brooks, Harvey, "The Scientific Adviser", in Scientists and National Policymaking, Op. Cit. vibid., pp. 73-95.
21. Gilpin, Robert, "Introduction: Natural Scientists in Policy-Making", in Scientists and National Policymaking, Op. Cit. ibid., p. 7.
22. PSAC was officially demoted to outside the White House on 30 June, 1973. While it was later reinstated, it never regained the status that it had in the 1950s and 1960s. See Smith, B.L.R., The Advisors, op. cit., ch. 8.
23. Sapolsky, Harvey M., Science and the Navy, op. cit., pp. 106ff.
24. Greenberg, D. S., "Science under Nixon: Influence Has Declined in National Affairs", Science, CLXIX (September 1970), pp. 1055-1057.
25. Sanders, Ralph, "The Autumn of Power: The Scientist in the Political Establishment", Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, XXII (October 1966), p. 22.
26. Casper, Barry M., "An Appeal to Physicists", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XL (1984), pp. 9-13;
27. Primack, Joel and Von Hippel, Frank, Advice and Dissent: Scientists in the Political Arena (New York: Basic Books, 1974);
28. Trenn, T., America's Golden Bough, op. cit., p. 100.
29. For others with a profoundly disheartened tone, see Price, Don K., "Money and Influence: The Links of Science to Public Policy", Daedalus, CIII (Summer 1974), pp. 97-113;
30. Beckler, David, "The Precarious Life of Science in the White House", in Daedalus ibid., pp. 115-134;
31. and Long, F. A., "Scientists in Foreign Affairs: Where Do We Go Now?", Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, XXIII (March 1967), pp. 14-18.
32. Smith, B. L. R., American Science Policy since World War II, op. cit., p. 3.
33. Ezrahi, Yaron, The Descent of Icarus: Science and the Transformation of Contemporary Democracy (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990), p. 15.
34. Ezrahi, Yaron The Descent of Icarus: Science and the Transformation of Contemporary Democracy Ibid., p. 239.
35. Beckler, D., "The Precarious Life of Science in the White House", op. cit., pp. 127.
36. Primack, J. and Von Hippel, F., Advice and Dissent, op. cit., p. 34-35.
37. Eiduson, Bernice T., "Scientists as Advisors and Consultants in Washington", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XXII (October 1966), p. 29.
38. Gilpin, R., "Introduction: Natural Scientists in Policy-Making", op. cit., p. 9.
39. Sanders, R., "The Autumn of Power", op. cit., pp. 22-25;
40. Trenn, "T., America's Golden Bough, op. cit., p. 191.
41. America's Golden Bough, Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 62.
42. Smith, B., American Science Policy since World War II, op. cit., pp. 76-77.
43. Dickson, Paul, The Electronic Battlefield (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976) exemplifies this well.
44. See, e.g., the proposals in Steeb, Randall et al, Rapid Force Projection: Exploring New Technology Concepts for Light Airborne Forces (Santa Monica: Rand Corporation, 1996).
45. For an early, and overstated, summary of this aspect of the McNamara Line project, see Dickson, P., The Electronic Battlefield, op. cit. ^
46. On the cost figures see, Whitcomb, Darrel D., "Tonnage and Technology: Air Power on the Ho Chi Minh Trail", Air Power History (Spring 1997), pp. 4-17.
47. Whitcomb's source on this figure is a newspaper article: "Resounding Success or Costly Failure?", Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 December, 1972. It is likely that the actual figure was indeed higher than that publicly reported in 1972 which is used here.
48. Letter from George Kistiakowsky to President Johnson, Folder "Vietnam, 1963-68, 2 of 2", Box: HUG(FP)-94.18 "George Kistiakowsky: Correspondence and other Papers relating to the Vietnam War ca. 1963-1973", box 1, Biography and Faculty Papers Collection, Harvard University Archive. Hereafter Box: Vietnam, Kistiakowsky Papers, HUA.
49. See various reports and minutes in folder "Cambridge Discussion Group", Box: Vietnam, Kistiakowsky Papers, HUA.
50. "Minutes of CDG", 16 April, 1966, folder "Cambridge Study Group" [i.e., Cambridge Discussion Group], in d.
51. "Draft Proposal", 13 April, 1966, folder "Summer Study, 1966", in Draft Proposal ibid.
52. "Tentative Briefing Schedule for IDA Study", 16 May, 1966, folder "Summer Study, 1966", in ibid.
53. The Pentagon Papers: The Defense Department History of the United States Decisionmaking on Vietnam, Vol. IV, The Senator Gravel Edition (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971-72), p. 11 Iff. Hereafter Pentagon Papers.
54. McNamara was aware that the ClA shared these concerns: The Pentagon Papers: the Defense Department History of the United States Decisionmaking on Vietnam ibid., P. 137.
55. Smith, John T., Rolling Thunder The American Strategic Bombing Campaign Against North Vietnam, 1964-68 (VValton on Thames: Air Research Publications, 1994), pp. 96ff.
56. Interview with Carl Kaysen, Cambridge, Mass., 5 December, 1996; Pentagon Papers, Vol. IV, op cit., p. 112;
57. McNamara, Robert, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (New York: Times Books, 1995), pp. 245-246.
58. Interview with Jack Ruina (the president of IDA), Cambridge, Mass., December 1997.
59. "Tentative Thoughts about Infiltration Barriers", JSSE-Int-30, 24 June, 1966. Also see JSSEInt-32. Both in folder "Summer Study, 1966", Box: Vietnam, Kistiakowsky Papers, HUA.
60. Pentagon Papers, Vol. IV, op. cit., p. 11 off.
61. Group 1, Institute for Defense Analysis, "The Effects of U.S. Bombing on North Vietnam's Ability to Support Military Operations in South Vietnam and Laos: Retrospect and Prospect", "IDA TS/HQ 66-49," 29 August, 1966 (Washington DC: Institute for Defense Analysis, 1966a), p. viii, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential (hereafter, LBJ) Library #94-92. Also available on microfiche as Document 1877, Year 1997 from Research Publications, "An Imprint of Primary Source Media" (Woodbridge: 1997). Hereafter Research Publications.
62. Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), Jason Division, "Air Supported Anti-Infiltration Barrier", Study S-255, August 1966 (Washington, DC: IDA, 1966b), LBJ Library, NLJ #xxlO (available as Document 3097, Year 1990, Research Publications, op. cit.).
63. Prados, John and Stubbe, Ray, Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sank (New York: Dell Publishing, 1991), p. 160.
64. See also IDA, "Air Supported Anti-Infiltration Barrier", op. cit., p. 29.
65. Op. Cit. Ibid.;
66. and IDA, "Air Supported Anti-Infiltration Barrier", op. cit., p. 30.
67. Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 30-32.
68. Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 27.
69. Pentagon Papers, Vol IV, op cit., p. 124. ,__
70. Pentagon Papers, Vol IV, Op Cit. Ibid., pp. 126, 349.
71. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 165.
72. Testimony, "Air War Against North Vietnam", Committee on Armed Services, US Senate, 25 August, 1967.
73. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 159;
74. Pentagon Papers, Vol. IV, op. cit., pp. 112ff, 123;
75. and Tefler, Maj. Gary and Rogers, Lt.-Col. Lane, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: Fighting the North Vietnamese, 1967 (Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, HQ, US Marine Corps, 1984), pp. 86ff.
76. Van Staaveren, Jacob, Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, United States Air Force in Southeast Asia (Washington, DC: Center for Air Force History, 1993), p. 257.
77. General Greene, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Testimony, "Air War Against North Vietnam", Committee on Armed Services, US Senate, 29 August, 1967; Army's Chief of Staff, Testimony, "Air War Against North Vietnam", Committee on Armed Services, US Senate, 29 August, 1967;
78. and Davidson, Phillip B., Vietnam at War The History, 1946-75 (Novato: Presidio Press, 1988), p. 391.
79. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 161.
80. Shulimson, Jack, US Marines in Vietnam: An Expanding War, 1966 (Washington, DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, 1982), p. 319.
81. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 52.
82. Testimony, "Air War Against North Vietnam", Committee on Armed Services, US Senate, 22 August, 1967.
83. For one example, see R.N. Ginsberg, Memorandum for Mr Rostow, "Jason Study on US Bombing in North Vietnam", 13 September, 1966, LBJ Library, NLJ #84-290 (available as Document 148, Year 1986, Research Publications, op. cit.).
84. See also Pentagon Papers, Vol. IV, op. cit., p. 132, for a response from the Joint Chiefs.
85. Admiral Sharp, Testimony, "Air War Against North Vietnam", Committee on Armed Services, US Senate, 9-10 August, 1967.
86. Westmoreland, Gen. William C.,/1 Soldier Reports (New York: De Capo Press, 1979), p. 198.
87. Pentagon Papers, Vol. TV, op. cit., p. 140.
88. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., 162.
89. See also Van Staaveren, J., Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, op. cit., p. 267.
90. Teller, G. and Rogers, L, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, op. cit., p. 87.
91. U.S. Marines in Vietnam, Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 89.
92. Quote from a briefing officer of III MAP to the Undersecretary of the Navy. U.S. Marines in Vietnam, Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 88.
93. Pentagon Papery, Vol. IV, op. cit., p. 413. This refers to "JCSM-97-67, PRACTICE NINE Requirements Plan".
94. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., pp. 164-165.
95. This is the implication of Westmorland, Gen. W. C.,A Soldier Reports, op. cit., p. 200.
96. 71SMACV, Command History, Volume III, 1967, Military History Branch, Office of the Secretary, Joint Staff, Headquarters, USMACV, APO San Francisco 96222, Saigon Vietnam, 1968, p. 1095; Miscellaneous Fiche-Technical Information, MACV through MACV: Training, Logistics, Service; Box 5; Records of the United States Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950-1975, Record Group 472; National Archives, Washington DC (hereafter, Misc. Fiche, NARA).
97. See also Tefler, G. and Rogers, L., U.S. Marines in Vietnam, op. cit., p.,9.2.
98. USMACV, Command History, 1967, op. cit., p. 1097.
99. Operation Plan 12-67, approved on 9 October, 1967, was a less ambitious engineering task than either than that proposed by the Jason summer study group or that initially approved by McNamara and Westmoreland as Op Plan 11-67. See Tefler, G. and Rogers, L, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, op. cit., p. 93.
100. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 341.
101. Van Staaveren, J., Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, op. cit., pp. 270ff.
102. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 160. For the purpose of these visual confirmations, the Igloo White programme was initially allocated some 18 F-4s, 21 EC-121s, and over 30 observation planes (light O-2s).
103. Quantitative information in this paragraph computed from the first weekly report on the MUSCLE SHOALS system: "7th Air Force JOPREP JIFFY Report on MUSCLE SHOALS for 12/1/67 to 12/7/67", LBJ Library, NLJ #89-178 (available as Document 3079, Year 1991, Research Publications, op. cit.).
104. Van Staaveren, J., Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, op. cit., p. 279.
105. Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 282. See chart 6 in Lt.-Gen. John Lavelle, Director, DCPG, "Briefing for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 25 November, 1968, LBJ Library, NLJ #CBS-5.
106. "7th Air Force JOPREP JIFFY Report on MUSCLE SHOALS for 3/7/68 to 3/14/68". LBJ Library, NLJ #91-334 (available as Document 3079, Year 1991, Research Publications, op. cit.).
107. "7th Air Force JOPREP JIFFY Report on MUSCLE SHOALS for 12/21/67 to 12/31/67", LBJ Library, NLJ #89-178 (available as Document 3079, Year 1991, Research Publications, op. cit.).
108. See, e.g., "Monthly briefing to the Secretary of Defense on the DCPG Program", 21 December, 1967, LBJ Library, NLJ #89-217 (available as Document #3158, Year 1992, Research Publications, op. cit.), esp. p. 6. See also Donald Cotter, "Memorandum for the Director of Defense Research and Engineering; Subject: Quick Look at MUSCLE SHOALS Effectiveness", 16 January, 1968, LBJ Library, NLJ #89-177.
109. Van Staaveren, J., Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, op. cit., p. 291.
110. Prados, J. and Stubbe, R., Valley of Decision, op. cit., p. 344.
111. McNamara, R., In Retrospect, op. cit., p. 311. ^
112. USMACV, Command History, Vol II, 1968 (Military History Branch, Office of the Secretary, Joint Staff, Headquarters, USMACV, APO San Francisco 96222, Saigon Vietnam), 1969, pp. 917; Misc. Fiche, NARA.
113. Fact Sheet, "Subject: COMUSMACV's Proposed Anti-infiltration Program", 24 October, 1968, prepared by Col. L. C. Hoyt, Pacific Division, J-3, LBJ Library, NLJ #91-334.
114. Duffle Bag was originally known as Duck Blind (from April-October 1968).
115. USMACV, Command History, 1968, op. cit., pp. 926-927. 91 Ibid., p. 932.
116. Command History, 1968, Op. Cit. Ibid., p. 931.
117. Data calculated from figures in USMACV, Command History, Vol. I, 1971 (Military History Branch, Office of the Secretary, Joint Staff, Headquarters, USMACV, APO San Francisco 96222, Saigon Vietnam), 1972, p. IV-3; Misc. Fiche, NARA.
118. File: "PSIDs"; ENSURE Item Case Files, Box 23; Research and Development Division, US Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV), HO, US Army Vietnam; Records of the United States Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950-1975, Record Group 472; National Archives, Washington DC.
119. Memo, Subject: "360 Degree Scan Capability for Ground Surveillance RADA AN/PPS-5", dated 13 March, 1968, From Major R.S. Christian, US Army Combat Developments Command; File 1305-01/A-279 Scan Capability for Ground Surveillance Radar, AN/PPS-5; Action Item Case Files, Box 3; Research and Development Division, US Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV), HQ, US Army Vietnam; Records of the United States Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950-1975, Record Group 472; National Archives, Washington, DC.
120. Itinerary, "Visit of Major General John R. Deane, Director, Defense Communications Planning Group", dated 17 March, 71; General Records, Advisory Division (MACJ61), Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications-Electronics (J6), HQ, MACV; Records of the United States Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950-1975, Record Group 472; National Archives, Washington, DC.
121. USMACV, Command History, 1968, op. cit., pp. 926.
122. See chart in Gilster, Herman L., The Air War in Southeast Asia: Case Studies of Selected Campaigns (Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, October 1993), p. 20.
123. Figures throughout taken from The Air War in Southeast Asia: Case Studies of Selected Campaigns ibid., p. 20.
124. See Whitcomb, D. D., "Tonnage and Technology", op. cit., p. 16.
125. This description describes a visit to the Thai command centre after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords for Laos on 21 February, 1973, and after the January 1973 agreement between the United States, North Vietnam and South Vietnam to end that war. Warner, Roger, Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos (South Royalton: Steerforth Press, 1997), pp. 349-50.
126. See APGC Protocol Information, in folder Defense Communications Planning Group, Box: Vietnam, Kistiakowsky Papers, HUA.
127. See Memorandum to the Files: Timing of the I.O.C. of the System, by George Kistiakowsky, 12 July, 1967, in folder Vietnam, 1963-68, 1 of 2, in ibid.
128. See document entitled A Draft of a Statement by D. Caldwell that was to be Signed by the DCPG Committee, but never was, undated but apparently in late 1967, in folder Defense Communications Planning Group, in ibid.
129. See Memorandum to the Files: Uses of the Barrier, and Memorandum to the Files: Timing of the I.O.C. of the System, both by George Kistiakowsky, 7 December, 1967, in folder Vietnam, 1963-68, 1 of 2, in ibid.
130. Letter from Zacharias to Kistiakowsky, 7 June, 68, in folder Defense Communication Planning Group, in ibid.
131. Kistiakowsky Cuts Defense Department Ties over Vietnam, Science, CLIX (March 1968), p. 958;
132. Clark, Evert, Top Scientist Cuts All Links to War, Ttie New York Times, 1 March, 1968, p.l.
133. All figures from IDA, Air Supported Anti-Infiltration Barrier, op. cit., pp. 22, 37, 59.
134. Ibid., p. 62.
135. Gilster, H. L., The Air War in Southeast Asia, op. cit., p. 28.
136. Davidson, P. B., Vietnam at War, op. cit., p. 392.
137. Smith, B., The Advisors, op. cit., pp. 58, 168;
138. Trenn, T., America's Golden Bough, op. cit., pp. 60nff