History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the First Indochina War, 1947-1954

摘要

Established during World War II to advise the President regarding the strategic direction of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) continued in existence after the war and, as military advisors and planners, have played a significant role in the development of national policy. Knowledge of JCS relations with the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense in the years since World War II is essential to an understanding of their current work. An account of their activity in peacetime and during times of crisis provides, moreover, an important series of chapters in the military history of the United States. For these reasons, the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed that an official history be written for the record. Its value for instructional purposes, for the orientation of officers newly assigned to the JCS organization and as a source of information for staff studies, will be readily recognized. Written to complement 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy' series, 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the War in Vietnam' series focuses upon the activities of the Joint Chiefs that were concerned with the conflicts in Indochina and later Vietnam. The nature of the activities of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the sensitivity of the sources used caused the volumes of the series to be written as classified documents. Classification designations are those that appeared in the classified publication. This volume describes those JCS activities related to the war in Indochina during the period 1947 to 1954. The original text was a collaborative effort of the entire Historical Section. The current version has been substantially revised by Dr. Walton S. Moody, who condensed the first five chapters into a single chapter, revising and updating the material, and revised later sections of the book to reflect evidence and scholarship currently available.