CIA: Declassified presents a Cold War era Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum

Declassified presents a Cold War era Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum concerning strategic intelligence targets for a possible Central Intelligence Agency mission in Tibet. This document, dated April twenty-fourth, nineteen-fifty-nine, reveals high-level military recommendations for aerial reconnaissance in Southeast Asia and China. The full document is available at archive.org. This two-page memorandum, designated SC-zero-two-one-one-four-slash-five-nine, was approved for release on September twenty-ninth, two-thousand-three, by the Central Intelligence Agency under declassification authority C-I-A-R-D-P-six-one-S-zero-zero-seven-five-zero-A-zero-zero-zero-five-zero-zero-zero-six-zero-zero-zero-six-dash-three. The document begins: "The Joint Chiefs of Staff. Memorandum for Mr. James Q. Reber, C-one Control Officer. Subject: J-C-S A-R-C Targets for Possible Tibet Mission (T-S). Per your telephone conversation of twenty-three April and your Tactical Target List M-E Number one hundred dated twenty April, following are J-C-S A-R-C recommendations: A. J-C-S A-R-C member considers inclusion of targets in Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam nonessential for coverage with U-two since other means exist to recover data on this area. Reference C-N-O list of targets this area dated four February nineteen-fifty-nine. Only targets worthy of coverage with Chalice are the four in North Vietnam – Hanoi, Haiphong, Hoa Binh and Vinh. Inclusion of these four targets in the C-I-A mission to Tibet are concurred in. B. J-C-S A-R-C recommendations for specific coverage in conjunction with the proposed Tibet mission are as follows: One. That following selected areas on Hainan Island be included, if feasible, either on penetration or withdrawal route: A. Airfield near Haikou, twenty degrees zero-zero minutes North, one-hundred-ten degrees twenty minutes East. B. Area on Hainan Island from twenty degrees zero-zero minutes North, one-hundred-ten degrees fifty-five minutes East to nineteen degrees fifty minutes North, one-hundred-nine degrees forty minutes East. Two. That following targets in China be considered for incorporation in penetration or withdrawal route: A. Red River pass and highway from North Vietnam into China – Hanoi-Laokay-Kunming Road – with particular emphasis on Kunming airfield and city complex, twenty-five degrees zero-zero minutes North, one-hundred-two degrees fifteen minutes East. B. From Kunming along railroad to Chan-I airfield, twenty-five degrees thirty-five minutes North, one-hundred-four degrees five minutes East. C. Chan-I airfield to Hsi-Chang airfield, twenty-seven degrees fifty-two minutes North, one-hundred-two degrees twenty-two minutes East. D. From Hsi-Chang to Chungking complex, twenty-nine degrees thirty minutes North, one-hundred-six degrees thirty minutes East. E. Cheng-Tu area. The number one priority which Joint Chiefs of Staff would like to see included in this mission is [three lines redacted]. Signed Colonel James H. Mahon, U-S-A-F, J-C-S A-R-C Member." The Joint Chiefs of Staff, or J-C-S, is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, and the National Security Council on military matters. The A-R-C, or Air Reconnaissance Committee, was tasked with identifying and prioritizing intelligence collection requirements. The U-two, referred to here, is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft used extensively during the Cold War. This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. For more declassified documents, visit storyflo.com, and find this record at archive.org/download/us-china-intel-C-I-zero-one-three-four-five/C-I-zero-one-three-four-five_djvu.txt.