July 7, 1949
MEMORANDUM
Training of Austrian Army
At the NSC meeting this afternoon the matter of training an Austrian army was discussed. I presented the views as outlined in the briefing book.
General McNarney, at Under Secretary Earley's request, asked for a further study and report to the NSC. The position, as outlined by him, was as follows:
If an Austrian military force adequate to maintain internal order was not trained and equipped and in operation prior to the withdrawal of the Occupation Forces, the danger of the overthrow of the Government by a Communist revolution seemed very serious to the Military Establishment. They believe organizations capable of doing this (in the absence of an existing Austrian force) would have been created by the Soviet commander in his zone prior to evacuation. Therefore, he thought that we should have a clear analysis of what we propose to do and could do at the earliest possible moment.
At present we were proceeding to train one gendarmerie regiment. It seemed to him clear that this force would not be sufficient. We had also talked about the possibility of the Western Powers proceeding to train an Austrian army in the Western Zones prior to evacuation. But we had no plans to do this and at present we had no money with which to do it. He thought that this was a very unsatisfactory way in which to leave the matter and thought that a staff analysis and report were necessary.
I agreed that at the moment the matter was not so clear as it should be and that, in view of the request of General McNarney for a study, we should acquiesce and cooperate in making it. Someone should be assigned from the Department to work with General McNarney on this matter so that we can dispose of it as soon as possible.
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