Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson and Secretary of Defense Robert Lovett

5134 1053 RESTANCED 339 December 22, 1952 399 s. MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION 16 es RECORDSAND Obam Participants: Mr. Lovett Mr. Acheson At the end of a conversation which Mr. Acheson had with Mr. Lovett on another matter, Mr. Lovett said that he thought a report which had come out of Paris on the actual figures relating to infrastructure would probably bring press questions which he might have to answer. He wanted Mr. Acheson to know what his thinking was and wanted to know whether Mr. Acheson had any different ideas. He thought he would take the following line: He had gone over with rather small expectations of any substantial decisions being made in the military field because they would not have had the results of the annual review. However one or two things of considerable importance were accomplished and he thought progress was being made. The first matter was the settling of the Mediterranean Command and the second matter was the first instalment of the fourth slice of infrastructure which was agreed to. This instalment did not meet the military requirements which would be taken up as a part of the annual review at the next ministerial meeting. The trend of the military leaders thinking had emphasized defense in depth and the combat readiness of front-line divisions through increased reserve of materiel. There was still a substantial amount to be done but there was every evidence given of a sense of realism and a sense of getting ahead. The press should not draw any conclusions about military action until they had seen the results of the next meeting. Although only half of the necessary infrastructure had been provided, that portion was the most important portion. (Mr. Lovett E.0. 10501 RESTRICTED