NATO SECRET

N O R T H A T L A N T I C M I L I T A R Y C O M M l TTE E
COMITE M l L l T A l R E D E L ' A T L A N T I Q U E NORD

Record

MC-CBX-46-80

(Restricted Session)

5 January 1981
S U M M A R Y

R E C O R D

46TH MEETING OF THE M I L I T A R Y COMMITTEE I N 1 9 8 0

H e l d on W e d n e s d a y , 10 D e c e m b e r 1 9 8 0 a t 1 5 0 0 h o u r s
i n t h e S i t u a t i o n C e n t r e , ( P r e s e n t a t i o n Room),
NATO H e a d q u a r t e r s , B r u s s e l s , B e l g i u m
PRESENT
Chairman:

A d m i r a l R.H.

Falls

B e l g i um :
Canada:
Denmark :
Germany:
Greece:
Italy:
Luxembourg:
Netherlands:
Norway:
Portuqal:
Turkey:
U n i t e d Kinqdom:
United States:

L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a l Y. D e d e u r w a e r d e r
L i e u t e n a n t General R. G u t k n e c h t
L i e u t e n a n t General P.O.W.
Thorsen
L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a l E.D. R e r n h a r d
L i e u t e n a n t General E. P a p a e f s t a t h i o u
R r i q a d i e r G e n e r a l C. C r u c i l l a
C o l o n e l P. B e r q e m
L i e u t e n a n t General J.C. Zoutenbier
Major G e n e r a l O l e M i B e n
L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a l J. F e r r e i r a V a l e n t e
V i c e A d m i r a l S. E r q i n
Admiral S i r Anthony Morton
G e n e r a l R.L. L a w s o n

Deputy C h a i r m a n :
Director, IMS:

L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a l L i n c o l n D.
A i r M a r s h a l S i r A l a n Davies

Faurer

ALSO PRESENT
French Military
M i ss i o n :

G e ' n k r a l d e Corps d ' A r m 6 e

P.

Crousillac

A i r Commodore, RAF
S e c r e t a r y , IMS
DISTRIBUTION:

Record

M I LREPS
1
CFMM
)One copy e a c h
C h a i r m a n , Deputy C h a i r m a n , Director, ) i n p e r s o n a l l y
A/D I N T I A/D P & P , A/D OPS, S e c r e t a r y , ) a d d r e s s e d
S e c r e t a r i a t , Records
) e n v e lope
SACEUREP, SACLANTREPEUR, CINCHANREP
)

MC-CBX-46-80

(Restricted Session)

-1-

This document consists

SCAN

NATO SECRET

NATO SECRET
C O N T E N T S

Item N o .

P a g e No.

Subject

PRELIMINARY APPRECIATION OF POSSIBLE

NATO PRECAUTIONARY AND PREPARATORY ACTIONS
I N RELATION TO THE SITUATION I N EASTERN
EUROPE AND I T S FURTHER DEVELOPMENT (NS)

Record - MC-CBX-46-80(Restricted

Session)

-2-

NATO SECRET

NATO SECRET
NATO SECRET
Item 1

PRELIMINARY APPRECIATION O F POSSIBLE NATO PRECAUTIONARY

AND P R E m T o R Y ACTIONS IN RELATION TO THE SITIJATION IN
EASTERN EUROPE AND ITS FURTHER DEVELOPMENT (NS)

The Assistant Director, IblS, Intelligence Division

updated the Military Committee on the situation in and around
Pbland.
The United States Member provided additional information.
In reply to a question raised by the Danish Member the Assistant
Director, IFIS, Intelligence Division said that the build-up of
Warsaw Pact Forces in areas more distant from Poland might be
concerned with the provision of ungraded second echelon forces.
The Chairman updated Members on decisions taken by the
DPC in Ministerial Session on SACEUR's requested measures and
invited attention to the paper(1) before them which had originated
from a proposal made by the Military Committee in Chiefs of Staff
Session. The paper set out in matrix form military options
available to the Alliance, grading in the visibility of each
option as low/medium or high in the context of a pre or post
invasion situation. He then asked Members for general comments
on the paper.
The German Member thought that the paper provided an
excellent approach and a most useful list of options which might be
discussed in the event of a Soviet intervention. He proposed certain
amendments to the format of the matrix and emphasised,that in
his view, Members would need guidance from capitals prior to
detailed discussion of the paper since national evaluations
on the categorisation of measures might differ significantly.
The Chairman noted the proposal of his German colleague
and agreed that ideally, time was necessary to allow the paper
to be considered in capitals. He pointed out, however, that the
paper aimed to provide a series of options for consideration by
the Political Authorities should the situation in Poland worsen
suddenly.
The United Kingdom Memher stressed that it was his
understanding that at this stage, the paper aimed only to set out
preliminary military ideas for possible NATO response in the event
o f the imminence of a Soviet invasion. He proposed that the
lev& of response should be defined more clearly and emphasised
his understanding that Ministers would not want any NATO military
action to be implemented before a Soviet intervention in Poland
The Chairman agreed that Ministers would not accept
any additional military action other than those already agreed as they
intended that actions should be kept on a political level. As far
as the matrix of the paper was concerned, the Chairman pointed out
that it was the intention of the originators to provide a range of
p o s s i b l e responses in a specific order.
(1) IMSWM-EKD-290-80, 10 Dec 80 (NS)
Record - MC-CBX-46-80(Restricted Session)
-3-

NATO SECRET

NATO SECRET
The Norwegian Member proposed that the Chairman be
authorised to use the working paper(1) in case of an urgent
requirement for military advice in the immediate future. In the
meantime staffs would refine the paper in co-operation with MNCs
and Capitals.
The Chairman thanked the Norwegian Member for his
proposal, for which he noted a consensus. He agreed that the
present paper would not be distributed outside the Military Committee,
but would be retained for use in an emergency. In the meantime
staffs would seek to improve the paper, in accord with national
consent, for subsequent consideration by the Military Committee.
THE COMMITTEE T O O K NOTE.

(1)

IMSWM-EKD-290-80, 10 Dec 80 (NS)

Record - MC-CBX-46-80(Restricted Session)

-4NATO SECRET