US Taiwan Defense Command: Navy Club (Fleet Reserve Association)

Monday, May 26, 2008

Navy Club (Fleet Reserve Association)

****UPDATE****

Kent Mathieu sent me a link to the history of this club, and what its descendant is doing today. Sounds like a good place for veterans to check out when visiting Taipei.

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Sarj Bloom sent in these items from the Navy Club. I'm fairly certain that it was no longer there by the time I arrived at USTDC in 1973. Many of my friends were navy people and I'm sure someone would have mentioned it somewhere along the line. I believe that R&R flights to Taipei had been discontinued by then so maybe it closed at that time. Does anyone know?

Here are Sarj's photo and comments:

I know I said the Club 63 was the best place in town to eat, but I forgot to mention another place just as good and a lot more intimate. The Navy Club (Fleet Reserve Association) just down Shung Shan Rd. from the compounds, maybe a mile, was in the back of a building on the main street. You went down an alley and into the parking lot.

The downstairs had a bar and on the other side of the bar, through a door, were the slot machines. In the slot machine room there was a small office with a window much like a ticket window. Upstairs was the restaurant, bandstand and dance floor. It wasn't a very big room but very comfortable and had great service.

On payday I would go to the Navy Club and buy a "chit" at that little ticket / change window. The chit would be for dinner and drinks for anytime in the future. Then when it got near payday again and I didn't have much money my wife and I would go to the club and have dinner and drinks and then go gamble the last of our cash on the machines. We would go home broke but knew that in the morning I would get another check. The picture of my wife and me at the slots was taken by someone at the club, probably sometime in 1963.

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Overview

The United States Taiwan Defense Command was a sub-unified command which reported directly to the Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). The command was composed of personnel from all branches of the U.S. armed forces and had its headquarters in Taipei.

Operational since November 1, 1955, USTDC was a planning headquarters for the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of hostilities, the Commander, USTDC, would have assumed an operational role and coordinated with the Government of the Republic of China in the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of such a contingency, three existing service commanders would have reported to the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command commander. The 327th Air Division commander would be the air component commander, the Taiwan Patrol Force commander would be the naval component commander, and the Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) would be the Army component commander.

In addition to planning and peacetime responsibilities, the Commander of USTDC was assigned as the Single Senior Military Representative of Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). As such, he served as CINCPAC's single military spokesman on Taiwan -- exclusive of the miliitary assistance program -- and assumed responsibility for coordinating administrative and other policy matters for all U.S. armed forces on Taiwan on behalf of CINCPAC.

After twenty-three years, five months and twenty-six days of operation, the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command held its final flag retreat ceremony during the afternoon of April 26, 1979. Marine SSG D. J. Gemmecke lowered the colors for the last time.

Rear Admiral James P. Linder, the last USTDC Commander, departed Taiwan on April 28, 1979, accompanied by his wife Patricia.

Today there is no trace of the large American military compound on Chung Shan North Road in which USTDC was located. The area now contains a modern art museum, a park and a large sports stadium.

I am not a historian, but I do recognize that history unrecorded is history lost. My objective here is simply to record some of my own experiences as an Air Force enlisted man during my assignment to USTDC from 10 June 1973 until 4 September 1974, and to provide a platform for others to do the same.

Feel free to comment on any of these entries or to e-mail me with your own experiences and photographs. My e-mail address is displayed at the top and bottom of this column, or you can comment on any of my entries by clicking on "Comments" directly under each one.

Don Wiggins
SMSgt (Ret), USAF
Arkansas, USA
USTDC, J-12

Regarding Photographs

To the best of my knowledge, all photographs on this blog are either in the public domain or are displayed with the permission of their owners.

Owned photographs remain the sole property of the individuals who provided them. They are not to be downloaded, copied or reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of their owners.

Send all requests for consent to me, through the email link at the bottom of this column, and I will pass them along to the owner of the photographs.

If you see any photographs here, past or present, which you believe have been inappropriately posted, contact me at the email address shown at the bottom of this column and they will be removed.

USTDC

Monday, May 26, 2008

Navy Club (Fleet Reserve Association)

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