US Taiwan Defense Command: Some Names From TDC

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Some Names From TDC

Old friend Larry Marcum was the Administrative Officer at TDC during my tour (current photo shown here). He dug through his memory bank and came up with names of some of the folks who were assigned there during his tour:

VADM Philip Beshany Sept 1972 -1973
VADM Edwin Snyder 1973-1977 ?
RADM James Linder 1977 - 1979 Taiwan Defense Command was closed

BGEN Burroughs USAF
BGEN Don Williams USAF
BGEN Dan Brooksher USAF

J-1
CAPTAIN James Becker USN
Col Charles Peters USAF
Col Bruce Ferrier USAF

J-1 Staff
LtCol Clay Blanton USA
LtCol Julian turner USA
LtCol Sam Martin
Larry Marcum, Administrative Officer, Civilian
Captain Joel Lipsett USAF

J-7 Legal
Captain Hairston USN
Captain Battagalino USN
Captain Tam USN
LtCol Paterson USAF

PAO
LtCommander Paul Hanley
LCDR Jay Coupe

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Larry, how do you get selected to be the Admin. Officer? And how long was the "tour" supposed to be?; 11 March, 2010 14:45
justme said...: one name that i remmeber was my math tutor. i believe his first name was Jim and his wife was my math teacher at the Dominican school and her name was Carol. This would have been between 70-73 maybe. he was A F and a capt i think. sorry, military confused me at that time as the civ and military worlds there were so stratified. did anybody know him? I know it's a long shot. I def remember Baumberger...; 14 March, 2010 09:45
justme said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 14 March, 2010 09:46
justme said...: my math tutor was a a f capt i think named Jim? Davis and his wife was my teacher at Dominican School . This must have been @ 70-72. Her name was Carol . I also def remember Baumberger! Another person I remmeber was Walter Mconaghey (sp) who was the American Ambassador.; 14 March, 2010 09:49
lsdufin said...: I remember a number of these names. One in particular whom I got to know pretty well was Col Bruce Ferrier, the J-1. He and his wife, who taught one of my sons at Dominican School, were two of the nicest people you'd ever be privileged to meet. But I did feel sorry for him; it was his office's unhappy duty to plan each of the successive 50% cuts in US military strength on island, which the Carter administration ordered. The early cuts, when there were thousands of military still in Taiwan, were probably easier. The last couple, when remaining units had already been cut to the bone, were very difficult.; 18 March, 2010 16:16

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

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Some Names From TDC

5 comments:

Taipei

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