US Taiwan Defense Command: Personnel Officer

Monday, January 2, 2012

Personnel Officer

I've been sorting through old news articles and found this one from the December 20, 1970 issue of the Ocala (Florida) Star Banner. It's a standard hometown piece that the military services send to local papers when a resident is assigned to a new unit. In this case, a First Lieutenant Blackwell was assigned to USTDC as a personnel officer.

What drew my attention was that when I arrived in 1973, there was no personnel officer. I was the personnel NCO as a tech sergeant, but my boss was Army lieutenant colonel Clay Blanton, who was (as I recall) the Administrative/Personnel Officer and he worked directly for the J-1. My guess is that the personnel officer position was cut as part of the gradual downsizing of TDC during that period.

Incidentally, the lieutenant's father-in-law, Major General Henry W. McMillan, was the Adjutant General of the Florida National Guard.

2 comments:

Scott said...: Don,

From his biography, which he has posted online, states: "In his last two years of active duty he served as the protocol aide to Vice Admiral Walter H. Baumberger, Commander, United States Taiwan Defense Command in Taipei, Taiwan."

Scott; 03 January, 2012 04:54
Don said...: Thanks, Scott. Tito John also sent me a link to his bio. As I told John, I'm guessing that he went to TDC to fill a Personnel billet but was moved upstairs to work for the admiral when his billet was deleted.; 03 January, 2012 09:34

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

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USTDC

Monday, January 2, 2012

Personnel Officer

2 comments:

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