Interview conducted in 1975. Publication date based on signed memorandum for record (Appendix A). "This oral history transcript has been produced ... as a part of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army Military History Institute's 1988 Senior Officer Oral History Program"--Foreword. Prepared under the auspices of the Military History Institute's Oral History Branch.

Interview I. Birth and childhood -- Entry into Pennsylvania National Guard -- 53rd Field Artillery Brigade -- 107th Field Artillery -- National Guard mobilized -- Discussion of basic equipment -- 28th Division under Edward Martin -- Different terms of service for National Guard units -- North Carolina maneuvers -- Entered 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion -- Commanded Company B -- Maneuvers at Camp A.P. Hill, Virginia -- Moved to Camp Livingston, Louisiana -- Comments on training and conditioning -- Moved to Camp Hood, Texas -- Tank Destroyer Center established under General Bruce -- Comments on M10 and 3-inch gun -- Wife forced to resign commission -- Living conditions -- Contrast of morale among World War II, Korea, and Vietnam -- Comments on maturity and noncommissioned-officer leadership -- Value of interior guard, not kept up in Vietnam -- Outstanding leaders, Louis Hibbs, Earle Wheeler -- Associations and assignment with Wheeler -- Problems defining leadership -- Comments on General Abrams -- Comments on General I.D. White -- Placed in cadre to form new tank destroyer battalion -- Executive officer of 16th Tank Destroyer Group -- Tennessee maneuvers -- Organization of battalions -- Ways of assessing readiness -- Went to France (October, 1944) -- Uses of 3-inch gun in indirect fire -- Lack of contact among units -- Inattention to indirect fire role of tank destroyers -- Tank destroyer concepts -- Comments on artillery school -- Value of "war stories" and learning basics -- Attended Armed Forces Staff College -- Classmates -- Value of joint service and contacts -- Battalion commands : 717th Tank Battalion; 13th (later, 6th) Constabulary Squadron; 3rd Squadron, 14th Cavalry -- General Harmon's discipline in Germany -- Problems with refugees and border command -- DP camps -- Comments on assignments to experimental units -- Became Artillery Center comptroller -- Silenced after admitting waste at Fort Sill -- Problems with funding through technical services -- Interview II. Afterthoughts on occupation of Germany and Vietnam -- Commanded Artillery, 25th Division, Korea -- Had experienced noncommissioned officers -- Abrams as Chief of Staff, I Corps, under Bruce Clarke -- Post-armistice activities in the DMZ -- Commanded Turkish liaison group -- Value of combined staff service -- Assigned as Chief, Army War Plans Division, DCSOPS -- Efforts to "keep the Army alive" -- PENTOMIC division -- Readiness of National Guard units -- Quemoy-Matsu incident -- Planning -- General Taylor's efforts Force to work with the Army -- Response to Suez crisis -- Controversy over pre-storage in Libya -- Israel and Taiwan -- Military options for Hungary -- Kissinger comment -- Value of DCSOPS duty -- Heightened awareness of nuclear issues -- Took night classes on Russia -- Chosen for SHAPE nuclear assignment -- Dealings with General Norstad -- Contrast of NATO and WWMCCS to World War II command and control -- German thinking on nuclear forces -- Transition from massive retaliation to flexible response -- Inaccuracies of conclusion from war gaming -- Underuse of conventional options -- Example of Davy Crockett (tactical nuclear weapon) -- Oakes Board and adjustments to allies' nuclear capabilities -- Nuclear Test Ban treaty -- Cuban Missile Crisis -- Interview III. Strategic warning in Europe -- Assigned to Office of the Chief of Staff -- Missed promotion boards, returned to retire -- Analyzed staff papers : beach boards, test of Airmobile Division -- Laid basis of Army study system -- Project for improved gunship -- Interest in how the Army establishes requirements -- Background of decisions to commit advisers and troops to Vietnam -- Light brigade -- Americal Division : focus on Division as unit of force structure -- Abrams as Chief of Staff -- Example of Abrams' methods as Chief of Staff : 81 mm mortar and 1965 budget cuts -- Served as Secretary to General Staff and change to Assistant Vice Chief of Staff -- Discrepancies between how war was managed and perceptions of its management -- Commanded 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) -- Burden of build-up on field grade officers and NCOs -- Problems surfacing : racial, drugs, riots -- Lacked capability to reinforce Europe -- Mobilization of Kansas national Guard : 69th Infantry Brigade -- Selected for J3 and Chief of Staff, MACV -- Effects of multiple chains of command and agencies in Vietnam -- Abrams' view of ambassador's role -- Abrams' mode of operations -- Abrams' relations with allies -- Training arrangements for Cambodians -- Change in style between Abrams and predecessor -- CORDS operations -- Bombing halt -- Conflicting intelligence : CIA and J2 -- Commanded I Field Force -- Pacification program -- Vietnamization -- Logistical failures : PUSH system -- Relations of field forces to MACV -- Intelligence support good -- Became Chief of Staff, CINCPAC -- Admiral Gayler and tactical nuclear weapons issues -- Chinese cultural revolution and relations with US -- Debate at CINCPAC over China-Russia border disputes -- President Nixon's recognizing China -- Met with President Nixon on Cambodian incursion -- "LINEBACKER 2" bombing raids poorly planned -- Ceasefire -- Paris accords -- Abrams, reorganizing Army staff and worldwide command structure -- Duplications at unified and component commands -- Abrams' view on EUCOM -- ACSFOR "experiment" : coordination and concurrence problems -- DCSOPS' span of control -- TRADOC role in research and development -- Views on "ultra secret" and intelligence role in decision-making.