COLD OPEN: This is a declassified CIA record, detailing the Commander-in-Chief

COLD OPEN: This is a declassified CIA record, detailing the Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Command's assessment of the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region in 1984. The document is a Top Secret history, released to the public through The Black Vault. The record is dated September 27, 1985, and consists of 25 pages. PROVENANCE: The document was released through a Freedom of Information Act request, with the case number not specified. It was declassified and made available on The Black Vault's website. THE DOCUMENT: I I i lt TOP-SECRET COMMANDER IN CHIEF U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND HISTORY VOLUME I (U) 1984 - Prepared by the Command History Division Office of the Joint Secretary Headquarters USCINCPAC CAMP H.M. SMITH, HAWAII 96861-5025 1985 = ’ 7 o Uke! ‘ i COMMANDER IN CHIEF, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND (USCINCPAC) CAMP H.M, SMITH, HAWAII 96861 J044 5757. ser 175 27 September 1985 __TOP SECRET Subj: PROMULGATION OF USCINCPAC COMMAND HISTORY 1984 Encl: (1) Volume I, USCINCPAC Command History 1984 (2). Volume II, USCINCPAC Command History 1984 (3) Volume III, USCINCPAC Command History 1984 1. The USCINCPAC Command History is promulgated in response to the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 2. This document contains information affecting the security of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title 18, U.S. Code, Sections 793, 794, and 798. Transmission or revelation of its contents in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. The classified material contained within this document is to be treated with the utmost discretion. Under no circumstances shall possession thereof be transferred, or the information contained therein be imparted, to personnel other than those whose duties specifically require knowledge thereof. 3. The security classification indicated for each page of this document is according to the highest classification of any paragraph thereon... In those instances when the reverse side of a page is intentionally left blank, this is so indicated on the preceding page. All titles, Headings, and captions in this history are unclassified. Individual entries in the table of contents and index are also unclassified, Both the table of contents and the index, however, are classified Secret in accordance with CINCPACINST. 5510.10E of 4 February 1983, paragraph 2-211, because collectively they reveal the scope of USCINCPAC interest and activity and reveal interrelationships that require classification. 4. This document will be transported, stowed, safeguarded, and accounted for in accordance with the instructions contained in the effective edition of the security regulations for handling classified matter of the military Service of the holder. Reproduction of Top Secret portions of the USCINCPAC Command History is prohibited. CHAPTER II THE THREAT SECTION I--SITUATION IN THE U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND Overall Threat Assessment for the President (S/NOBGRN/WNINTEL) When President Reagan stopped in Honolulu in April 1984 en route to China, Admiral Crowe briefed him on the general situation in the U.S. Pacific Command, including the threat facing his forces. He said the Soviets, well aware of the Asia-Pacific region's vital importance, had taken dramatic steps over the past 15 years to improve the capabilities of their armed forces in the Far East and to expand their military presence throughout the area. They continued modernization of fighter and strike forces, with practically a 1-for-1 replacement of aging air force fighters with new generation, longer-range attack aircraft. Equally impressive and alarming had been the Soviet naval buildup and increasingly far-flung deployments, their utilization of Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam and cues in Ethiopia and South Yemen. The Soviets had built a substantial, multi-front warfighting capability with, most importantly, the ability to sustain their forces in doing so, they had achieved an overall extension of their military reach. Additionally, the U.S. Pacific Command faced other potential hostile forces, such as those of North Korea and Vietnam. North Korea continued to spend an enormous percentage of its gross national product on the military--probably the highest percentage in the world. Admiral Crowe said the brutal bombing in Rangoon in October 1983 once again reminded the world of Pyongyang's penchant for violence. There was little choice but to be constantly alert for North Korean aggression on the peninsula and in the adjacent air and sea space. CONTEXT: The document provides a comprehensive assessment of the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region in 1984, highlighting the growing military capabilities of the Soviet Union and the potential threats posed by other regional actors, including North Korea and Vietnam. OUTRO: This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. The declassified CIA record provides a unique glimpse into the strategic thinking of the U.S. military in the 1980s. For more information, visit storyflo.com. The document can be accessed at https://archive.org/download/us-china-intel-CI02267/CI02267_djvu.txt.