Buenos Aires, July 31, 1956.

VISTO Decree No. 313 of 13 January 1956, which provisionally fixed the organic situation of the Ministry of National Defence; and

CONSIDERING:

That Article 5 of Decree No. 313 provided for a period of 90 days to submit to the National Defence Council the restructuring of the bodies formed by that Secretariat;

That national defence requires the adoption of forecasts and actions in all orders of national activity for the maintenance of an adequate degree of security, based on an organizational structure appropriate to that purpose and within the constitutional provisions;

That in the current situation such a system should be covered by the provisions of Act No. 14.303 of the National Ministries, as amended by Decree No. 5,600 of 15 December 1955;

That Act No. 13.234 of 7 September 1948 has been affected by the successive organizational changes of the government, but that any of its provisions must be taken into account in the current situation;

It is also appropriate to establish budgetary jurisdiction for the said agency;

It is also essential to establish the organic regime in which civilian personnel who depend on the General Staff for Coordination will be included.

Article 1 - The Ministry of National Defence established by Decree No. 12.171 of 22 July 1954.

Article 2 - The Chief of the Coordination Staff shall assume the functions assigned to the Secretary of National Defence, established by Decree No. 13.378 of 11 August 1954 in section IV, as well as the functions of Secretary of the National Defence Council under Act No. 13.234, assigned by Decree No. 4.901 of 7 April 1955 to the former Ministry of Defence, being also empowered to draft decrees relating to the National Defence.

Article 3 - The Chief of the General Staff of Coordination shall be directly dependent on the President of the Nation.

Art. 4o ­ Agree with the amendment introduced to Act No. 13.996, by Decree-Law No. 7.236/55, instruct the Chief of Staff of Coordination to convene the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, the Commander of Naval Operations and the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force to deal in consultation, common problems of the Armed Forces.

Article 5: The following bodies shall depend on the Chief of the Coordination Staff:

(a) General Directorate of War and Civil Defence Resource Planning, to be known as the General Directorate of National Defence;

(b) National War School;

(c) Scientific Research and Experimentation Board of the Armed Forces and Institute for Scientific and Technical Research of the Armed Forces;

(d) National Security Zone Commission;

(e) Military delegation to the Inter-American Defense Board.

Article 6: Rationale of the dissolution of the following bodies of the former Ministry of National Defence (Decree No. 313/56):

(a) Undersecretariat;

(b) General Secretariat;

(c) Liaison Division for People ' s Organizations;

(d) National Defence Law Institute.

Art. 7o − All the tangible and immovable property of the Ministry of National Defence and of the agencies dissolved by article 6 of this decree, as well as all its staff and any credits that were assigned by any nature, shall be integrated into the property of the General Staff of Coordination.

Art. 8o ­ Ratifícase in all its parts, for the civilian staff of the General Staff of Coordination, the scope established by the Statute for the Civil Staff of the Armed Forces and its Rules, approved by Decrees No. 34.239/49 and No. 15.374/50 respectively; the Chief of the Staff of Coordination being authorized to make appointments and promotions with the exception of Senior Civil Service, in the manner regulated.

Art. 9o − The budget of the General Staff of Coordination shall be included in the General Budget of the Nation under the jurisdiction of Annex 1 − Presidency of the Nation − in a separate item.

The administration of the funds allocated to it in the budget shall be carried out by an administrative agency under the General Staff of Coordination, which shall act as a direct responsibility to the General Accounts of the Nation, in accordance with the requirements of Act No. 12,961 and its statutory provisions.

Article 10 The Chief of the Major Coordination Staff, in collaboration with the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Commander of Naval Operations and Commander of the Argentine Air Force, shall propose to the Executive Branch within ninety days the final organization and functions of the Major Coordination Staff.

Art. 11 Decrees No. 313/56, No. 13.450/55, No. 14.185/54 Annex 3 and 4 and No. 14.299/54.

Article 12 The present decree shall be endorsed by the Ministers Secretary of State of the Army, Navy, Aeronautics and Finance.

Art. 13 Communicate, give to the General Directorate of the Official Gazette, publish in the Public Bulletin of the Ministry of Army, Public Naval Bulletin and Public Aeronautical Bulletin and refer to the General Staff of Coordination.

ARAMBURU. Arturo Ossorio Arana. Teodoro Hartung. Eugenio A. Blanco.