(EST PUB DATE) OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE BAY OF PIGS OPERATION VOLUME I AIR OPERATIONS, MARCH 1960 - APRIL 1961 (PAGES 1-302

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0001237654
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 340
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2011
• Case Number: F-2005-01782
• Publication Date: April 1, 1961

OFFICIAL HISTORY
OF THE
'BAY OF PIGS OPERATION
VOLUME I
AIR OPERATIONS,
MARCH 1960 - APRIL 1961
(pages 1-302)
APPROVED FOR
RELEASEL DATE:
25-Jul-2011
L(b)(1)
' (b)(3)
(b)(6)
Access Controlled by
CIA History Staff
Copy 2 of 2
DCI-8
September 1979
Copy4 of 2
PERMANENT HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
- DO NOT DESTROY
(Th
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MAP
AREA OF AIR ACTIVITY
June 1960 - 19 April 1961
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICIAL HISTORY
OF THE
BAYS OF PIGS OPERATION
Volume I
AIR OPERATIONS,
MARCH 1960 - APRIL 1961
September 1979
Jack B. Pfeiffer
TOP CRET
FOREWORD
Air operations over Cuba from 15-19 April 1961
were, chronologically, the penultimate phase of the
Bay of Pigs story -- the surrender, incarceration,
and eventual release of the members of the 2506 Exile
Brigade provide the conclusion of the story. Because
what happened in the air not only could, but did,
determine the fate of the US Government's anti-Castro
program, the story of air operations is offered as
the first volume in CIA's official, all-source history
of the Bay of Pigs.
For the reader who wishes to focus solely on
the "gut issues" involving air operations, Parts III
and IV of this volume are recommended because they
encompass, among other stories, the D minus 2 air
strike, Adlai Stevenson's role, the "Second-Strike"
episode, air combat efforts over Cuba, and the role
of USN Carrier Task Group 81.8. These portions of
the history also focus on the actions and decisions
(or indecisions) of various of the principals involved
in the anti-Castro effort including President John
F. Kennedy and the White House Staff, the JCS, and
- -
ECET
the CIA. Some of the characters are cast in true
heroic mold -- four US and ten Cuban fliers died in
the air war and others, both Americans and Cubans,
knowingly flew at great personal risk for a cause
in which they believed. Although the author attempted
to be objective, the reader is sure to find instances
where one or another individual or group is cast in
a "good guy" or "bad guy" role.
The author also wishes to emphasize that he was
in no way personally involved in the Bay of Pigs
project, and he was not then -- nor is he now -- a
member of the Directorate of Operations. This history
originated with a decision made by Mr. William E. Colby
(then the DCI) that the CIA should concentrate on
writing some all-source histories of its major opera-
tions, including, among others, the Bay of Pigs story.
It was further recommended that these histories then
be sanitized for overt publication. The author believes
that within the framework of protection of sources,
methods, and privacy the latter may be feasible.
Considering the distortions that abound in the overt
publications about the Bay of Pigs -- particularly
with reference to air operations -- he would favor
such an undertaking.
TOP S RET
Among many who assisted the author in his search
for relevant documents, he is especially grateful to
Latin American Division Records Management
(now retired) Jean Krages and
occasions, Robert Cintron of FBIS provided
Officers
On numerous
assistance
with Spanish translations, and, in addition, volunteered
many helpful references. The writer has been particu-
larly fortunate, too, in the willingness of many of
those most directly concerned with the air operations
-- Garfield Thorsrud, Stanley Beerli, George Gaines,
Billy Campbell, C. W. "Connie" Seigrist, and James
Cunningham -- to share, for the record and for the
first time
in practically all
lections with him. Similarly
and Jacob Esterline who spoke
instances, their recol-
open were Richard Bissell
not only to air operations,
but to the broad spectrum of the Agency's role in the
anti-Castro effort which culminated at Playa Giron.
The author regrets that David McLean, who ini-
tially was assigned to write this history, passed
away so soon after the present author was assigned
to work on the history. Mr. McLean's initial explor-
atory efforts and the guidance he was able to offer
helped to get the present author off to a running
start.
- iv -
T ECR ET
Finally, the author would be remiss if he failed
to note that without the able assistance, patience,
humor, and understanding of the other two members of
the History Staff, Eulalie Hammond and Sharon Bond --
for whom there can never be adequate job descriptions
-- this volume would have been much more difficult
to produce.
Whatever faults, flaws, or errors appear in this
volume, they are totally the responsibility of the
author.
TOP CRET
VOLUME I
Contents
Page
Foreword
Introduction 1
Part I Initiation of Air Activity 3
A. Organization and Management 3
B. Acquisition of Aircraft 30
C. Relations with OSO/DOD and the
Air National Guard 58
D. Initial Planning for Air
Operations 76
Part II Acquisition and Training of Air Crews 95
A. Basic Plan for Flight Training 95
B. Trainers and Trainees 101
C. JMADD: Air Training Base,
Retalhuleu, Guatemala 107
D. JMTIDE: Strike Base, Puerto
Cabezas, Nicaragua 152
Part III Initiation of Combat Air Operations 174
A. D minus 2 (15 April 1961) . 174
B. Post-Strike Contretemps 213
C. The Stevenson Story and the
Second Strike 233
Part IV Where Cuba Was Lost 303
A. Over the Beach -- 17 April 1961 . 303
B. Day of Grace -- 18 April 1961 . 338
C. Four for A Cause -- 19 April
1961 352
- vi -
TOPS
Page
D. Bitter Recriminations: The Navy
CAP, 19 April 1961 362
E. Jet Fighters -- the Last Hope 390
F. Retrospective View of Air
Operations 395
Appendixes
1. US Government's Anti-Castro Program . . 406
2. Memorandum for Chief, JMARC from Lt.
Col. George Gaines, Jr., sub: JMARC
Tactical B-26 Capability ..... . . . 418
3. Anti-Castro Propaganda Leaflets for
Air Drop Operations 420
4. Letter of Instruction for Garfield M.
Thorsrud, 24 March 1961 425
5. Final Instructions for Air Commander
JMTIDE 429
6. Cable Traffic on Results of D-2 Air
Strike 432
7. D-Day Target List 442
8. Logistics Support Plan for Operation Plan
60 AD-5 445
9. Possible Publicity About Flyers Killed
at the Bay of Pigs 447
Source References
Part I Initiation of Air Activity 455
Part II Acquisition and Training of Air
Crews 467
TOP
Page
Part III Initiation of Combat Air
Operations 479
Part IV Where Cuba Was Lost 491
Tables
1. 3-26 Take-Off and Arrival Times,
19 April 1961 380
2. Estimated Radar Intercept Ranges,
USS Essex,and Brigade 3-26's 385
Charts
1. Chain of Command, JMATE Air Operations
Following page 22
2. Table of Organization, JMADD,
September 1960 Following page 107
Maps
Area of Air Activity, June 1960 -
19 April 1961 Frontispiece
Area of Combat Air Operations,
15-19 April 1961 Following page 206
Photos
Figures 1-23 - Air Training Base, Retalhuleu, Guatemala
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Retalhuleu Control Tower . . 506
Retalhuleu Service and
Maintenance Area .... 508
Retalhuleu Service and
Maintenance Area 509
TO
ECRET
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Figure 7.
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure 11.
TO SECRET
Page
Retalhuleu Service and
Maintenance Area 510
Retalhuleu Maintenance and
Service Area and Fuel Bunker . . . 511
Retalhuelu Maintenance and
Service Area and Fuel Bunker . . 512
Retalhuleu Maintenance and
Service Area and Fuel Bunker . . . 513
8. B-26 Spare Parts Inventory at
Retalhuleu 514
and Kitchen Area 515
516
9. Retalhuleu Mess
10. Retalhuleu Outdoor Living
Figure
Retalhuleu Barracks - Exterior
View . . . 517
12. Retalhuleu Barracks
Figure 13.
Figure 14.
Figure' 15.
Figure 16.
Figure 17.
Figure 18.
- Interior
View 518
Retalhuleu Barracks - Interior
View 519
Retalhuleu Barracks ? Interior
View 520
Retalhuleu Supply Area 521
Retalhuleu Supply Area 522
B-26 Practicing Low Level Attack
at Retalhuleu 523
B-26 Practicing Low Level Bomb
Run at Retalhuleu 524
Figure
Figure
Figure
TOP SERET
Page
19. B-26 Practicing Low Level
Bomb Run at Retalhuleu 525
20. B-26's Practicing Leader &
Wing-man at Retalhuleu 526
21. Paradrop Practice at
Retalhuleu 527
Figure 22. Paradrop Practice at
Retalhuleu 528
Figure 23. Paradrop Practice at
Retalhuleu 529
Figures 24-33
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
- Photos of Forward Operations Base,
Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
24. C-46 and C-54 Parked Off Runway
at Puerto Cabezas 530
25. Puerto Cabezas View of Air
Strip 531
26. Puerto Cabezas Bomb Dump
Adjacent to Air Strip . . . . . 532
27. Puerto Cabezas Bomb Dump
Adjacent to Air Strip 533
28. Puerto Cabezas Bomb Dump
Adjacent to Air Strip . . . . . 534
29. Puerto Cabezas Armed B-26 . . . . 535
30. Puerto Cabezas Armed B-26 . . . . 536
31. Puerto Cabezas Underwing Detail
Brigade B-26 537
32. Puerto Cabezas Underwing Detail
Brigade B-26 538
- x -
Figure 33.
Figure 34-35
. Figure 34.
Figure 35.
Page
Puerto Cabezas PBY Air-Sea
Rescue 539
- Photos of Air Strip at Playa Giron, Cuba
Air Strip at Playa Giron,
Cuba 540
Air Strip at Playa Giron,
Cuba 541
TOP SE
TOP ET
We down in the military level had
one idea of this invasion -- of why,
its purpose, and what it was going to
accomplish -- which I don't think they
ever realized up at the top. I think
they missed the point completely. This
invasion of Cuba to us was basically an
air invasion .... All we were going
to do with this Brigade was to go in
there, take a beachhead big enough to
protect an airfield, and let the planes
do the dirty work -- for one week, two
weeks, or whatever time it took ....
The Cubans seeing these planes just
roaming at will up and down the length
of Cuba, and Castro unable to dislodge
this beachhead ... that's when they
would jump off that fence ... we never,
down at the lower level, envisioned --
or even asked for or wanted -- this
spontaneous uprising that everybody
keeps talking about.
Grayston L. Lynch
13 November 1975
SECRET
Introduction
In the most simplistic of terms, the US Govern-
ment's anti-Castro program which climaxed at the Bay
of Pigs might have succeeded only if the air operations
plans as evolved by CIA had been retained intact. The
distortion of those plans for non-military, non-strategic
purposes eliminated all margin for error and insured the
establishment of the first Communist government in the
Western Hemisphere. It is the purpose of this volume
to trace the evolution of those air operations from
initial, generalized plans suggested in the early
spring of 1960, through, the detailed tactical/strategic
target plan of March 1961, and to the execution of air
operations -- as determined at the "highest level" --
between 15 and 19 April 1961. The story begins with
the creation of the organizational and managerial
structure to carry out Presidential policy; examines
the problems of acquiring equipment, trainers, trainees,
and training facilities; describes the combat air
operations from 15-19 April 1961; and documents to
the fullest extent possible the numerous controversial
- 1 -
MIISECRET
TOP SE RET
episodes concerning the role of Adlai Stevenson, the
cancellation of the "Second Strike," the US Navy's
air combat role on 19 April 1961, and the record of
action and decision of various of the principals most
closely involved in air operations.
Air operations involved not only CIA personnel,
but also the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other personnel
in the Department of Defense and the various military
services. Air problems proved of major concern to
the highest levels of the Department of State; the
United States Ambassador to the United Nations was
directly concerned; and, ultimately, they required
decisions on the part of President John F. Kennedy.
Nearly twenty years after the event, the feelings and
emotions of personnel who participated directly in
the project still run strongly., Participants' opinions
may vary about one aspect or another of the operation,
but on one point, there is almost unanimou agreement
-- that had the air operations plan been carried out
as initially conceived, Cuban troops would not be a
factor of any concern to the formulation of US foreign
policy today.
Some questions concerning air operations will
never be fully answered; but in view of the
- 2 -
TOP CRET
misinformation that has persisted through the years,
it is hoped that the story revealed here -- much of
it for the first time -- by both participants and
principals will at least help set the record straight
on the "whats" if not the "whys."
- 3 -
TO SECRET
TOP CRET
THE BAY OF PIGS OPERATION
Volume I Air Operations
Part I
Initiation of Air Activity
A. Organization and Management
Whatever form President Eisenhower's anti-Castro
plan of 17 March 1960 was to take, it was clear from
the outset that air operations would play a key role
in the CIA program to oust the Cuban leader.* In re-
sponse to a request for estimates of special flight
requirements for fiscal 1961 and 1962 from the Agency's
air arm -- the Development Projects Division (DPD) --
Edward A. Stanulis, Executive Officer for WH/4, the
component of Western Hemisphere Division established
to direct the anti-Castro program, replied to DPD on
29 March 1960, stating that
because all major requirements should
spring from the action cadre, training
and the commitment of action cadres in
PM operations, I have requested DPD/
Comptroller for an extension to 6 April
* For a copy of the US Government's Anti-Castro
Program, see Appendix 1.
TOPS RET
for compliance on the part of the WH/D
with the referenced memorandum. 1/*
Project JMARC, as the anti-Castro program was then
known, was going to require air transportation for
the cadres which would be involved in its planned
PM operations.**
By the summer of 1960, it was apparent that
JMATE was going to need extensive and continuing,
not incidental, support from DPD -- a unit which
reported directly to Richard M. Bissell, the Deputy
Director for Plans. In addition to the need for air-
craft for infiltration, propaganda, and supply drops
to dissident groups within Cuba, additional air trans-
port capability would be required to move bodies and
equipment to training sites outside the continental
* Specific source references follow the Appendixes.
Sources are numbered beginning with 1 for each of the
four parts of the volume. Unless otherwise noted,
source documents (or notes from such documents) are
filed with the CIA History Staff under project HS/CSG
2632. Where the document is not available in History
Staff files, the reference note indicates repository
of complete document. Unless otherwise noted all
documents cited are classified SECRET.
** The project crypt was originally JMARC, but this
was changed to JMATE following compromise of the
original. Throughout this volume the JMATE designa-
tion will be employed except as it appears in quota-
tions.
- 5 -
TOP ECRET
United States; and, moreover, direction of a tactical
air force was going to be added to the responsibilities
of DPD. By July 1960, it appeared that tactical air
operations with combat aircraft would play a major role
in JMATE plans, and discussion over the most suitable
combat aircraft -- Douglas AD5's of USN vintage or
Douglas B-26's from USAF inventory -- were becoming
the subject of considerable controversy between DPD
and WH/4. 2/ To meet the growing need for air support,
the Acting Chief, DPD, Colonel Stanley Beerli (USAF)
prepared a memorandum for his Branch Chiefs, noting
among other items that:
1. As the planning for JMARC is pro-
gressing rapidly, it is quite imperative
that all facets are considered and further,
that all Branches of DPD, as well as other
Agency elements involved, know exactly for
what DPD considers itself responsible. In
this way, I will be assured that no important
item is overlooked because of confusion
over who or what element was responsible.
2. Because of the importance of JMARC
to our national objectives, I am hereby
assigning it first priority over all other
projects and programs presently assigned.
I further expect that all Branches will
give prompt and full attention to what
is required and will insure that an ade-
quate number of the best people are made
available. Because of the heavy workload
and tight time schedule, I also expect
that, at times, longer than normal work
hours will be required.
- 6 -
Tsc,,k0P S ET
3. Each Branch will assign a Project
Officer for each major function involved.
This individual's primary job will be to
insure that the responsibilities of his
office are covered and that appropriate
officers are kept advised of any changes
which may affect the program. A separate
JMARC project is established. The DPD
Project Officer is Lt. Colonel Gaines.
All offices will coordinate everything
through him. He will be kept advised of
contacts with outside elements. 3/
This memorandum frau Beerli is of added importance
for it outlines, for the first time, the principal
planning stages for the air operations. From 20 July
- 15 August 1960 would be devoted to acquiring personnel,
equipment, and aircraft and establishing facilities for
air training. Between 15 August - 1 October aircrew
training, with concurrent necessary construction of
airfield and housing facilities would be undertaken;
aircraft acquired and sterilized; and plans for final
air operations developed. The final phase -- the tacti-
cal air operations -- would be conducted between 1 Octo-
ber and 1 December 1960. 4/ To administer the planned
air operations, Lt. Col. George Gaines (USAF) was re-
lieved as Chief, Air Section, DPD to become the Project
Officer for JMATE; and Garfield M. Thorsrud was assigned
to be Acting Chief, Air Section. 5/
- 7 ?
TO CRET
It was also during July that the decision was
made to establish air training activity at Retalhuleu
in Guatemala. It was pointed out that:
Airfields under previous consideration
have, for one reason or another, proved
unusable and not available except [for]
Retalhuleu. Mr. [Jacob D.] Esterline
[Chief, WH/4] pointed out that President
Ydigoras, by government decree had trans-
ferred this field to the [Guatemalan] Air
Force, troops had moved in on 19 July,
and public announcement had been made in
the press regarding cover buildup ...
Although Ydigoras' action apparently is
designed to force the US to build a first-
class airfield for him, general concensus [sic]
of opinion is that this airfield is about
the only alternative left and that planning
would proceed on utilization of this
field. 6/
Even as Retalhuleu was being discussed as a
probable training site, it was also indicated that
consideration had been given to establishing a forward
operating base ir,1 Nicaragua. At this time, interest-
ingly enough, it was stated "the use of airbases in
Nicaragua was discussed; however, since the Cubans
refused to go to Nicaragua, this possibility was dis-
missed." 7/
Once agreement had been reached on the Retalhuleu
airbase -- it would carry the crypt JMADD -- and the
necessary work to improve the field for training
8
TOP CRET
TOP CRET
purposes had been undertaken, DPD and WH/4 began to
get down to the serious business of discussing air
operations plans. On 10 August 1960, the first weekly
coordination meeting between JMATE's planning staff
and the JMCLEAR's staff was held. Among the items
that were on the agenda for that meeting were logisti-
cal support requirements for JMATE and JMCLEAR, deter-
mination of the numbers and types of aircraft which
would be involved in supporting JMATE, the relation-
ship between JMATE and JMCLEAR, coordination of cables,
.location of operating bases for initial air drops
into the target country, the processing of DPD person-
nel by the Western Hemisphere Division (WH/D), air-
craft transportation requirements, and organizational
control of JMATE activities in Guatemala. 8/
Among the positive results of this first coordi-
nation meeting were the appointments of William E.
Eisemann as the senior Support representative for
JMATE and the appointment of Col. John F. Mallard
(USMC) as the senior operations coordinator for JMATE.
In addition, provision was also made for the mutual
coordination of all cables that pertained to either
JMATE and/or JMCLEAR. It is significant in light of
subsequent charges and countercharges about the chain
of command to note the following paragraph which
appeared in the Memorandum for Record of the meeting:
Organizational control of JMARC activ-
ities in Guatemala. JMARC representatives
expressed a desire to have one senior rep-
resentative designated for Agency control
of all activities in Guatemala. JMCLEAR
personnel agreed with this concept, with
the stipulation that technical matters
pertaining to air activities be retained
under the direct control of DPD. JMARC
will develop an organizational chart
showing the centralized control arrange-
ments within Guatemala. 9/*
JMATE personnel would break a number of lances
over the question of what constituted "technical
matters pertaining to air activities"; and personnel
formerly associated with DPD in command positions
remember these occasions with no fond affection. What
it came down to, particularly in the eyes of both
Chief, WH/4 and Chief, WH/4/PM (Col. Jack Hawkins,
USMC), was "who is in charge?" In a memorandum written
in early October 1960, Hawkins pointed out that there
was "divided command and responsibility at the opera-
tional level" between JMATE and JMCLEAR; and he empha-
sized that this was not in keeping with either the Exsitic'n
* Emphasis added by writer.
- 10 -
TOP CRET
previously taken by the Deputy Director for Plans
(Richard M. Bissell), nor was it in accord with standard
military policy. Hawkins emphasized that the objectives
of JMATE were not and could not be met under existing
conditions. Among other things, he recommended that
the JMCLEAR staff be assigned to Chief, WH/4 and inte-
grated with the existing Staff of WH/4; and, secondly,
he recommended that operational control of the airbase
at MADD, air bases which might be obtained in third
countries, and the bomber and transport aircraft be
given over to Chief WH/4. Finally, Hawkins recommended
that any additional support required for JMATE should
be provided upon request by DPD. 10/
Although it had been addressed to Chief, WH/4,
Col. Hawkins's memorandum went to Mr. Bissell, the
Deputy Director for Plans who responded on 12 October
1960 in a memorandum which, while emphasizing the
integrity of DPD as the air unit for the whole of
CIA's operations, did make one or two helpful conces-
sions in response to the stated needs of WH/4. Deferring
on the question of field command for military operations
in which the air and other forces would be employed,
the DDP noted the following as approved action:
TOP ECRET
A. Operational control of all air forces
and facilities required and employed in
JMARC will be assigned to Chief, JMARC
Task Force.
B. Chief, JMARC Task Force will exercise
this control through a newly created staff
section for air operations in the JMARC
Task Force.
C. AC/DPD will serve as the Chief of the
JMARC air section. The staff of the air
section will include any and all DPD per-
sonnel when actually employed on JMARC
business.
D. For DPD business unrelated to JMARC,
AC/DPD will continue to report in the
usual manner through the DD/P. When and
if questions arise concerning the alloca-
tion of DPD resources as between JMARC
and other requirements and activities,
such questions will be resolved by DD/P. 11/*
This was a decision that even retrospectively
Mr. Bissell stood by; and because it dealt specifically
with a decision that caused bitter intra-Agency feelings,
it is quoted here at some length. In discussing this
* It is interesting to note that when approached on
the subject of giving Chief, WH/4 the authority he
requested (through Hawkins's memo of 5 Oct 60) over
DPD, C. Tracy Barnes, ADDP/A, one of Mr. Bissell's
principal assistants: "stated that he could see no
objection to the proposal and that he thought such
a move would be approved by Mr. Bissell since this
was in keeping with Mr. Bissell's concept of a task
force organization." 12/ Mr. Barnes must have failed
to do his homework. His comment was made at a 6 Sep-
tember meeting, but Hawkins's memo didn't go forward
until 5 October. Presumably, Barnes should have been
able to find out how Bissell felt well before Hawkins's
memo went forward.
- 12 -
?TOP ET
TOP CRET
decision in the Fall of 1975, Bissell stated:
It was entirely logical to keep the
rest of the DPD operation that wasn't
related to the Cubans off elsewhere ....
Given the need for an air arm to-the
Cuban operation -- which meant recruiting
and providing for the training of Cuban
aircrews, obtaining the B-26's and all
other equipment, establishing chains
of command and control, assigning opera-
tions officers, and the whole business
of creating an air capability -- why use
DPD for that? Now I think the answer is
that DPD had, over the years, a great
deal of experience; and I think had
developed a very major capability to per-
form just that kind of task -- that is,
to create an operational capability in-
cluding training, acquisition through
deniable channels of equipment, [and]
relations with the Air Force involved
in this kind of task. So I think in that
sense, it was natural to turn to the top
echelons of DPD to have the operational
air arm. Now ... why was not Col. Beerli
made subordinate to Col. Hawkins for the
Cuban operation? I think my memorandum
[of 12 October 1960] probably states them
more persuasively and with more detail --
a great deal more than I could from memory
today. But having said that, I want to
make two other remarks in hindsight ....
The first remark is that I think that my
judgment in response to what I have dis-
tinguished as two different questions ....
Why use DPD as the organization to build
an air capability, and secondly, in that
capacity why not subordinate it to Hawkins.
I think my decision on both of those
matters was almost certainly influenced
by my long association with, and loyalty
to DPD and very high regard for the people
that operated it. In other words, I think
I was prejudiced, if you will, in favor of
the DPD
- 13 -
TOP CRET
Beerli remember had been in DPD by
that time for, I think, at least five
years; so I had known him in a number
of different capacities. I had known
him out in the Nevada test site; I
visited him when he was Base Commander
in Ankara, Turkey; he had then been back
as operations officer, if I am not mis-
taken, and then he became the Chief of
DPD. I had always regarded him as per-
haps the best single Air Force Officer
that moved through that operation in
all of its years. Now I had a darn high
regard for Beerli, so that's answer #1
-- I would admit to probably an element
of prejudice on my part. Observation #2
is that with hindsight, I think my first
decision still was the right one. Remem-
ber that DPD had only absorbed what had
been the Air Operations Unit of the old
PM Staff, and here you did have a ready-
made and a really highly competent organ-
ization for the purpose of developing the
(air] capability; and I think that to have
tried in the short time span of the Cuban
operation to have built another organiza-
tion for that purpose would have been
wasteful and duplicative and delaying
itself. I think that was a correct de-
cision on my part. The decision that
with hindsight I think is questionable,
was the failure to subordinate Beerli to
Hawkins ... I am inclined to think that
was a mistaken decision as it turned out.
Now if you want to know, however, the
argument for it, I seem to remember feel-
ing that the memo I wrote to Hawkins at
least set forth the arguments pretty
persuasively; and the argument, after all,
by analogy was that you do have in the
military, theater commanders, but you
nevertheless do have an independent Air
Force. I am well aware that this is a
subject of certainly decades of debate
over this problem in the military; but
TOP CRET
I did have precedents, I think, for making
them co-equal arms. I still think that
hindsight is a mistake. 13/
Col. Stanley Beerli, who was mentioned by Mr.
Bissell, was also interviewed early in 1976 and he
fully supported Bissell's position that DPD had suf-
ficient world-wide responsibilities so that it needed
to retain its independent status; but by assigning
his second in command, Col. George Gaines, as the Air
Officer on the JMARC Staff, DPD was able to meet all
of its commitments to Project JMARC. Beerli vigorously
denied that there was any serious friction between
his office and JMARC. He stressed that DPD was, in
effect, a service organization charged with carrying
out the tasks which were determined by WH/4. DPD
might bring to the attention of WH/4 various options
available, but the decisions were made by WH/4, not
by DPD. 14/
Another aspect that Beerli stressed in favor,
of retaining DPD's independence was that DPD
had direct communication with our units
through our own communications organiza-
tion ... not just the normal one that
the Agency had, but a separate one. DPD
had its own secure communications organ-
ization through which we could contact
Eglin (AFB] directly ... later on
Retalhuleu ... and then later, the forward
- 15 -
TOP ECRET
base in Nicaragua. The commo facility
was physically located in our DPD com-
pound. It increased and expedited the
traffic, and gave us a direct control ...
to the unit. It was almost a vertical
command link directly to the commander
in the field. The field commander re-
ported directly to us, and we could pro-
vide any report, or support, required by
our field units. It was difficult for us
to work down in the WH/4 facilities since
all our communications with our units had
to be conducted at 1717 H St. We would,
however, keep Hawkins and the people in
the Western Hemisphere Division informed
about what we were doing; but we still
had to come back to 1717 H to run the
communications. If I am confusing you,
it is because I am trying to lay out the
framework in which we were working to show
you that it was a logical arrangement ...
that it wasn't a bastard organization which
was unable to provide the proper support
to JMATE. 15/
In his retrospective view of the chain of command
problem between DPD and WH/4, Col. Beerli was extremely
critical of the approach taken by Gen. Maxwell Taylor
during the course of the Taylor Committee's review of
the Bay of Pigs Operation.* Beerli pointed out that
what Taylor attempted to do
was to draw some sort of an admission
that there was friction between DPD and
the Western Hemisphere. There wasn't.
* Established by President Kennedy, the. Other committee
members were Robert Kennedy, Adm. Arleigh Burke, and
Allen Dulles.
- 16 -
TO SECRET
But, of course, with him being a military
man, you had to have complete cooperation,
complete direction, or else you didn't
have a good organizational arrangement.
I would vehemently defend that there was
not any compromise at any time. Bissell
would have been aware of it. 16/
At another point, in commenting that Taylor was
trying to suggest that the command relationship was
the reason for the collapse of the invasion, Beerli
said:
In my opinion that wasn't the case at
all because the tasks were clearly defined,
discussed, and approved at the WH level
and later approved at the Bissell level
.... We knew what we had to do was pre-
set. The missions were going to be
flown ... DPD's jobs were to see that
they (Cubans] were adequately trained; to
see that the equipment and everything
was properly in good condition; and to be
sure that we understood the plan as the
Western Hemisphere wanted us to under-
stand it. They made it out -- all that
we did was to provide the technical
expertise. If there were options, we
presented the options to them; and they
made the decision. At no time did we
ever say "this is the way you've got to
do it." 17/
\
In addition to his reflections on General Taylor,
Col. Beerli was also quite conscious of criticisms
which apparently were leveled both during the course
of the operation and subsequent to the collapse of the
invasion by Col. Jack Hawkins, Chief, WH/4/PM who was
- 17 -
\\T? ECRE
responsible for the training and the paramilitary
employment of the Cuban Brigade. Hawkins not only
went on record early in October 1960 suggesting that
the chain of command left something to be desired,
but his subsequent post-mortem of project JMATE and
his comments to the Taylor Committee indicated that
the lack of more direct control of the air operations
by WH/4 was an important factor contributing to the
failure. 18/*
Jake Esterline, Chief of Project JMATE, also
was quite frank in his expressions of displeasure
with the relationships between WH/4 and DPD:
I never felt that we had adequate con-
trol of our air arm. This was a very un-
satisfactory relationship. Mr. Bissell
wanted it that way. We didn't like it.
As a matter of fact, the only two people
we could work effectively with at that
time were (Col. George] Gaines who was a
very practical airman and Gar Thorsrud. 19/
Esterline also engaged in the following exchange
on management of air operations with an interviewer:**
* When contacted by the author of this volume regard-
ing an oral interview, Colonel Hawkins refused on the
grounds of ill health -- he was just recovering from
hospitalization and faced even more -- and the fact
that his post-mortem report for the Taylor Committee
adequately told all that he had to tell about the Bay
of Pigs.
** The author of this history.
JE
TOP CRET
I felt the same way about the air,
I found that it was almost unwork-
able and impossible because I never
knew whether this air thing was
going to work with Beerli or not.
Most of the time we were highly
dissatisfied.
Interviewer Well, DPD was nominally -- the
Cuban activity for DPD -- was
nominally placed under your control
wasn't it?
JE
Supposedly, the looks of it, but
they ... there were never any teeth
in it. It is like saying the Intel-
ligence Community was placed under
Helms a few years ago ... I mean
it was nominally placed under him,
but you know and I know that he
never had any control over it.*
Interviewer You couldn't countermand any Beerli
orders then?
JE
And I never knew whether he was
giving ones that weren't compatible
with what I wanted to do either.
Interviewer What kind of management plans did
you try to work out with Beerli?
Daily meetings with him? or written
record or how?
JE
We kept extensive memos of the things
we did, but as a practical matter,
I finally got Beerli to name -- to
designate -- one person whom I could
be working with on a regular basis,
and that was Stan [sic] Gaines.
* Richard M. Helms, DCI, 30 June 1966 - 1 February
1973.
- 19 -
TOP CRET
When that was done, that made it very
much easier for us to operate. Al-
though it complicated Stan [sic]
Gaines' relations I think with Beerli. 20/*
Richard D. Drain, Chief, WH/4 Ops, was less in-
hibited than Jake Esterline in reflecting on the re-
lationships between WH/4 and DPD. Where, on the one
hand, he was quite high in his praise of the military
personnel in charge of the ground force activity,
particularly Col. Jack Hawkins and Lt. Col. Frank
Egan, the Army Special Forces Officer who was actually
in charge of Brigade training in Guatemala, Drain
was harsh in his evaluation of the management of air
operations for MATE:
RD The most unsatisfactory military
personnel were those in DPD ... and
the trouble with that was that Air
Ops had become so enmeshed in the
U-2 that, with the exception of a
very small unit which you could say
loosely was Tactical Air -- but which
was buried in this exotic DPD complex
-- it was very difficult to find
anybody to talk to. We finally,did.
Gar Thorsrud, who got the point and,
almost in violation of the superiors
in DPD, gave us the kind of intel-
ligent cooperation that we needed;
but until we found him, dealing with
DPD was like dealing with a foreign
power.
* George Gaines.
- 20 -
TOP CRET
Interviewer* You are now referring specifically
to Beerli and Gaines?
RD
Yes, mostly Beerli and Cabeil.**
Cabell was of no help throughout this
thing. He never understood it, as
far as I could see, and we had to
brief every air drop operation to
Cabell. I would go along with some-
body from Hawkins's.shop, Dave Phillips
would go along if it would involve
propaganda, and than Beerli would be
there. Beerli and Cabell would play
Strategic Air Command -- moving their
hands around and talking about the
angle of vector, and this and that.
For example, this is.where Cabell got
his nickname "Rice and Beans," from
the project. Once he told us that
we were making an uneconomical use
of the aircraft in only dropping what
we were dropping ... we must fill our
airplane up With.rice and beans and
drop that too. We sat there and tried
to explain to him the size of the
reception party and the nearness of
Castro's security force and that we
couldn't really linger over those
targets for a long time and just
drop forever. "God damnit," he says,
"I have to defend my expenses against
the Bureau of the Budget .., isn't .
that right, Stan?" "Yes, Sir, General"
... So that kind of military assistance
was not particularly useful. As a
point of ract, we ran about 30 drops
and never really achieved a thing.
We had all the standard errors, like
we dropped once on a string of head-
lights coming out of a movie instead
* *
The author of this history.
Gen. Charles P. Cabell, then DDCI.
- 21 -
TOP CRET
TOPS RET
of to the reception party, and we
had people shoot themselves in the
tail and land in Montego Bay. 21/
In fact, Drain claimed that at one point when
the Cuban air trainees in Guatemala got out of hand
he was forced to go to Mr. Bissell to ask that a non-
DPD officer be put in charge of the Retalhuleu air
base. Drain said that he drafted a Letter of Instruc-
tion for
to become Chief of Base where
heretofore DPD had claimed that only an Air Officer
could run an airbase.
Administrator of the Base.
As apparent from the
mand for air operations in
in fact, took over as
22/*
chart on the chain of corn-
Project JMATE, the man
caught in the middle between DPD and WH/4 was Lt.
Col. George Gaines, Jr.** His observations on the
* Questioned about Cabell's role in target selection
and evaluation of air operations at any stage of the
JMAT,E activity, Col. Beerli responded:
He [Cabell] saw it. He made a very
specific effort to see it all. He was
very concerned. We made visits to his
office frequently to show him what plans
we had. He told me, being an Air Officer
he said: "I feel that I should be in-
formed at this point just what is going
on." 23/
** Chart 1 follows p. 22.
- 22 -
TOP RET
CHART 1
CONFID TIAL
r- - - - - - ?
1
, 1 I
DPD-Beerli
CHAIN OF COMMAND
JMATE AIR OPERATIONS
DCI
Dulles
??
DDCI -
Cabell
WHD -King
DDP -
Bissell
Gaines
Ch.Air Ops Ch.Air Staff
DPD WH/4
WH/4 - Esterline
JMTIDE*-(Thorsrud)
Direct reporting
- Indirect reporting
* Nominally command went
through COB. In fact, for air_
opq Campbell and Thorsrud were
The-channol,
CQNFI NTIAL
peculiar position in which he found himself have also
been put in the Oral History record. Among other
comments, Col. Gaines said:
I was Chief of Air Operations in DPD
at the time [of the Bay of Pigs Opera-
tion], and I was asked if I would divorce
myself from my normal activities to the
extent necessary to set up an air arm
for ... what later turned out to be the
Bay of Pigs ... I was very happy to do
that. I had some very good people to
help me ... Psychologically it had a
traumatic effect on my attitude I
think you will find, if you go look
into the Inspector General's files back
in '61, you'll see that I went to the
Inspector General two or three times
regarding what I called unethical or
unprofessional conduct. Then, I believe
overall that the effect it had on my
career was beneficial. 24/
The following exchange which took place with
Col. Gaines during the course of an interview reveals
that, like the senior JMATE personnel, Gaines also
had some reservations about dual responsibilities:
Interviewer* Could you tell me a little about the
command relationships that existed
at the time that you went into the
operation. You reported to Beerli
GG That's correct.
Interviewer And how about Jake Esterline? Did
you work with Jake? For Jake? How
did that fall out?
* The author of this history.
GG
TOP CRET
Well, I had a dual role you see. As
Chief of Air Operations I reported
to Beerli, and I kept him informed
on my activities with the JMARC
Project; but as far as the project
itself was concerned, I was in my
dual capacity there, and my immediate
superior was Esterline.
Interviewer Well, where did you sit? Did you sit
down there with Jake?
GG
No, I sat up in my office ... on H
Street and then I went to all the
meetings as a Staff member on the
Project. We had some space assigned
to us down there, but my actual day-
to-day operation was in the H Street
Building.
Interviewer Were you satisfied with this set up?
GG
No, I don't think it was a good set
up. I think there should be a clean
break because, while there were never
any irreconcilable differences of
opinion, people who are strictly 100%
air, tend to approach a problem dif-
ferently than people who are using
air as a vehicle. I believe that to
take an air specialist and put him on
a staff for his technical know how
would be a better relationship, rather
than let him keep the relationship
where he was reporting to two bosses. 25/*
* Another of the reasons Gaines offered for assigning
an Air Force type to the JMATE staff was that Chief,
WH/4 had some "would be pilots" who were advising him;
and such advisers frequently caused more problems than
were warranted. 26/
- 24 -
TOP CRET
TOP SECRET
Dick Drain noted that the command difficulties
were reflected in field operations; and Billy Campbell,
who ran the air operations-at Retalhuleu from July 1960
until early February 1961, expressed rather gtrong
feelings about the situation:
When I first went down to the [Retal-
huleu] airbase, I was supposed to be
working for Col. Stan Beerli. I was told
to go down and set up the base and approve
the runway operations, with the type of
training that we were going to conduct,
and determine how long it would take us to
do the training ... My job was strictly
from the operations end of it. Although
DPD sent out a Chief of Base to be respon-
sible back to them, and the office in
Guatemala City sent out a directive saying
we were responsible to them, and then Jake
Esterline's people thought I was responsi-
ble to them, and Frank Egan thought I was
responsible to him. I ignored the whole
damn bunch and went directly to Washington,
to Stan Beerli and George Gaines ... Then
we had to have round table discussions in
Washington several times with everybody
concerned with that planning -- the initial
planning for the targets, etc. -- and with
the Cubans.
had come in ... He was then
teLluu Lnier of Base, and I was the ops
type. But I had control of everybody who
was flying, and there was always a con-
flict
real good fiwof mine, but he had
flict there. a paratrooper and
as
nothing to do with flying airplanes or
training aircrews. That was all my area.
Though we did get into many discussions
and conflicts with Guatemala City -- what
people were we going to do it [flying
missions] with, when were we going to
r- 25 -
TOP CRET
TOP \S ET
do it, what were the capabilities -- it
boiled down to where I finally retained
the authority of operating airplanes sent
me on base. 27/*
One can find some signs of progress being made
in the management of air operations by mid-summer of
1960. In August, WH Division had agreed and DD/P
had approved a tactical air capability for JMATE;
operation of the air arm was to be DPD's responsibil-
ity; and it would be budgeted out of funds for JMATE. 29/
Even agreement on funding, however, did not end the
bickering between the two components. One of the
principal problems they faced was one of communica-
tion between the elements in Headquarters area --
that is DPD at 1717 H Street and WH/4 Headquarters
down on Ohio Drive -- and also communications problems
that had to do with instructions between Headquarters
and the field.
In early October 1960, C. Tracy Barnes, the
A/DDP/A wrote a memorandum to Mr. Bissell complaining
* Billy Campbell's relationship with Frank Egan indi-
cated some degree of interservice rivalry, particularly
at the time of the attempted Guatemalan revolt against
President Ydigoras Fuentes in November 1960. 28/ (See
Volume II of this history, Participation in the Conduct .
of Foreign Policy.)
N'N%S.cNs
TOP RET
rather sharply about the failure of DPD to coordinate
messages concerning JMATE activity with the proper
senior officials in WH/4. In one instance cited by
Barnes, an expenditure had been improperly authorized;
and in another a commendation for the commanders of
both JMTRAV and JMADD had been included in a message
originating with DPD.* Barnes objected that DPD had
no authority over JMTRAV, and he recommended that
DPD activities related to JMATE be fully and clearly
pl4t under the jurisdiction of Jake Esterline, Chief,
WH/4 -- however, this was not the way Mr. Bissell
chose to regard the matter. 30/**
Although the differences between DPD and WH/4
were to continue in some degree through the course of
the project, the records reflecting the disenchant-
ment of one component with the other dropped off sig-
nificantly after the decision rendered by Mr. Bissell
* JMTRAV was the crypt for the infantry training
base in Guatemala, and JMADD was the air training
base.
** What might have been an attempted end run by WH/4
to get a similar memo to Bissell asking for the trans-
fer of DPD to WH/4, apparently died aborning on 20 Sep
60 when Rudy Gomez, Acting Chief, Western Hemisphere
Division failed to sign a memo addressed to the DDP. 31/
- 27 -
TOP
RET
TOP SECRET
in October. For purposes of establishing air opera-
tions, JMCLEAR had provided an initial budget
estimate of some $4 million dollars for the period
from August through 31 Decpmber of 1960. The budget
was to include TDY travel costs of Headquarters
personnel to Eglin and to forward areas; flying hour
costs; the transportation of logistics to the train-
ing sites and strike sites; the cost of aircraft
operations; the cost of aircraft acquisition and
reconditioning
POL, ordnance,
equipment, and
and such other items as
cost for
aircraft spares, ground handling
HBILKA (Far East) support.
Late
in
November 1960, when Stan Beerli forwarded to Chief,
WH Division some internal revisions of that estimate
-- the budget estimate through the end of calendar
year 1960 -- he also indicated that he had heard
that the JMATE operation was planning to continue
for six months beyond 31 December 1960. Beerli
requested to be advised of JMATE's operational
concept and of the continued support which might
be required for JMCLEAR so that these revised figures
- 28 -
could be included in any overall JMATE budget esti-
mate. 32/*
In discussing the funding for air operations,
Bill Eisemann, who was Chief, WH/4 Support pointed
out that:
We had earmarked a certain amount of
funds for military needs -- for Air Branch
needs ... We would obligate those funds,
and they [DPD] would pick it up on their
own records and do their own buying.
They were sort of an independent activity
in themselves. They were not really ...
under Support in any way, but we had a
very close relationship with those guys.
We had to have a very close relationship;
so they did most of their own requisitioning
for ... the aircraft, as an example, and
the bombs ... You see, anything on the
Air Branch side of the house they handled
... As I recall, back then, when that
materiel was issued to the operations,
* Neither in the copy of the August budget that ac-
companied Beerli's memorandum nor the revised estimated
budget do the totals accurately reflect the numbers\
that are given for each of the categories of expendi-
tures. In the initial estimate, for example, the
total is some $24,000 higher than the sum of the
parts. In the revised estimate -- where Beerli said
that the total was identical to the total that had
been submitted in August because the changes that
were being made were revisions within internal cate-
gories -- the figure appears to be either $10,000 too
low or $290,000 too high, based on the various sub-
totals by category which appear in the JMCLEAR budget
estimate! There is no way to reconcile these differ-
ences on the basis of the information presently avail-
able.
- 29 -
TOP CRET
TO ECRET
it was written off at that point, no
matter where the location was, whether
it was JMTRAV or JMADD or what have you
... I recollect that we received approval
to write off anything once it was issued
out of Headquarters to one of the opera-
tional training areas or the launch base.
In other words, not when it was consumed
... but upon issue. 33/
B. Acquisition of Aircraft
One of the most time consuming activities of
Project JMATE from June through September of 1960
concerned the acquisition of combat aircraft. From
the initiation of the Project, it was apparent that
combat aircraft would be a major factor to the success
of the developing anti-Castro effort. In addition to
the use of standard transports -- C-46, C-47, or C-54's
-- for supply drops, prop drops, infil, and exfil,
there was need for aircraft that could conduct tactical
strikes on Cuban targets with a variety of ordnance.
The choice of airraft was to be limited by plausible
deniability; and, consequently the choice was quickly
narrowed to one of two Douglas models -- the Navy's
AD-5 or the Air Force's B-26 light bomber.
Prior to DPD's formal involvement in the Project,
sentiment in WH/4 was running strongly in favor of the
use of the AD-5. In fact in his progress report to
- 30 -
the DDP in mid-July of 1960, Jake Esterline, in talking
about the progress that had been made to implement a
training program for Cuban pilots, pointed out that
part
been
MARC had been given assurance by DOD that
a total of 12 AD-5's would be made avail-
able per requested schedule. The first
four aircraft will be turned over between
10 and 15 August. Navy has agreed to sup-
ply maintenance personnel, instructor
pilots, and an administrative CO. These
personnel, about 75 officers and men, will
be placed under light civilian cover.
Screening and recruiting of 20 Cuban pilots
is currently in process at JMASH. 38/*
It was perhaps wishful thinking on Esterline's
that the question of utilization of the AD-5 had
resolved. In a meeting of the Special Group on
21 July 1960, it became apparent that there were too
many problems involved in obtaining permission to use
this particular aircraft, not the least of which was
its deniability as a US aircraft.** Despite the fact
that the Australians, the British, and the French did
have some incorporated into their Air Forces, none
* MASH was the crypt for the Forward Operations Base,
Miami.
** The Special Group referred to the Designated
Representatives under NSC 5412/2 charged with super-
vising Special Operations. The group consisted of
the Assistant Secretaries of State and Defense, the
Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, the
DCI, and the CIA secretariat/secretary.
- 31 -
TOP CRET
TOP CRET
were in use in Latin American nations. 39/ According
to the Defense representatives to the Special Group,
Admiral Burke apparently found particular difficulties
with the proposal to "sheep-dip" Navy personnel for
use as pilot trainers and aircraft maintenance for
JMATE.*
Within a few days of the 21 July Special Group
meeting, a session was held in the office of the
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence; and it was
decided that the B-26 aircraft would be substituted
for the AD-5 in connection with the JMATE Project.
In his memorandum to Jake Esterline, Tracy Barnes,
the A/DDP/A also pointed out that DPD would run a
cost analysis to compare the merits of bringing in
8 B-26's from the Agency's Far Eastern activities
to Project JMATE with the cost of acquiring B-26's
* The former Chief of Security for JMCLEAR indi-
cated that another reason for steering away from
the AD-5 was that the Cubans would charge that
these were US aircraft flying out of Guantanamo
because part of the USN air contingent there was
equipped with AD-5's. 40/
- 32 -
TOP RET
TOP CRET
from Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. This cost analysis
was to be submitted to the Deputy Director, General
C. P. Cabell, through Barnes's office -- an indication
of the multiplicity of managerial levels superimposed
on WH/4.
Barnes's memorandum also indicated that during
the meeting in General Cabell's office on 27 July 1960,
it was planned that four pilot trainers, Filipino
maintenance personnel, and fly-away kits also would
be brought in from the Far
going to be forwarded to
East; and a request was
in an attempt
maintenance
to determine whether the SALA aircraft
organization in that country had B-26 mechanics or
would be able to obtain B-26 mechanics on short
notice. 41/**
* Among others who were involved in ascertaining
the availability of B-26's, a cable from Guatemala
reported that the Chief of the US Air Mission to
Guatemala, a Col. James Harvey, had informed____
that there were "12 to 16 B-26's in very goodcondition in Tuscon." 40a/
** A fly-away kit is an aircraft maintenance kit that
is designed to provide minimum maintenance parts and
equipment for an aircraft when it is operating away
from its home base. The kit is normally designed for
each type of aircraft by the operator of that partic- ?
ular aircraft and is not a standard set by the technical
manuals of the manufacturer of the given aircraft.
- 33 -
Despite the fact that the decision to use B-26's
had already been made by the DDCI and the A/DDP/A,
there was at least one last futile attempt by JMATE
representatives to reject the choice. The following
Memorandum for Record which is presented in full,
shows how WH/4 conducted a step-by-step retreat on
the issue during a meeting with DPD shortly after the
decision to get ten B-26's had been made:
1. JMARC opened by saying they didn't
think 10 B-26's would be enough air sup-
port for their PM effort.
2. I indicated that 10 would be enough
if the strike base was within the original
radius of the target (200-500 miles).
3. They then asked about F4U's and
P51's with an additional statement of
striking from Guatemala. I. indicated
that these aircraft would give hardly
any time over the target.
4. Next they indicated that the B-26
could not function as a close support
aircraft. My statement to that was this
was the only aircraft available and we
would do our best with this problem.
5. Commander Imler stated he wanted
each aircraft over target four hours.
I stated that the B-26 would not then
have fuel to return to Guatemala. He
indicated they would have to land on the
Isle of Pines.
6. My statement to four was it would
be difficult to take a normal pilot and
give him 8-10 hours fuel, send him on a
- 34 -
 ET
T(31\R
four, or five hour flight, then keep him
on target for four hours with no secure
base to return to.
7. Colonel Egan finally understood
the problem which as we left them was,
they will present, in writing to DPD,
the targets, time over them desired,
and the operating base to strike from.
Without these two problems resolved
we can't say how many aircraft will
be needed.
8. We could get B-26's back from the
Far East to add to the 10 we now have
but the pilot problem hasn't ever been
resolved as yet. Imler again said
that he had biographical data on 23,
but as yet no firm answer has come
back to DPD on the 15 we originally
requested.
9. The operations plan will there-
fore not be written until the specific
criteria of the PM operations is for-
warded. These criteria will outline
general air requirements in support of
all PM concepts. 41a/*
Word of the switch to the B-26's in lieu of the
AD-5's was immediately sent to Florida with the in-
structions that there should be a delay in the attempts
to recruit aircraft maintenance personnel because of
* The WH/4 representatives were Col. Frank Egan,
Col. John F. Mallard, Cmdr. John Imler. The memo is
not specified as an MR, and it is unsigned and undated;
but it is presumed to refer to a meeting at the end
of July or very early in August 1960. The author
probably was either Stanley Beerli or George Gaines,
and Sidney Stembridge also was in attendance for DPD.
- 35 -
TOP CRET
TO ECRET
the change from AD-5's to B-26's. 42/ Late in July,
a Memorandum was prepared for the Assistant to the
Secretary of Defense (Special Operations) in which
it was stated that the Agency had backed off from
the use of the AD-5 in favor of the B-26; and it
noted the Agency's request that 10 B-26 aircraft be
reclaimed from surplus storage and placed in the
following combat configuration:
... with eight .50 caliber machine guns
in the nose, rocket-launching system,
pylon fuel tanks under each wing, and
bomb bays capable of accepting either
250 or 500 lb. bombs. Four such air-
craft are required by 1 September 1960,
the remaining six will be required by
15 October 1960 ... In order to expedite
receipt of the aircraft requested above,
it is desired that maximum emphasis be
placed on timely reclamation of the air-
craft to include authorization of over-
time for which this Agency will reimburse
from funds presently available. It is
the understanding of this Agency that
the B-26 aircraft are surplus and would
be acquired under an interdepartmental
transfer at no expense other than labor
and associated costs. 43/*'
* It is interesting to observe that the response from
DPD concerning the cost and availability of B-26's
out of the Arizona stockpile went to the Department of
Defense at least two days before Jake Esterline, Chief,
WH/4 apparently received word about the availability
of the B-26's. Again, this would indicate some break-
down in the internal communications between DPD and
WH/4. 44/
N\\,vszN\
TOP CRET
TOP CRET
As the decision was made to shift to the B-26,
there was a sudden increase in correspondence con-
cerning the acquisition of these aircraft. One of
the immediate questions that came up in a meeting
between representatives of WH/4 and DPD was that of
the need for a backup aircraft to support the B-26's.
In view of what subsequently developed over the beach
at Playa Giron in April 1961, it was unfortunate that
this question did not receive far greater attention
than it did in late August of 1960. The question
being discussed was whether the backup should be
provided by fighter aircraft or whether there should
be additional B-26's acquired for the strike force. 45/*
* The question of backup support for the B-26's
presented problems to the air operations officers
who had Oral History interviews with the author.
Both Colonel; Beerli and Gaines pointed out that
if the air operations had been conducted as ini-
tially structured, there would have been no need
for backup fighter aircraft because Castro would
not have had any aircraft in the air. It is inter-
esting to observe, however, that the discussion
referenced in the text above took place in late
July 1960 -- well prior to the time that any planned
attack on the strategic targets had been fully devel-
oped or, perhaps, even partially developed. Knowing
that the Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria (FAR) had both
T-33 jet trainers and Sea Fury fighters in its inventory
there seemed to be little point in suggesting that
additional B-26's try to fly cover for those employed
in bombing Cuba.
- 37 -
TOP ECRET
Between 29 July and 11 August, when a memoran-
dum was prepared by the JMCLEAR Project Officer, Col.
Gaines, for Col. Moore, the Director of Materiel
Management of the Air Force, a very significant
modification was suggested in the equipment of the
B-26's which were to be acquired from the Air Force.
On 29 July, the 8-gun nose had been requested, plus
pylons for fuel or napalm, and rocket racks. On
11 August, it again was requested that the 8-gun nose
be installed, but if this was not possible, then a
6-gun nose would be acceptable. Of more significance,
however, was the plan to add to the plane's firepower
by adding three internal guns to both the left and
the right wings -- bringing the total of .50 caliber
forward-firing machine guns to either 14 or 12. 47/
One can only speculate whether the installation of
the additional .50 calibers would have made a signifi-
cant difference in terms of the effectiveness of the
B-26's at the time of the D-2 airstrike. The reason
that the wing guns were not installed probably was
best explained by Stan Beerli who said -- with refer-
ence to other modifications that he was questioned
about -- that the restrictions were imposed by time
- 38 -
TOPS
TOP CRET
and money. How much time did you have and how much
money did you want to spend?*
The Defense Department's initial estimate of
the cost of the B-26 aircraft was approximately
$11,000 for those which were flyable, and $27,500
for planes which would have to be taken out of storage.
These were base costs exclusive of the added cost
due to overtime which had been authorized by the
Agency to refurbish the aircraft in as short a time
as possible.
The Air Force notified the Agency that four
B-26's configured "in accordance with your require-
ment" would be available from Kelly Air Force Base
on 30 August 1960 and that they would be dropped out
of the USAF aircraft inventory and made available to
the Agency on an interdepartmental transfer -- standard
practice at that time. 49/ In apparent response to
DOD/USAF concern that they not be tied into clandestine
activities, the Agency agreed that once the Air Force
* Among the other modifications suggested at this
same time were the installation of the 125 gallon
bomb bay gas tanks and the installation of gun cameras.
Some of the aircraft did have the bomb bay gas tanks
installed, but none had gun cameras.
- 39 -
TOP CRET
To\ps RET
delivered the B-26's to Kelly Air Force Base, Agency
representatives would then. take over and would ferry
the B-26's "black" to an operational location. It
was stated:
Once the aircraft had departed Kelly
Air Force Base, they would proceed "black"
to a Latin American covert training loca-
tion for training of indigenous crews.
At this location and at all times after
the delivery of the aircraft to the site,
the aircraft will be owned by a foreign
Agency proprietary organization. This
organization will have purchased the
aircraft from another US Commercial com-
pany who [sic] had owned and maintainPA
the aircraft at a location in the Far
East. An inquiry into the history of
the aircraft ow/lership, would reveal
that they s'!..ere originally purchased in
the Far East from Air Force surplus a
numkGr of years ago, and subsequently
tild to a New York broker who in turn
sold them to a Latin American Company.
It would be further explained that the
aircraft proceeded direct from the Far
East to the Latin American site. 50/*
There seemed to be no question that the presence
of B-26's at Eglin, Kelly, or possibly other of the
* It is not known whether the four B-26's were de-
livered as scheduled in August or not. It was reported
that between 23-26 September 1960 there were two B-26's
at Eglin and four at Kelly. The two at Eglin may have
been the ones borrowed from the D. C. Air National
Guard, and the four at Kelly may have been those
scheduled for August delivery. JMADD expressed a
desire to have a dual combat configured B-26 included
among the four aircraft ready for delivery -- presum-
ably one of the four at Kelly. 50a/
- 40 -
TOP ET
Air Force bases could be covered for a brief period
of time; but the military was quite firm in urging
that there not be undue delay in moving these aircraft
off of Air Force bases. In addition, the USAF rejected
CIA's request for the use of their personnel as crews
on "black-flight" operations in C-54's or C-118's
between the continental United States and Central
America. 51/
The Agency apparently failed to live up to its
agreement with the Air Force to move the B-26's from
USAF bases; and on 16 January 1961; a memorandum to
the DDP from Col. Leroy F. Prouty (USAF), Office of
Special Oper&Eions/OSD in response to the Agency's
request for additional B-26's from the USAF noted:
In compliance with an earlier request
for B-26 aircraft, ten were made available
to meet an early deadline. At the time
of this request, 19 August 1960, it was
stated that these aircraft would be re-
moved from the military base to a designa-
ted civilian airfield, and then would
exit the US. As of this date, six of
these aircraft have been picked up; but
four still remain on an Air Force Base
in the US.
This situation is cited, because it
has a direct bearing on future actions
to provide B-26 aircraft for such projects.
Within seven or eight weeks, the Air Force
will no longer have any remaining B-26
- 41 -
aircraft. This not only means that the
USAF will be unable to provide more; but
it also means that it will be unable to
cover this type any longer. Therefore,
any request for B-26's must include pro-
vision for removal of this type from USAF
bases. This should provide for the four
now at Eglin Air Force Base, and should
take into consideration the fact that as
a result of this situation, none of these
aircraft may be returned to USAF bases.
You may be assured that upon receipt
of a firm request for these aircraft which
include sufficient policy guidelines, this
office will be ready to assist with this
support without delay. In the interim,
necessary action offices in the Air Force
have been alerted for this requirement. 52/*
Prouty's memorandum to Mr. Bissell brought a
quick response from Jake Esterline for eight -- rather
than six -- additional B-26's from the Air Force for
Project CROSSPATCH.** Jake's memorandum indicated
appreciation for the problem presented to the Air
Force as the B-26's were being phased out, but it
assured Col. Prouty that when the aircraft were ready
* Col. Prouty seems to have been a thorn in the side
of practically every one of the DPD officers with whom
he came in contact; and, in addition, mention of his
name drew forth expletives of a strong nature from
those WH/4 individuals who had even limited contact
with Prouty, notably Dick Drain and Jake Esterline.
** CROSSPATCH was the DOD's identification for Project
JMATE support.
- 42 -
TOP CRET
for delivery qualified Agency-assigned USAF pilots
would be sent to Hill Air Force Base, Utah where they
would test fly and test the weapons prior to formal
release of the aircraft. The planes would then be
ferried to Field 3 at Eglin Air Force Base; and
according to Esterline, within 48 hours they would
then be ferried black to the Project site where they
were to be put to use. The Chief, WH/4 also said
that the Agency would assume responsibility for the
disposition of all the B-26 aircraft upon completion
of the Project and that none would be returned to
USAF. 53/
Acquisition of these eight additional B-26's
would have meant that a total of 18 had been acquired
from the Air Force.* It is not entirely clear whether
the Project did in fact receive eight or only six
aircraft following the above request; but in any event,
at the end of March 1961, in response to a query
raised by the Office of Logistics, C. F. Welch (Chief
of the Materiel Staff/DPD) noted that there were 16
* These were in addition to two B-26's which had been
borrowed from the DC Air National Guard, and subsequently
were returned to the DC Air National Guard.
TOP ECRET
B-26's which would require maintenance and supply
support for a period of 120 days from 30 March 1961. 54/*
Problems of acquisition notwithstanding, there
was no question in the minds of the men most closely
associated with air operations - Stan Beerli, George
Gaines, Gar Thorsrud, and Billy Campbell -- that the
B-26 was the best possible aircraft that could have
been acquired for the operation intended. George
Gaines, DPD's Chief of Air Operations for JMATE, was
most emphatic in his defense of the B-26. He noted
that even when the operation still was planned to be
one of guerrilla warfare, there were to be combat
aircraft on call; and Gaines went on to say that, if
possible, they wanted to use the same type of air-
craft that the Cuban Air Force had. When queried about
the initial attempts to get the AD-5's rather than
* It is not clear whether the Air Force failed to
, deliver the B-26's at the time that they were re-
quested by Jake Esterline, or whether the 16 rather
than 18 total to be supported represents the loss of
two B-26's during training operations. Whatever the
number, DPD had apparently given serious consideration
-- as they had in the summer of 1960 -- to recalling
some B-26's from the Far East for use in JMATE, but
this transfer apparently did not take place. However,
on the last day of March 1961, Mr. Bissell did order
Col. Beerli to attempt to get an additional two combat-.
ready B-26's assigned to Eglin on an alert basis. 54a/
- 44 -
T SECRET
TNOP S RET
the B-26's, Gaines allowed that the AD-5 did have
good range and combat load characteristics, but he
went on to state:
I personally preferred the B-26 all
along, because it had a "come-home" engine
... twin engines. The AD-5 was sort of a
protege of some of the other people in
the Air Section who thought that we should
try it because of its range and combat load.
I was more interested in deniability and,
of course, the safety factor of the second.
engine. 55/
Along the same line, Gaines also noted that:
Jake [Esterline] had some would-be
pilots on his staff who were trying to
tell him how we should employ our air-
craft. This caused more friction than
it did help. We knew what we could do
with the aircraft and we didn't need
any Monday morning quarterback telling
us how far we could fly B-26's, and still
get home. Because we are going to be
sitting in them, we want to make damn
. sure we get home! 56/
Like Col. Gaines, Gar Thorsrud, who actually
directed the air strikes against Cuba out of the TIDE
base, was unequivocal in his support of the B-26, saying:
I think the B-26 was the best aircraft.
With the firepower and the wing-loading
of that aircraft ... there were some
questions later in the game ... why didn't
you have a tail gun? a tail-turret? Well,
that went out years ago as far as a tail-
turret on those aircraft. It might have
saved someone later in the operation, but
I think everything should be looked at
from the way it was originally planned
and changed. 57/
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TOP SECRET
Thorsrud also pointed out that under the original plan
there would have been plenty of loiter time for the
B-26's; and according to him, the aircraft could have
unloaded all the armament that they carried and still
had time for reconnaissance. 58/
In response to a question regarding the configur-
ation of the 8-gun nose, rather than mounting four .50
calibers and 37mm cannon or, perhaps, a 75mm cannon
and two .50 calibers, Thorsrud said:
Oh God ... an 8-gun nose ... you can
roll a locomotive off that track with
it ... Eight .50's ... we had all we
needed to take out any of the Sea Fury's,
the T-birds -- the jets that they had
-- and most of the light tanks, and then
we had ... I can't remember all the
ordnance that we had ... 500 pounders
and frags. We had all the ordnance that
we needed to do the job that we were
supposed to do. 59/
Col. Stan Beerli also defended the choice of
the B-26 as quite adequate for the mission that had
been planned for the Brigade Air Force, and he, too,
emphasized the twin-engine aspect as one of the more
favorable features of the B-26 in comparison to any
single engine aircraft. 60/*
* There were one or two aspects of the B-26 however,
which were looked on with less favor by the Air Oper-
ations people, one was the difficulty that the aircraft
(footnote continued on following page)
- 46 -
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TNOP CRET
Connie Seigrist one of the few North Americans
who would fly a B-26 in action over Playa Giron had
some particular objections, not to the B-26 itself,
but to the modifications that had been built into
some of the aircraft which were acquired during the
course of the MATE operation. Going back to the
initial request of 11 August 1960 it was suggested
that long-range ferry tanks be installed in the bomb
bays of the B-26's, Seigrist pointed out:
About six replacement B-26's arrived
at TIDE at the same time of evening as
we (Price, myself, and 4 Cuban flown
B-26's) returned from our strike at the
Bay of Pigs. These replacement B-26's
had ferry tanks strapped permanently
in the bomb bays. In my estimation,
they were flying bombs -- we never used
presented in terms of an emergency bail-out. Thorsrud,
in a discussion of this subject for example, pointed
out:
[One of our contract pilots] had bailed
out in Indonesia ... He went over the top
of the canopy and he hit the horizontal
stabilizer and broke his leg ... which
probably saved his life ... because when
he got on the ground, he had his carbine
and his pistol with him ... and he was in
such shock that ... he probably would have
tried to fight his way out of it if he
hadn't done that. It was not an easy air-
craft to get out of though. There is a
recommended technique ... if all goes
well, but if your speed is up, it is
going to carry you right up and into the
horizontal stabilizer. 61/
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TOP CRET
TOP RET
them. Like the T-33's, it was too late
anyway to have used them. 62/*
It should be mentioned in passing that despite
the strong support for the B-26 from the air operations
officers, particularly the Headquarters element, some
rather interesting questions evolved shortly after
the receipt of the first B-26's at the training base
at Retalhuleu. On 25 November 1960 a cable from
Headquarters requested MADD "In order complement
published technical data at Headquarters, desire you
advise us maximum range possible with fully-combat
armed 8-26 with one hour fuel reserve." 63/ It
strikes the non-technical observer that this was a
rather strange request to be coming from the Head-
quarters complement that had pushed so hard for the
acquisition of this particular type aircraft --
especially since one of the principal contentions
was the suitability of the range for B-26 operations.
MADD responded to the Headquarters query, noting
a range of 1,600 NM, or an action radius of 800 NM. 63a/
* The difference between the Agency's initial request
for long-range ferry tanks in the B-26's and those
noted by Seigrist, was the fact of a permanent instal-
lation of the long range tanks; heretofore the tanks
had been of the type hung on the bomb shackles and
removable.
1/4Ft.TOP CRET
Headquarters then made the following inquiry regarding
the .50 caliber machine guns on the B-26's:
1. Request confirmation re 300 rounds
each of 8 machine guns.
2. T. 0. 1B-26B-2-9 states 360 rounds
per ammo box which feeds two guns. Four
ammo boxes installed each A/C. This would
provide 180 rounds per gun.
3. Advise. 64/
It would seem that the cart had preceded the horse,
with Headquarters asking the field what kind of a
monster they had on their hands.*
The cable traffic between Retalhuleu and Head-
quarters also revealed that from very early during
the training period through the close out.of the
operation, there would be various types of B-26
equipment shortages that would crop up to the con-
sternation of the air operations people. Of the pieces
of equipment that seemed to be in critically short
supply during the course of the activity ware pylon
fuel tanks for the B-26's; and as early as November
1960, cable traffic indicated concern about the shipment
* JMATE apparently queried DPD along similar lines
early in September 1960. In response to a 2 September
request, Lt. Colonel Gaines forwarded a memorandum to
Jake Esterline outlining various characteristics of
the B-26B aircraft. (See Appendix 2.)
NTO ECRET
TOP CRET
of these particular items, and MADD stated it had no
spares in this category -- a situation recalled by
Connie Seigrist who, 15 years after the event recalled
that:
All of our first B-26's had pylon
mounted external tanks. But we all at-
tempted to bring the tanks back as we
didn't have many replacement tanks. 65/
In addition to the acquisition of B-26's for
project JMATE, it was also necessary to acquire air-
craft for transport, supply, propaganda drop, and
paradrop operations. The aircraft that would be used
for these activities were C-46's and C-54's. The
initial acquisition of C-46's was from HBILKA, with
four C-46's being flown in from the Far East; and
there were to be four instructor pilots, a maintenance
man, and a logistics (procurement) specialist also
brought in from HBILKA. The estimated cost for
bringing in the aircraft, training the crews, and
other expenses for a period of four months -- the
overly optimistic estimate made in early October
1960 -- was $206,290.00. 66/
Connie Seigrist, then with the Civil Air Trans-
port, ferried one of the first two C-46's from the
Far East to Guatemala. He told the following story
- 50 -
TO CRET
of this particular episode:
I was living in Taipei, Taiwan, in
August 1960. I knew there were prepara-
tions being made ?to send a couple of
C-46's to Texas. Naturally, all of us
pilots were curious to what was in the
wind. I asked my boss and a good
friend, VPO Bob Rousselot if I could
get in on the operation (we were all
employed by Civil Air Transport). Al-
though I didn't know what the operation
was at the time, and I doubt that Bob
knew. Anyway I was accepted and I was
immediately given a refresher flight in
B-26 gunnery, flying on a CAF Gunnery
Range, just west of Taipei (CAF-Chinese
Air Force).
W. H. Beale, co-captain; L. C. Cart-
wright, navigator; S. L. Tong, 1st
Officer; and myself as co-captain de-
parted TPE 3 September 1960 flying a
CAT C-46 to Oakland. S. L. Tong left
the crew in Oakland and returned to
TPE. We three flew to San Antonio
where we were informed by "Chick,"
a nickname, a former
employee (an Agency uompany)
? PE, that we were to fly to San
Jose, Guatemala. I am not really sure,
but I believe we arrived late at night
on the 9th, or past 12 midnight which
could have been the 10th. From that
time I never left the operation. 671*
* In addition to being instructor-pilots for C-46's,
Beale and Seigrist were also qualified instructor-
pilots for B-26's; Seigrist also was qualified as an
instructor-pilot for the PBY. Seigrist was probably
the best, and certainly the most active in terms of
operational flying, of all the American pilots
associated with Project JMARC.
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TOP CRET
The C-46 aircraft -- like most of the JMCLEAR
aircraft -- were nominally owned by
a legal
and, also, an Agency proprietary. The aircraft
corporation
were leased to Manuel F. Goudie, and, in turn, by
Goudie to the Cuban exile organization, the FRD.
The C-54 work horses which were used to transport
the bulk of the troops and materiel from Florida
to Guatemala during the training period were simi-
larly under the nominal cover of
Unlike the C-46's which actually belonged to
, but had conditional sales papers
showing the ownership by
, the C -54's
(with the exception of two of the aircraft) were
leased from the United States Air Force. 67a/
As with the B-26's, acquisition of the
C-54's gave rise to additional occasions of
displeasure among DPD, WH/4, and DOD. Although
the original memorandum was not recovered, it
is apparent that a direct approach was made by
WH Division to the Department of Defense --
- 52 -
circumventing the DPD channel - to provide air resupply
to anti-Castro guerrilla forces upon request by WH/4.
Chief, DPD, Colonel Beerli, was highly incensed over
this apparent by-pass; and among other items that he
brought to the attention of Chief, Western Hemisphere
Division were the following:
That "the WH requirement set forth in
the referenced memorandum would seem to
preclude the use of DPD assets which have
been developed for employment in other
similar type operations."
That DPD had both aircrews and avail-
able aircraft capable of delivering
60,000 pounds of cargo per night, and,
in addition, had an "experienced task
force capable of planning, launching,
and retrieving air missions." This
delivery capability was far in excess
of requirements which had been indicated
by WH/4.
Beerli went on to point out that "under certain condi-
tions" requests could be made of DOD for aircraft to
supplement the Agency's capability, but it was apparent
from the tone of his memorandum that he did not believe
that such time had arrived. 67h/
In an internal memorandum from John Mallard
(WH/4/SA/Mil) to Chief, WH/4/Ops, Col. Mallard made
it quite clear that he believed DPD had overstated its
case; and he specified that while Col. Beerli had
- 53 -
TOP S RET
claimed that DPD had five C-54's available, one of
these was being held by the Mexican government fol-
lowing an emergency landing and a second had crash
landed in Guatemala while on a training flight. The
latter had been so badly damaged that its destruction
(by burning) was authorized following the removal of
some salvagable parts. 67c/ Mallard also suggested
that the Agency go forward to DOD asking them to
develop a contingency air plan for resupply of guer-
rilla forces should the anti-Castro program of the
US become overt. 67d/
Even as Mallard's comments were going forward
within WH/4, Col. Beerli apparently concluded that
the "certain conditions" to which he referred in his
earlier memorandum had arrived, and he went forward
to the DOD with a request (26 October 1960) for
"loan or bailment" of four C-54G's on an extremely
short deadline (e.g., by 1 November 1960). 67e/
Beerli's request went over like a lead balloon with
General Lansdale, OSO/OSD who had received the request.
Lansdale had a memorandum hand carried to Mr. Bissell
(27 October 1960), the DDP, in which he outlined the
impracticability of being able to meet the deadline
- 54 -
TOb ECRET
TOP S R ET
recommended. He suggested the need for improved
management practices by the Agency, noted that ready-
ing the aircraft from the standpoint of safety and
security was time consuming, and concluded "it is
suggested that if you determine that 1 November is a
more or less arbitrary deadline which can be eased,
it would be most helpful to do so for the benefit of
both organizations." 67f/
The foregoing kinds of skirmishing would be
characteristic in greater or lesser degree throughout
the life of the project. It should be recorded, how-
ever, that the project did not suffer more than minor
inconvenience re the availability of C-54's from the
USAF inventory -- none of which in any way affected
the outcome.
Through October and into early November 1960,
there was considerable correspondence concerning the
methods by which the business transactions and com-
mercial activities of
could be securely
backstopped to hide JMCLEAR activities, but these
were resolved to the satisfaction of both WH/4 and
DPD. Monthly cost for rental of
air-
craft -- 4 C-46's, 8 B-26's, 2 C-54's, and 2 Helios --
- 55 -
TOP SECRET
as of early November was nearly $35,000 a month. All
of the aircraft, of course, were presumably leased to
Senor Goudie, the FRD's finance man in Miami. 68/
The heavy demand fox transport aircraft, of
course, was explained by the sharp increases in man-
power that resulted from the changing concepts of the
anti-Castro program in the Fall of 1960.* The program
calling for the infiltration of the three-man guerrilla
teams had given way to the invasion program which,
by the first week of December in 1960, called for a
750-man Brigade to seize and hold a lodgement in Cuba.
A 150-man element of that strike force would either
be airdropped or air landed in the lodgement area.
Air delivery of supplies to support the Brigade forces
plus overflights to support the increasing numbers of
dissidents -- who would be attracted to the anti-
Castro side as the Brigade's lodgement became more
certain -- were estimated to run on the order of two
million pounds for the period between 1 December 1960
and 28 February 1961. Of this total, 600,000 lbs. was
* The change in concept of Project JMATE is discussed
in detail in Volume III of this history, Evolution of
CIA's Anti-Castro Policies, 1959-January 1961.
T SECRET
shown as a requirement for a consolidation of the GW
and strike force activities. 69/
Among the types of aircraft which were utilized
for the JMATE operation there also was a Constellation,
model 1649. Belonging to DPD, it had been acquired
for use in another capacity; but, in effect, it was
put into serviceable condition following the request
of the DDP in November of 1960 for possible use as an
evacuation vehicle for personnel at JMADD. On 17 Jan-
uary 1961, the Assistant Chief, DPD, James A. Cunningham,
Jr. had prepared a memorandum requesting DDP approval
to charge MATE $100,000, for getting the Constellation
the necessary FAA certification. Of this sum $15,000
was required for the installation of a weather radar;
$50,000 for a rebuilt spare engine; and $35,000 for
maintenance in the standby capacity for the possible
evacuation of JMATE for the remainder of Fiscal Year
1961. Mr. Bissell approved these changes. 70/
As discussed in another volume of this history,
WH/4 and DPD initially hoped to solve the problem of
aircraft maintenance and servicing through agreements
with the Costa Rican organization SALA. Negotiations
were terminated by November 1960 when it seemed apparent
- 57 -
TOP CRET
that SALA was about to make excess profit -- also the
SALA activity got into a sensitive political area in
Guatemala. 71/*
C. Relations with OSO/DOD and the Air National Guard
Reference has already been made to some of the
difficulties between Agency components -- DPD and WH/4
-- and both the Office of Special Operations of the
Secretary of Defense (050/DOD) and the United States
Air Force concerning the acquisition of additional
aircraft from the USAF inventory. There also were
continuing difficulties between the Agency's repre-
sentatives and the Defense components concerning the
* See Volume II, Participation in the Conduct of
Foreign Policy. I
- 58 -
TOPS ET
utilization of military personnel, particularly air
crews, either in support of black flights or for
assignments in foreign areas.* Permission for assign-
ment of USAF personnel to foreign countries was not
granted during the course of JMATE; and even the
military assignees to CIA who were serving in Guate-
mala, were prohibited from serving in Nicaragua during
the immediate invasion period.
By mid-September 1960, however, the Air Force
was amenable to the use of its aircrews for "black"
flights into areas outside of the ZI; but the Agency
had to insure that in case the operation was blown
the crewmen and their families would have all the
benefits that they would have accrued had they not
become involved in the Agency's anti-Castro operation.
The task of acquiring the resignations from Air Force
personnel and preparing the volunteer statements,
which each individual was required to sign, fell to
the Military Personnel Division of the Office of
* Volume II of this history discusses the problems
presented when the Agency attempted to get a specific
allotment of Special Forces Trainers for use in Guate-
mala. A passing reference was made in that discussion
to the possible assignment of USAF personnel in the
overseas area.
- 59 -
TO ECRET
TOP S R ET
Personnel. Pending completion of the paper work,
utilization of Air Force personnel in black flights
was to be suspended; and although it was not specified
in the memorandum of consent from the Air Force, it
was reported that USAF personnel at the third country
training site (Guatemala) were being withdrawn. 73/*
With the initiation of DPD as the operational
air arm for Project JMATE, it was quickly realized
that there was an urgent need for an airbase in the
southern United States that would be suitable as the
point of origin (and the terminus) for black flights
-- for bodies and supplies -- to Guatemala. Among
other inactive airfields in southern Florida which
were inspected was that portion of the Marine Corps
Air Station at Opalocka, Florida. The 4,000 acre
field had been declared excess to the needs of the
Department of the Navy in early 1959. Following an
* Why such withdrawal would have been necessary is
somewhat confusing in view of the memorandum from Ed
Stanulis, the Deputy Chief of WH/4 on 12 September 1960,
in which he pointed out to the Chief, WH/4 that at a
briefing on 18 August 1960 for President Eisenhower
and ranking US Government officials "approval [for use
of DOD personnel in the Guatemalan Training Program]
was requested and obtained." Stanulis's memo further
said that WH/4 needs were spelled out for two USAF
Training Supervisors; 15 crew members from C-54's; and
two USN medics (one MD and one Corpsman) . 74/
- 60 -
TOP SEC
inspection in early September 1960, the Agency deter-
mined that a 1,500 acre segment in the north part of
the field would be ideal for MATE requirements --
length of runway, hangers, magazines, warehouses,
railroad siding, and relative isolation provided
the facilities and security necessary to the planned
anti-Castro operations. Because the General Services
Administration had started disposal action a year
and a half prior to the time of its investigation,
the Director of Logistics worked quickly and got the
GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner to agree to
withhold disposal action on the north portion of the
field and some magazines near the particular airstrip
in which the Agency was interested.
Working through channels, representatives of
the Office of Logistics -- Col. Thomas A. McCrary,
Acting Director of Logistics, and
Chief,
tacted Rear Admiral H. A. Renken, Director, Shore
Real Estate and Construction Division -- con-
Station Construction and Maintenance Division, Office
of the Chief of Naval Operations. Renken indicated
that Navy would interpose no objection to Agency
use of the field, and offered whatever assistance was
- 61 -
TOP CRET
required; and the Admiral also advised both the com-
manding officer of the Opalocka Station and the Admiral
in charge of the Charleston District of the decision
to support CIA's use of the Opalocka facility. 75/
It is possible that the quick footwork on the
part of the Agency's representatives in acquiring
rights to the Opalocka facility antagonized some people
in OSO/DOD with whom the Agency had been negotiating
for the acquisition of an airstrip for a period of
several weeks -- but with negative results. Some
evidence of satisfaction is apparent in the memorandum
of WH/4's weekly meeting with the OSO representatives
on 15 September 1960 which stated in part:
The use of Opalocka Marine Air Base
was discussed and the OSO representatives
were told this use for "black" flights had
been cleared by Navy through Admiral
Rankin (sic). GSA approval had been
previously obtained; however, DOD interest
was still indicated since the field was
guarded by US Navy enlisted personnel and
Naval Air Reserve occasionally uses the
field. (Col. Prouty was called at 1730
this date and informed that the field would
be used 16 September. He agreed with this.)
A paper on the use of Opalocka will be
forwarded to OSO. 76/*
* Emphasis by author.
?gkO CRET
Initiation of Agency operations at Opalocka soon
became the focus of local business interests which
had commercial designs on the property and of the
news media. Fortunately, DOD's initial cover story --
that the facility was being used for storage of out-
dated ammunition by an Army element prior to ultimate
disposal -- had been replaced by a more effective
story of FAA responsibility for the activities at
Opalocka. This was brought to the attention of the
Executive Of John S. Erman, on 8 November
1960 by Col. Stanley Grogan, the Agency's public
information officer. Grogan noted that Jim Haggerty
of the White House staff and Andrew Herding of State
had been asked by the Washington representative of
the Knight newspapers to discuss allegations that
CIA was operating a training camp at Opalocka.
Both the White House an the State representa-
tives referred the newspaper people to the Agency, but
when a DOD representative remarked that the facility
was under GSA control, the newsmen immediately pursued
that lead. The GSA representative did confirm that
the Opalocka Naval Base was surplus, adding that it
was his understanding that the Navy was using the area
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TO ECRET
TOP CRET
for classified purposes. When Grogan broached this
question with Ed Stanulis of WH/4, Stanulis called
Elton Hailey (Director of Information, GSA), and
informed Hailey that the cover story was to be that
FAA now operated the field and would be doing some
classified, experimental flights for safety purposes.
Stanulis also informed the Navy liaison officer at
Opalocka, to avoid making any public statements or
providing information to the press regarding activities
at Opalocka. The Navy retained responsibility for
base security and maintenance -- at Agency expense --
but the operational responsibility would be attributed
to FAA, with all public announcements originating in
Washington. 77/*
Immediately following the decision on Opalocka,
there seemed to be a greater degree of cooperation
between the Agency representatives and their DOD
counterparts. Even when the Office of Special Opera-
tions pointed out that the Navy would be unable to
* For additional operational details concerning Opalocka
the reader is referred to James Burwell, Logistics Sup-
port for Operations in Cuba, March 1960-October 1961.
DDS/OL-7, April 1971, pp. 34-37, 49-55. S.
- 64 -
RET
\TOP ECRET
provide either search and rescue vessels on an inter-
mittent basis as requested for Agency air operations
or to provide much assistance in the vicinity of Swan
Island, Chief, WH/4 seemed to be relatively unconcerned.*
In fact, his report seems almost cavalier in pointing
out to the Acting Chief, DPD that until Project JMATE
acquired several ships which might be of some assist-
ance for rescue of airmen downed at sea, it would be
some time before such resources would be sufficient
to meet the needs of DPD. 78/**
By late November 1960, however, relations with
OSO/DOD seemed to be going down hill again. Not only
would the question of the Army Special Forces trainers
be a point of contention, but the whole spectrum of
decisions on bases, overseas operations, overflights,
use of US military personnel, and other responsibilities
was again at issue between WH/4 and OSO. The memo-
randum of a conference WH/4 representatives had with
* It is for this reason that the DPD operations
officers were much concerned about the acquisition of
a PBY to be able to perform air-to-sea rescue.
** Swan Island in the Caribbean was the location of
an Agency operated radio station which broadcast anti-
Castro propaganda to Cuba. (See Volume III of this
history, Evolution of CIA's Anti-Castro Policies, 1959-
January 1961, for more detailed discussion.)
- 65 -
TOP RET
Capt. Burns W. Spore, the Navy epresentative of OSO/
DOD, concluded among other things that "the conference
with Capt. Spore accomplished little, other than to
point up the difficulty of obtaining future DOD sup-
port under the present circumstances." 79/*
On 29 November 1960, a request to the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for special operations went for-
ward for the DDP requesting: two operational staff
officers who were "recently qualified in air to ground
gunnery, rocketry ... and capable of tactical mission
planning"; two operations support officers who had
"recent experience in tactical mission planning"; and
six weapons maintenance supervisors and one aircraft
* It was at this meeting on 25 November 1960, that
Jake Esterline strongly suggested that the reluctant
attitude exhibited by Capt. Spore towards supporting
Project JMATE was a reflection of the pressures that
were being exerted by the Department of State which
was squeamish about OAS and UN discovery of Agency
involvement in the anti-Castro activity. Spore's
contention was that DOD was being asked to buy a pig
in a poke and that the problems could be resolved if
WH/4 would provide more detailed briefings concerning
its plans. An interesting note is that reporting on
this, and other of the sessions between WH/4 and OSO,
was the responsibility of Col. John F. Mallard (USMC),
a military assignee to WH/4 responsible for liaison
with the DOD. Mallard's reporting throughout the
operation reflects high credit on his integrity for
it reflects the pros and cons of all parties positions
-- and could easily have put him between "a rock and
a hard place." Mallard's career may, in fact, have
suffered. He refused the author's request for an
oral interview, and he declined to respond to written
questions.
and missile ground support equipment repairman for
assignment to Project CROSSPATCH (the DOD designation
for JMATE). Col. Mallard's note on WH/4's copy of the
memorandum made the following cryptic comment:
This requirement has already been for-
warded. I have talked to Spore [Capt.
Burns W.] who is withholding any action
until he is notified this requirement
meets with the approval of C/JMARC. Maybe
we don't have this authority to withhold
action, since the requirement is signed
for DD/P. A thermo copy has been pro-
vided to both CCD and MMPD. 81/*
As would be pointed out, in a subsequent review
of the JMATE operation, DOD did not respond to the re-
quest of 29 November; and consequently, on 17 January
1961, another memorandum repeated the request for the
weapons and maintenance men. Again, however, DOD
failed to respond to the Agency's requirement and the
weapons men were never assigned; and the mission
planners were selected from Air National Guard personnel
in lieu of a response from DOD. 82/
* Although the routing slip with this notation is
addressed to WH/4/COPS and to Mr. [Richard D.] Drain,
the distribution list typed on the memo itself does
not indicate that any copies were provided to WH/4.
Mallard's comment presumably is a reference to the
fact that Chief/WH/4 must have been unavailable at
this time -- at any rate the routing slip shows that
C/WH/4 had been scratched out.
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TOP ET
On 27 December 1960, a memorandum was hand carried
to Team B, Directorate of Plans, DCS/P&P, Hqs, USAF
by Agency representatives requesting the TDY assign-
ment of 47 USAF enlisted personnel to TDY duty at
Hanky-panky over this
request continued through February and March of 1961,
and on 25 April, after the close out of the Bay of Pigs
operation, it was reported that the 47 men still had
not been assigned to Eglin. 83/
The fuss over the use of USAF types was not
limited solely to the discussions between the Agency
and DOD, although this is where the most serious in-
fighting took place, but it also ascended to the level
of the Special Group meetings. During December 1960,
the Special Group questioned the need for increased
numbers of Air Force personnel at both US and foreign
bases; and there also was discussion about the increas-
ing use of USAF personnel to fly missions in support
of Project JMATE, including over-flights of Cuba.
Resistance to involving US personnel frequently came
from Deputy Secretary of Defense, James H. Douglas,
during the course of the Special Group meetings; and
Douglas was supported frequently by Thomas Mann, the
TO SECRET
Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs.
The Special Group was particularly concerned about the
Agency's requests to operate direct supply, or resupply,
flights to the dissident elements in Cuba out of Opalocka
or Eglin. There were no positive responses given to
the problems presented in any of these areas, prior to
the end of December 1960. 84/
In a memorandum to the DDP on 21 December 1960,
OSD had apparently set 15 January 1961 as the date
for pulling out all of the Air Force personnel assigned
to the Agency who are on TDY at JMADD. The DDP and
the A/DDP/A, Messrs. Bissell and Barnes, respectively,
were ready to joust with higher echelons in the Depart-
ment of Defense; but cooler heads prevailed when it
was pointed out to the DDP that Major General Winston
P. Wilson, Deputy Chief, Air National Guard Bureau
had recently stated that he would be quite willing to
have the Air National Guard do anything that it could
to contribute to the success of Project JMATE. Conse-
quently, it was agreed that approaches be made to the
Air Force to modify the date for the withdrawal of
their personnel from JMADD until ANG replacements had
been organized. In question were 15 positions which
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TOP CRET
the Air Force was filling at the Retalhuleu Base. 85/
The decision to turn to the Air National Guard
for qualified air operations personnel in January 1961
was not any hurried decision on the part of DPD planners.
Shortly after the authorization for DPD to participate
in Project JMATE, contact had been made with General
Wilson. Sidney Stembridge, a security officer for
DPD, and Lt. Col. George Gaines made the initial con-
tact with General Wilson. One of the reasons for
visiting Wilson, was that the ANG in Washington had
two B-26's which the DPD representatives asked if
they could borrow to train crews. This was agreeable
to Wilson; and when additional planes and crews were
needed, Wilson took DPD to visit the commanding officer
of the Georgia Air National Guard, General Davey --
who in turn sent them to General Reid Doster of the
Alabama Air National Guard. General tevey's Georgia
Air Unit had phased out of the 3-26's, but Gen. Doster's
Alabama Group was still familiar with that particular
aircraft. 86/
Following the initial contact with General Wilson,
Sid Stembridge and a contracting officer from DPD,
Lyle Miller, signed up five of the DC Air National Guard
- 70 -
TOP ECRET
between 11 and 15 August 1960 for maintenance work
on the B-26's, explaining to the ANG members that the
work would be outside the continental United States
and would be for a period of thirty days. Cover
stories, emergency contact numbers, insurance, and
secrecy agreements were all concluded with the CIA
representatives; and this was the first contingent
of Air National Guardsmen who were signed aboard for
service with Project JMATE. 87/
Before the operation closed out in April 1961,
there were 33 members of the Alabama ANG, 21 from the
Arkansas ANG, 14 from Georgia, 9 from the District of
Columbia, and 2 from California who served with the
project.* Of nearly 80 ANG personnel, who participated
in the anti-Castro effort, 19 served as overflight
crews.** The four Americans who lost their lives over
* The California duo were apparently not in the ANG
in that State, but "were spotted by Guard or military
contacts."
** In addition to those 80 who actually, belonged to
National Guard Units, another 50 contract employees with
either ANG affiliation or spotted by ANG personnel
were under contract to one of Project JMATE's cover
companies
Ligure voLionly used for total ANG participation in
or were direct hires. consequently, tne
the Project is 130.
- 71 -
TOP CRET
Cuba on 19 April 1961 were all members of the Alabama
ANG contingent. 88/
Major Billy B. Campbell, who was initially put
in charge of the B-26 air training program down in
Guatemala, also played a key role with Sid Stembridge
in obtaining support from the ANG. In an interview
with the author, Campbell made the following remarks:
We borrowed General Wilson's two
National Guard airplanes out of Andrews
AFB to do the initial training in.
These aircraft were much lighter and
much faster than the airplanes we
finally received, which were the ones
from the Far East. Flown back to Kelly
Air Force Base and refitted, we flew
them all down to Guat City. Getting
back to the qualifications and the train-
ing, and the people we were training ...
among the areas that I was really
worried about was the maintenance of
the airplanes, the maintenance of the
guns on the B-26's, and making sure
that we had the proper people to load
the cargo aircraft for paradrops. This
is why we initially went back and started
asking for Americans to come on down and
help, and I was the one that proposed to
get people out of the National Guard.
They had B-26's in Georgia, in Alabama,
and in Arkansas at the time. Sid
(Stembridge] was well aware of this.
In fact, we flew together with Gen.
[Reid] Doster on his airplane back in
the fall of 1960 to Birmingham; and
Doster said you can have all my people
who want to volunteer, as long as I go
myself. We pointed out to him that we
couldn't take a two-star General and
TOP1 FCRET
put him down there in charge of the
people. In any event, he did go down
and was there in Puerto Cabezas during
the operation. This takes us back again,
too ... we got the initial maintenance
people down and this gave me a cadre of
qualified people to take care of the
three types of airplanes we had then. 89/
There
is evidence that the push for the acquisi-
tion of Air National Guard personnel -- even prior to
the time that OSO/DOD and the Agency came
of the ways -- was overly successful. In
Headquarters cabled MADD as follows:
to the parting
early
1. Headquarters feels mandatory all
(repeat all) ANG personnel be assigned
MADD and kept busy.
2. If necessary to provide space,
return all
cept supply to EGLI.
personnel, ex-
3. Realize this may create temporary
hardship but feel inability utilize all
ANG personnel after all out push to re-
cruit may seriously affect relations with
ANG. ANG by long odds, most reliable
and cooperative source personnel. 90/
December
That this appreciation of support from the ANG
was not overstated was made quite clear in January
1961 when the Agency's representatives again went to
General Wilson. They requested five officers and
seven additional enlisted personnel, explaining to
the General that the USAF was about to withdraw its
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TOP CRET
personnel from the project. As usual, Wilson was quite
sympathetic; and he immediately called Brigadier General
Frank A; Bailey, Commander of the Arkansas Guard. Gen.
Bailey was told that the agency representatives would
shortly be in contact with him and that he should fully
support CIA's request for officer and enlisted personnel.
When the contact was made with Gen. Bailey, he was fully
cooperative as he had been in the previous instances
where Arkansas ANG personnel had been provided to
Project JMATE. 91/
As D-Day drew nearer, the underemployment of ANG
personnel apparently was a thing of the past; for by
1 March 1961, the Agency again had made advances to
the Air Force about the possibility of using USAF
personnel in Nicaragua. As in the past, however, DOD's
position was that another secret agreement -- this
time with the government of Nicaragua -- would be
necessary before military personnel could be utilized.*
Even as the approach was being made to OSO/DOD, Jake
Esterline was suggesting to the DPD that ANG support
* As detailed in Volume II, a secret agreement had
to be negotiated with Guatemala before DOD would assign
US Army Special Forces trainers to JMTRAV.
- 74 -
TO
ECR ET
would be easier come by than that from DOD. Jim
Cunningham, Assistant Chief to Stanley Beerli in DPD,
was pointing out that with the additions
craft to Eglin to support Project JMATE,
of the problems of handling B-26's which
delivered to Field 3 from Hill Air Force
of C-54 air-
to say nothing
were being
Base, the
problems of loading and unloading, logistics storage,
and painting of aircraft at the Eglin Base were so
great that DPD might seriously have to consider draft-
ing people from throughout the Agency or going into
the open market to obtain blue collar workers. 92/
As a final note on the Agency's relations with
OSO/DOD, it should be emphasized that without exception
the air operations personnel -- and others familiar
with the air operations -- who were interviewed by
the author were universal in their agreement that Col.
Fltcher Prouty, the DOD/OSO USAF representative, was
particularly as the
decision was made to withdraw USAF personnel from the
overseas base in Guatemala. Gar Thorsrud put it in
the following, rather explicit terms:
There. was a
by the name of
thing he could
guy over there [at DOD/OSO]
Fletcher Prouty -- who was
-- and he did every-
to put stumbling blocks
- 75 -
ECRET
in front of the Agency, all through that
operation ... There were some situations
? with our liaison with the Air Force
through Fletcher Prouty that I think were
?93/
D. Initial Planning for Air Operations
It has already been noted that when DPD officially
came into the JMATE program in July 1960 various aspects
of air operations had been considered in the planning
-- infiltration and exfiltration, propaganda drops,
supply drops, and the possibility of tactical targets
for combat aircraft. Even before being assigned to
support JMATE, DPD had anticipated some
which would be necessary to the success
requirements
of WH/4's air
operations. As early as 6 April 1960, for
Casimiro "Chick" Barquin participated in a
example,
meeting
with representatives of the Photo Intelligence Center
"to gather all known sources of coverage of Cuba ...
It is my opinion that complete coverage of the island
will be required if any PM efforts are, envisioned
which will be supported by air." 94/
That Barquin's insticts were excellent was
verified by a memorandum from George Gaines, Jr., the
Chief, JMCLEAR to the Acting Chief, DPD on 2 August
- 76 -
1960 when Gaines wrote:
It was determined in the meeting of
the JMARC Task Force on 2 August 1960
that photo coverage of the target coun-
try was necessary in order to adequately
affect the JMARC Project. This photo
coverage should be done so as to provide
JMARC intelligence with a finished product
not later than 19 September 1960. The
specific requirement is to determine, with
the latest equipment available, the loca-
tion and type of aircraft in the target
country. 95/*
From the outset of DPD's involvement, it was clear to
Gaines that the first step in a successful operation
would have to be the elimination of Castro's Air
Force.
Such aerial reconnaissance as had been done on
Cuba was principally the work of the US Navy. At the
time that DPD became involved in the project, the push
was on for the use of the U-2; but this had to be
cleared not only with the DCI, but also with the
Special Group 5412. During the discussion of the first
planned U-2 overflight, Mr. Gordon Gray, President
Eisenhower's Assistant for National Security Affairs
showed signs of trauma -- perhaps residual from the
shoot-down of Francis Gary Powers in May 1960; and
* Emphasis by author.
77 -
CRET
in the Special Group meeting of 20 October 1960, Gray
insisted
that the pilot be carefully selected and
that he be thoroughly briefed by a "CIA
official, senior enough, to have your
(Allen Dulles's] full confidence." He
said 'that he thought it particularly im-
portant to direct the pilot not to land
on Cuban soil under any circumstances, and
also that the pilot be well indoctrinated
in the cover story.* 96/
When the Special Group met on 27 October 1960,
General Cabell told the group that the 13-2 flight was
then in progress, and this led to the expression of
some controversial opinions between Assistant Secre-
tary for Defense Douglas, and other members of the
Special Group. Douglas said that he saw little
necessity for running the risk inherent in the U-2
flight, suggesting that the only purpose of the
flight was to get photographic verification of the
existence of Bloc military equipment in Cuba; but
other members of the group disagreed with Douglas's
view. Mx. Merchant of State pointed out that there
was a minimal risk of serious mishap, and emphasized
* The Powers' shoot-down also appeared to be an issue
when the use of the U-2 had been discussed a, few weeks
earlier during a White House meeting which DDP and
WH/4 representatives had with Col. John Eisenhower. 97/
- 78 -
TOP CR ET .
TO SECRET
that there was a considerable need to obtain adequate
topographic information. Merchant went on even further,
however, and noted: "that it will always be easy to
find some reason not to run such a mission, e.g., if.
it is not the election [upcoming US Presidential elec-
tion of November 1960], it might be the General Assembly
or something else." Undaunted, Mr. Gray said that any
subsequent U-2 operations would also be subject to
prior discussion with the Special Group before being
flown.* 98/
As the reader can well imagine, there was a
growing need for overhead reconnaissance of Cuba as
Project JMATE progressed. Requirements concerned not
only potential air targets, but potential troop landing
sites, landing strips for light aircraft for black
operations (including seaplane landings), and possible
areas for the Brigade landing or deception activities
to divide Castro's forces. With the approach of D-Day
in early April of 1961, Col. Gaines was meeting with
representatives of the Special Projects Branch of DPD
* The Special Group also was to be advised of any
planned overflights of Cuba -- reconnaissance, supply,
or other -- but notification of any but U-2 flights
might specifically be waived by the DCI. 98a/
- 79 -
to formalize the final reconnaissance requirements for
Project JMATE. Among other items it was agreed that
there would be complete overhead coverage of Cuba
beginning as of D-3; there would be both pre- and
post-strike reconnaissance of primary targets; and
the post-strike photography would be done as soon as
possible after the initial D-Day strike, with follow-
up coverage on the afternoon of D-Day. Such follow-
up post-strike coverage as required, or special photo-
graphic requirements that developed during the course
of the operation, were also noted in the discussions
of 3 April 1961 between Gaines and Lt. Col. Songer of
the Special Projects Branch. 99/*
In addition to the early call for photo reconnais-
sance requirements, there were other considerations of
immediacy to early planning for air operations. Soon
after Eisenhower's anti-Castro program had been announced
WH/4 had deferred on a DPD request for estimates of
air transport requirements for its operations in sup-
port of the various anti-Castro guerrilla forces in
* At the time that these reconnaissance requirements
were being discussed, the operational plan still called
for the D-Day Air Strike.
- 80 -
TOP CRET
TOP ECR ET
Cuba. A 13 August 1960 memorandum from Chief, WH/4
to DPD is one of the most interesting documents that
has been surfaced in the course of preparing the
History of the Bay of Pigs Operation. Jake Esterline
made a casual reference to the document during
the course of an Oral History interview, but he re-
called that the memorandum outlined the anti-Castro
program as initially conceived -- not as it ultimately
failed. For this reason, there are a number of points
the reader might consider apropos of the plans finally
put into operation.
Among its key features the document called for
the initiation of air support operations against Cuba
to begin between August and 15 November 1960. One
paragraph of this memorandum read as follows:
Aircraft requirements are predicted
on mounting the air and maritime assault
for a base or bases within 450 statute
mile radius of targets in Cuba. Base
to target distances in excess of this
criteria are unrealistic and unsupport-
able from continuing air and maritime
operations utilizing World War II vintage
air and sea support, on a scale compatible
with nonattributability to the US Govern-
ment. 100/
In the discussion of air suppression operations
which were scheduled to begin in November 1960, the
TOPT
destruction of the Castro Air Force on D-Day was to
be achieved by attacks on eight principal airfields;
and, in addition, D-Day air strikes also were scheduled
for non-military bases with the intent to cripple the
mobile reserves in the barracks and to destroy
materiel. 101/
Discussing air cover operations during the
assault phase, the following paragraph appears:
Provision for fighter escort for air
assault forces, air cover of amphibious
force, and on-call close air support of
ground operational force in all surface
operations encompassing approximately
100 square miles of area. Estimated
aircraft requirement two fighters on
station during daylight hours. 102/
Further examination of this document indicates
that there were to be nine apparently small air-mari-
time infiltrations in the period between August and
15 November 1960; and on D-Day the basic assault was
to be a 170 man combat assault force airlifted into
Cuba, carrying crew served weapons, mortars, recoiless
rifles, small arms, bazookas, and demolitions. To
back up the initial strike force, there was to be
another 170 man contingency force which "subsequent
to delivery of strike force on an on-call basis, for
execution within 6 hours of return from first airlift." 103/
- 82 -
TOP RET
TOP kCRET
This was the guerrilla warfare plan which Jake
Esterline thought might be mounted against Castro's
forces. Had this plan been followed, air operations
could have been launched only from the Yucatan peninsula
or the Continental United States. The only other
Caribbean areas that would fit within the air range
indicated in the referenced memorandum would have been
the Bahama Islands and the Cayman Islands; and Montego
Bay in Jamaica would have been at the extreme range
for attacks on Havana. Eglin Air Force Base, too,
would have been ruled out as the site for a launch
from the Continental United States. Also, in terms
of the air operation, the extension of the distance
between the operational base and the target country
ruled out the possibility of using light aircraft for
reconnaissance between the ground forces and the air
force, and it also eliminated the possibility of using
the light aircraft to spot targets so that guerrilla
units could take out such targets themselves.
Through early September at least, a 500 mile
maximum radius between operational base and target
was still apparently the rule. Similarly, the use of
USAF/USN airfields and Caribbean possessions of the
- 83 -
Tops ET
British apparently had not been completely ruled out
as of mid October 1960 -- at least Jack Hawkins and
Jake Esterline still had thoughts about such facilities. 104/
Frank Egan, Chief of ground forces training for
JMATE also made a case for combining the use of bases
in the Bahamas and in Florida for tactical air, air
transport, and maritime operations. In mid-September
1960, the Acting Chief, Western Hemisphere Division,
went so far as to say of the Egan proposals:
While these recommendations have not
yet received policy approval, it is felt
that operational requirements will dictate
approval essentially as recommended, and
that this paper combined with anticipated
air and paramilitary ground material [sic]
requirements (Attachments 2 and 3), will
enable you to begin the development of
base and transportation support require-
ments. 105/
As it turned out, Egan's recommendations were
not approved for the use of either the Bahamas or CONUS
as the site for operational strike bases.
In the lengthy memorandum in which he summarized
the nature of the combined Air/Maritime guerrilla attack
on Cuba, Egan came up with one estimate illustrating
a problem that plagued DPD throughout the duration of
JMATE -- that the "air experts" on the WH/4 staff would
- 84 -
TOP ECRET
TO ECR ET
make suggestions about air operations which had no
necessary relation to the facts. In commenting on
the enemy capability to interdict or deny JMATE the
use of the Florida and British airbases, Egan stated:
By air attack the Government of Cuba's
current capability to mount air strike
operations of any magnitude against JMARC
bases is considered to be minimal. GOC,
however, does possess the capability to
conduct small scale air attacks (1-2
planes) utilizing B-26 aircraft. Major
limitation to this capability is the
current lack of politically reliable GOC
flying crews. 106/
The point, of course, which Egan overlooked was
that Castro did have the T-33's and Sea Furies which
could reach the bases which might be established in
either the Bahamas or in the southern part of Florida.
The FAR was to be the primary target of much of the
photo reconnaissance that has just been mentioned.
The August 1960 USAF report identified the various
types and numbers of aircraft, including an estimate
that among others there were some 30-odd combat types
including B-26's, Sea Furies, and T-33's. Of these
USAF intelligence estimated that there were 12 B-26's,
6-8 Sea Furies, and 4 T-33's, which might be used for
- 85 -
TOPS
RET
reconnaissance or light bombing missions. 1077* But
the report claimed that there was at that time a
shortage of pilots available for these aircraft and
in fact, stated:
The Cuban Rebel Air Force (CRAP) con-
tinues to be a highly disorganized force,
with very little operational capability.
The arrest of some 20 CRAP' officers in
May stripped the Air Force of its most
qualified pilots, including nine that
were jet-qualified. ... Although the
Cuban Naval Air (CNA) was abolished and
integrated with the CRAF, this will not
increase the CRAF's capability. Thirteen
(13) naval pilots, who were trained at
Pensacola during the past seven years
were told that because of this training
and their orientation, they were no long-
er part of the armed forces ... Total
personnel strength of the CRAP remains
unknown. After the arrest in May of some
20 CRAP officers and some 20 enlisted men,
the CRAP reportedly had remaining, 4 USAF
jet qualified pilots, an unknown number
of assimilated transport pilots from
Cubana Civil Airlines, and CRAP qualified
B-26, transport, and light aircraft
pilots. 109/
The canard that Cuban airmen would prove to be
an unreliable and undependable factor in any air op-
erations that Castro might mount made little or no
* A report by an ad hoc USIB Committee showed the
1960 inventory for FAR as 14 Sea Furies, 13 B-26's,
and 7 T-33's. It also showed 6 "TBM-38." Presumably
this was a typographical error for TBM-3S, an aircraft
which, had it been operational, would have been of
great concern to JMATE planners because of the threat
it represented to shipping. 108/
- 86 -
TOP CRET
CETER
impression on the principals who were responsible for
planning the air operations -- Beerli, Gaines, and
Thorsrud clearly were concerned about FAR. In fact,
George Gaines is on the record as having said:
We did not have to be told that one air-
craft in the air would do us a great deal
of damage; and for that reason, our under-
standing of the operations plan was that
there would be no landing on the island
until we had destroyed all air-to-ground
and air-to-air capability of the Government
of Cuba aircraft. 111/*
and Stan Beerli noted:
We had U-2 coverage ... and Art Lundahl
and his people were giving us detailed
readout of where everything was ... espe-
cially in terms of what had to be done to
knock out the Cuban Air Force. 112/**
It might be well at this point to mention that
subsequent to the close out of JMATE, there was specu-
lation that the Air Operations people failed to con-
sider the Castro T-33's as the serious threat that
they proved to be. These aircraft had been identified
in the Castro inventory in the August 1960 memorandum
* *
Emphasis by writer.
Thorsrud also noted that they had U-2 photographs
of every serviceable aircraft on the island. 113/
\-87 -
P SECR ET
from USAF intelligence.* Before the end of the year,
it was known that the T-33 jets were armed with two
.50 caliber machine guns; and, in addition, on the
last day of 1960, one source had reported that FAR
was in the process of equipping the T-33's with two
additional .50 caliber guns. 115/**
The question of knowledgeability about the arma-
ment or the lack of armament on the Castro T-33's was
a subject of some misunderstanding during the Taylor
Committee investigations ordered by President Kennedy
following the failure at the Bay of Pigs. Col. Stanley
Beerli, in testifying before the group, said that the
FAR B-26's were the primary concern of the JMATE
planners and that the capability of the T-33's had
been underestimated because it was believed that they
were unarmed. 116/ In discussing the subject with the
author, Gar Thorsrud, Chief of Air Operations at the
time of the invasion, however, pointed out that there
* As nearly as can be discovered from the records,
however, nothing in particular was said about the
USAF's statement that they had reports that the T-33's
had been designated an interceptor role in FAR. 114/
** No such armament was installed at the time of the
invasion.
- 88 -
TOPS
TO ECR ET
was no question in the minds of the people closest to
the Air Operations that the T-33's were armed. The
question was one of how many .50 caliber machine guns
they were mounting -- not that they were unarmed. 117/
George Gaines excused Col. Beerli for not knowing the
seriousness with which the Task Force regarded the
T-33's because Col. Beerli wasn't actually as close
to the air operations details as he (Gaines). Being
dependent on briefings for information, Beerli may
have been misinformed, or uninformed, about the armament
of the T-33's. In any event, Gaines pointed out that
"anything that flew with a gun was important to us." 118/*
* _Even on questioning Gar Thorsrud, 15 years after
the event, one could sense the degree of resentment
-- understandably so -- at being asked if the air
operations people really did appreciate the T-33, for
by no stretch of the imagination could Thorsrud, the
Air National Guard pilots, and the contract American
fliers be considered novices in combat air operations.
Thorsrud also emphasized the fact that the Brigade's
Cuban pilots understood what they were going to be up
against in flying B-26's into air space protected by
the T-33's. Thorsrud was far more willing to elaborate
about some of the details of the combat characteristics
of B-26's vs. T-33's than he had been when the oppor-
tunity was presented to him for such discussion in the
course of the Taylor Committee investigation.
In response to a Committee member's question of
"Were you surprised at the effectiveness of the T-33's"?
Thorsrud's terse answer was: "I've flown T-33's --
they're a good airplane. We weren't surprised at
(footnote continued on following page)
TOP Sa RET
With the destruction of FAR aircraft as the
principal objective of air operations, the discussions
through the late fall of 1960 and early winter of 1961
focused on the number of air strikes which would be
permitted vs. the number which were necessary and the
order of target priority. By the end of 1960, one of
the problems appears to have been over management of
Project JMATE. Air operations questions were being
discussed in the Special Group and, in addition,
Tracy Barnes, the A/DDP/A, was taking a more than
active interest in air plans. In mid-December, a
Barnes memorandum to Chief, WH/4 strongly recommended
that a program of three days of fairly intensive air
strikes, then under consideration, be dropped because
it would be objected to by Livingston Merchant of the
Department of State, among others. Merchant, according
their capabilities once they were airborne." 119/
Chief, Project JMATE, Jake Esterline, also was extremely
concerned about the possibilities of jet aircraft being
employed against the Brigade's B-26's. In the case
of Esterline, the fear was that MIG-15's were going
to be introduced into Cuba before the Brigade conducted
its operation. It was known, for example, that Cuban
pilots were training in MIG's in Czechoslovakia. Al-
though Esterline and some others have suggested that
there actually were crated MIG's in Cuba at the time
of the Bay of Pigs operation, the author has been unable
to confirm this. 120/
- 90 -
TOP RET
to Barnes, would object because such intensive attacks
would clearly indicate that the US was behind-the op-
eration and then the Cubans could make a case in the
UN which would be difficult for the US representatives
to handle. Barnes went on to suggest that:
All of us try to eliminate important
opposition whether air or land by all
possible means other than air strikes.
Various types of sabotage are, of course,
obvious alternatives. If the Cuban air
strength remains as deficient as it now
appears to be and if some sabotage opera-
tions can be effected, it would seem
that air strikes in support of the landing
could be restricted to a small number of
planes directed at relatively few targets
and making their attack early on the
morning of the landing. By relatively
few planes, I have in mind, a maximum of
three. 121/
Barnes believed that the small number of aircraft
would provide a rationale for blaming the attacks on
the FRD -- that the FRD could have financed a small
number of aircraft, but they coUld not possibly finance
the large number of B-26's being acquired in the JMATE
inventory.
In his 28 December 1960 response to Barnes's
memorandum, Jake Esterline conceded that it was infeas-
ible to expect a two-week period of air strikes prior
to the landing; and Esterline said that neither he nor
- 91 -
TOPS RET
TOP
CRET
Col. Hawkins had seriously considered that possibility.
Chief, WH/4 did stress the fact that a three day period
of intensive air strikes could be a critical factor
in the success of plans against Castro. He did, how-
ever, recognize that there was a political problem for
the US Government in continuing the air strikes over
this length of time, and he went on to suggest:
Recognizing, however, the difficult
political problem this creates for the
government community, an acceptable com-
promise would be D-Day minus one. This
compromise is somewhat risky as new in-
formation coming in from controlled and
sensitive sources indicates a formidable
array of retaliatory power being pulled
together by CASTRO. Nevertheless, we
believe we can live with this compromise
if the D-Day minus one strike is made in
sufficient strength to ensure negation of
the Cuban capability. I might add that
this concept was discussed at some length
with Ambassador Wilhauer, who seemed to
think he could live with it in his dealings
with the Special Group. 122/*
Barnes apparently was indefatigable, for on the
same day that Esterline was addressing the above
* Emphasis by author. This reference to the possi-
bility of a pre D-Day air strike -- D minus 1 -- as
acceptable to Chief, WH/4 is important in a later
part of the story of air operations. This is the
earliest positive reference that the author found
in the record.
?I'Lc.ITOPS ET
memorandum to him, he, in turn, was addressing to
Esterline -- again -- the question of the number
of air strikes or alternatives to air strikes.
As he had done earlier in the month,
raised as a possible alternative the
air strikes completely. Barnes also
possibility of supporting an enclave
ritory "but not pushing forward with
attacks." Just how this enclave was
Barnes re-
elimination of
suggested the
on Cuban ter-
aggressive air
to be defended
against Castro's forces without strong air support
was left unclear. 123/
General Cabell, the DDCI, also got involved
in the question of strikes, when on 7 February 1961,
he issued some "injunctions" (apparently to Jake
Esterline for Esterline had a memorandum for record)
listing several items, the last one of the list
reading as follows:
Re the D-1 effort, opposition in
Defense [DOD] to this was expressed
and the Director was inclined to
agree. Gen. Cabell said he would
hold firm on the concept that D minus
1 was necessary, but that his compro-
mise position with the Director would
be that strikes on D minus 1 would
not take place before the afternoon
- 93 -
TO
ECRET
of said day, extending into the morning
of the attack. 1241*
* To the author's knowledge, this position was never
introduced nor defended by Gen. Cabell when push came
to shove on the critical issues of follow on strikes
to D minus 2 and cancellation of the D-Day strike.
It is interesting to note, too, that if the language
of Esterline's memorandum is correct, then it was
apparently anticipated that there would be strikes
(plural) rather than any single strike.
- 94 -
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CRET
Part II
Acquisition and Training of Air Crews
A. Basic Plan for Flight Training
The problem of the acquisition of aircraft for
the anti-Castro operations was discussed earlier in
this volume. This section will concern itself with
the recruitment and training of pilots to fly those
aircraft, and the initiation of overflight operations.
The basic program for training of anti-Castro pilots
is set forth in a document which probably originated
in July or early August of 1960. It was prepared by
DPD with Jake Esterline's concurrence. The Air Sup-
port Annex I (Eye) to Paramilitary Operations Plan #1
(Operations Plan 60, AD-5), set forth its initial
mission as follows:
A. To conduct tactical air training,
designed to produce 12-15 combat qualified
pilots in B-26 aircraft no later than 1 No-
vember 1960.
B. To conduct air training designed
to produce 8-10 C-46 transport pilots as
soon as practicable. 1/
In terms of its operational responsibility, the
plan went on to say:
- 95 -
TOP CRET
TOP CR ET
The development of a controllable,
deniable air strike force has been levied
on QKDAWN, in support of PM Plan #1 of
JMARC. The requirement calls for a de-
terrent force, capable of neutralizing
various operational targets such as ship-
ping, docking facilities, economic stock-
piles, and, in general, harassment of the
target area regime to include marginal
close order support to the extent of the
aircraft's capability. A task force
capable of six month's sustained opera-
tion is planned. 2/*
As the nature of the over-all anti-Castro program
evolved away from the guerrilla warfare concept through
the early fall of 1960, so, too, would the air operations
concept change from one of harassment to one of tactical
targeting. The basic programs set forth in this initial
plan for the training and development of the anti-Castro
Air Force would, in large part, continue to be the
policies followed at JMADD, the air training base at
Retalhuleu, Guatemala. Among the many details spelled
out in the plan, some of the following are important
in terms of their impact on the ongoing air training
operation. 3/
1. The definition of the responsibilities of
the Chief of Air Training at JMADD was spelled out,
* The reader might note that in the above statement of.
utilization of the deterrent force, no mention is made
of an attack on Castro's Air Force.
- 96 -
TOP ET
not only in terms of flight proficiency of the B-26
and C-46 pilots, but also for establishing
accordance with procedures established by
liaison in
in Guatemala -- a point which would provide
some differences of opinion through the months of
training ahead.
2. The responsibility for administration of the
JMADD Base, particularly the responsibilities of the
administrative officer were clearly spelled out to
indicate that this individual would be a WH appointee
responsible for the personnel services and housekeep-
ing of the base facilities, whereas the Chief of Air
Training would be responsible for personnel, aircraft,
and services involved in the air operations; and, again,
this point provided some differences of opinion.
3. All times were to be
Meridian Time -- a requirement
possible point f9r turning the
salvaging some of the Brigade,
reported in Greenwich
which, at the last
invasion around or
was misinterpreted,
ignored, or lost in the shuffle of operational pres-
sures and contributed to the tragic end of air opera-
tions over Cuba in April 1961.
- 97 -
TOP CRET
4. Some specifics were also spelled out for
including the broad responsibility
"to insure that KUBARK regulations pertaining to cover,
security, travel, finance, logistics, and others are
This instruction proved broad enough to
observed."
provide for some points of disagreement between
and the DPD representatives ,31wet JMADD.
5. HBILKA (Civil Air Transport) was charged in
the original Air Operations Plan with providing two
B-26 instructor pilots, a maintenance supervisor for
B-261s, and responsibility to provide C-46 aircraft
as required.
6. The Photo Interpretation Center was charged,
among other things, with establishing a PI facility at
JMASH "for post-strike analysis."* This requirement
raises interesting questions: why establish a PI
facility in Miami rather than at the strike operations
base? or why at JMASH rather than at Headquarters?
This seems to have been an unnecessary step in the
process of getting post-strike photography analyzed
and the results back to the field operation. The
* MASH -- Forward Operations Base, Miami.
- 98 -
TOP CR ET
annex on Logistic Support spelled out in great detail
the procedures that would be followed for the acquisi-
tion and supply of materiel (and materials) necessary
to the air training operation, sharply defining the
respective roles of JMATE and JMCLEAR in such acquisi-
tions.
OPS Plan #60 AD-5 also provided for the movement
of the two Air National Guard dual-controlled B-26's
black to JMADD, suggesting that HBILKA or KWCANINE
pilots be utilized to make the
It was hoped that the planes could be re-
transfer.
turned to the Air National Guard within 30 days, but
it did provide that they should be held until replace-
ment aircraft were on hand. Those B-26's which were
to be refurbished by the USAF were also to be flown
black out of the US to JMADD, and the expectation was
that the HBILKA crews would be utilized to the greatest
degree possible for such ferrying flights. Interest-
ingly enough, sterilization of the ANG B-26's at Eglin
was scheduled to be completed within a period of six
days following arrival of the aircraft. The first
four B-26's being acquired from the USAF, however,
were apparently going to require six weeks. 4/
TO ECR ET
For the B-26 pilots, Plan- 60 AD-5 provided 20
hours of ground school and a total of 20 sorties with
51 hours of flying time during a minimum of 15 days
from the first flight. In addition to the normal
standards which might be expected of any flight train-
ing program, such as thorough briefings, provisions
for rest and meals, flight patterns away from populated
areas, record keeping, etc., there were one or two
specific items of special interest. Tower operators
were to be encouraged to speak in their native tongue
(Spanish), and for all flights that were scheduled
for more than three hours duration, or when live
ammunition was being carried, an instructor pilot
(an American) had to be a participant in the flight.
In view of some problems which would subsequently be
surfaced, it also is interesting to note that:
PBPRIME military interest in this
operation must not be compromised.
Political discussions between trainees
and PBPRIME personnel will not be
tolerated. All efforts will be made
to assure harmonious conditions and
high morale. 5/
The training of C-46 pilots apparently would
present less difficulty than B-26 training because
it would be primarily a matter of transition and
- 100 -
training in night navigation. To get C-46 pilots
combat-ready would require only five sorties with a
total flight time of 21 hours and a minimum elapsed
time of seven days; and, additionally, it was provided
that the training requirements could be satisfied
during the course of local cargo runs between JMADD
and the San Jose, Guatemala, airfield. 6/ There was
no provision included in Operational Plan 60 AD-5 for
the training or transition of C-54 pilots or flight
crew.
B. Trainers and Trainees
As already mentioned, pilots from Eglin Air
Force Base, HBILKA pilots from the Agency's operations
in the Far East, and Air National Guard pilots pro-
vided the pool of expertise which would train the
Cuban air crews. The first contacts with the ANG
were made in Washington, D.C. through Maj. Gen. Winston
P. Wilson, Deputy Chief, National Guard Bureau. In
all there were nearly 130 members of Air National
Guard units, or individuals who were affiliated with
-- or closely known by members of Air National Guard
units -- who signed on as contract employees of
- 101 -
TOP CRET
TOPS'RET
Project JMATE and participated in the air training
activity as flight instructors or as ground and main-
tenance personnel -- a cadre without which the Brigade
Air Force never could have gotten off the ground.
Albert C. Persons, one of the transport pilots from
this group, has given a good first hand account of
the recruitment process involved in obtaining the
services of transport pilots out of the Alabama Air
National Guard. 7/
In addition to the Air National Guard personnel,
the records show that two United States Forest Service
licensed riggers and PDO's served under contract at
the TIDE/MADD complexes. James M. Allen was at both
MADD and TIDE, and it appears that Fred A. Barnowsky
might also have been at one or both of the overseas
bases. 8/ Recruitment of Air National Guard and
affiliated personnel began as early as August 1960,
and continued through the period of March of 1961. 9/*
* Although there is no firm evidence that they partici-
pated directly in the actual flight training of the
Cuban crews, a number of pilots (OSTIARIES)
also contributed significantly to the success of air
operations. When their original program phased out
in the fall of 1959, they had been moved from
to and when JMATE got unaer way, .
they served as air crews flying passengers and materiel
between the Florida bases and Guatemala. l0./
- 102 -
TO ECRET
It might be emphasized, too, that from the initial
Agency contact with Gen. Wilson in Washington the
Agency's contacts with the state ANG units were main-
tained with CO's of General rank.
Once having insured that adequate trainers and
senior maintenance personnel would be available, the
next step for JMATE was to recruit Cubans for potential
service as pilots and air crewmen. One of the first
suggestions for a cadre of Cuban pilots originated
with Adm. Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations
and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. By mid-
August Burke raised the question of whether the dozen
Cubans who had recently completed flight training at
Pensacola had been considered as candidates for the
anti-Castro movement air force. Burke was of the
opinion that these pilot trainees were still in the
US. Unfortunately, however, all of the pilots had
completed their training before,30 June 1960, and
all of them had returned to Cuba -- where they were
all deprived of their commissions in the Cuban Armed
Forces and grounded! Their training in the United
States, of course, being the reason for considering
them to be of doubtful loyalty. 11/
- 103 -
Recruitment of Cuban aircrews was the responsi-
bility of the FRD in the Miami area. Candidates given
first consideration were those refugees who had been
members of the Air Force, Cubana Air Lines personnel,
private pilots, and former armed services personnel.
Some pilots had exited Cuba without any problem; but
others, such as Eduardo (Eddy) Ferrer who commandeered
a Cubana DC-3 at gun point and landed it in Miami,
had come out the hard way. 12/ Once the contact was
made through FRD channels, then the Agency's represen-
tatives got into the act of selecting those who would
go into the air training program. In discussing the
recruitment business, Billy B. Campbell, who initiated
the air training program at JMADD, stated that as
early as May 1960:
I ,was assigned another name (Billy
Carpenter) and was asked to go down to
Miami and recruit the initial Cubans
for the air training effort. Our goal
then Was to recruit pilots, mechanics,
or any personnel that we thought were
needed in association with setting up
the airbase and initiating training.
I met a Navy Lt. Commander and we set
up in a motel in Coral Gables and inter-
? viewed and recruited the first 75 or 76
pilots, engineers, and mechanics ...
We were told where to go, and people
would be fed to us ... We almost blew
- 104 -
TOP
CRET
ECR'ET
the whole thing the first day of recruit-
ing because the Agency had failed to pay
the rent on the motel. The landlady
came over to the motel -- it wasn't a
motel as such, it was little houses in
a cluster -- and she caught us recruit-
ing some of the initial Cuban pilots.
We had to make sure that she was paid
so that we could continue our job ...
The first operation was to train six
B-26 crews, and either two or four C-46
crews, and two C-54 crews ... and I think
our target date on that was October 1
[1960] or somewhere in that area. We met
our first target date. Then we were given
a new target date in November to train
more crews. 13/
Eduardo Ferrer, one of the Cubans who was re-
cruited to be a transport pilot, and the individual
who had flown a Cubana airliner out at gunpoint, was
one of those whom Billy Campbell interviewed. In
telling his story, Ferrer emphasized that Campbell's
questions were straightforward and were concerned
with Ferrer's qualifications as?a pilot. From Campbell,
Ferrer and the other Cubans were then passed on for
the security, medical, psychological, and psychiatric
interviews. Except for the initial interrogation
concerning their qualifications as fliers, the Cubans
took an extremely dim view of the five days of the
interrogation to which they were subjected. In re-
porting on his LCFLUTTER examination, Ferrer found
TOP CRET
TOP
CRET
that the interrogator appeared to be interested in
improving or acquiring a vocabulary of Spanish idioms.
Stating that he had no homosexual proclivities, Ferrer
used the word maricon, which the interrogator immediately
picked up, repeating it several times, as Ferrer said,
"con un horrible acento." 14/
The group of Cuban pilots found the questions not
only repititious, but also farcical. One of the pilot
group, in fact, claimed that he had answered most of the
written questions with obscenities, rather than telling
the truth suggesting that these were no basis on which
to judge qualifications of the individuals concerned.*
* Fausto Gomez, the pilot in question, reportedly said:
--- Si yo voy a los cammamentos depen-
diendo de estas pruebas, todo esto es una
farsa, porque cuando me canse de escribir
conteste las preguntas con bull shit ...
go to hell ... fuck you ... y asi
(If my going to camp depends on these
proofs, it's all a farce because when I
was tired of writing I answered the ques-
tions with "bullshit ... go to hell ...
fuck you.") 15/
According to Gar Thorsrud, Gomez's responses and attitude
put him at the bottom of the list of candidates for
flight training. Thorsrud, however, told the author
that Gomez, a former smuggler in the Cuban and Caribbean
area, proved to be a competent and loyal pilot. At one
point, according to Thorsrud, Gomez's intimate knowledge
of the coastal areas paid off in one of the few success-
ful air drops to anti-Castro dissidents in Cuba. 15a/
106 -
TOP CRET
TO SECRET
C. JMADD: Air Training Base, Retalhuleu, Guatemala
The initial recruitment efforts for air crews
began in August 1960, and by 23 September the air
training base, with the full cooperation of the Govern-
ment of Guatemala, had been established at Retalhuleu,
in the western part of Guatemala, approximately 40
kilometers NW of the Pacific Coast city of Champerico.*
By 23 September Cuban personnel at the base numbered
39 pilots, 2 navigators, 18 mechanics, a chaplain, and
a doctor. In addition, 8 PDO's, 2 radio operators, and
a number of guards had been recruited from the Cuban
infantry contingent training at Finca Helvetia (JMTRAV)
and were undergoing training at JMADD -- the crypt
assigned to the air base. The US contingent at JMADD
consisted of 9 staff, a contract cook, 2 contract PDO's,
6 HBILKA, 3 ANG, a USAF sergeant, and a USAF private
who also was a cook.** 16/ When the base began opera-
tions, it was made quite clear to all personnel --
Cuban and US -- that Major Billy B. Campbell would be
See Frontispiece.
** The Table of Organization planned for JMADD in
September 1960 is shown in Chart 2 following page
107.
SECRET
CHART 2
TABLE OF ORGANIZATION
Air Training Base
Retalhuleu, Guatemala
September 1960
HEADQUARTERS
1
DPD
1
Chief, Air Operations Retalhuleu*
14H/4
(2 Admin. personnel)
1
Civil Air Transport
Air Operations
Support Officers
Support Officer - 1
- Instructor Pilots - 2
Officer - 1
-Commo - 3
-Medical Officer - 1
- Engineering Office - 1
-Trainees - 40
-Security - 1
-Medical Corps - 1
-Paramilitary - 1
-Courier - 1
- Indigenous Personnel for
-Personal Equipment - 1
-Cooks - 2
Maintenance & Support - 57
-Tower Operators
(Indigenous) - 2
(3 Indigenous
helpers)
-Base Maintenance - 1
* Aircraft Inventory: 4 Combat B-26's,
2 Dual Controlled B-26's, 6 C-46's
ET
Source: Air Support Annex to
WH/4's Paramilitary Opera-
tions Plan No. 1 (Op. Plan
60 AD-5) 15 September 1960
TOP CRET
fully responsible for air operations at MADD in-
cluding both incoming and outgoing flights; and the
line of command from Campbell to Headquarters was
reinforced by Headquarters communications at subse-
quent intervals prior to Campbell's departure in
1961. 16a/ The bulk of this group had come out of
Opalocka black; and some like Eddy Ferrer, had been
aboard C-54's flown by the OSTIARIES.
Major Campbell and others who were associated
with these initial air force trainees were very high
in their praise of the qualifications of the group.
Many of the recruits had been Cuban military or com-
mercial pilots. The ex-military types were more or
less familiar with the B-26, and the commercial group,
with both C-46's and/or C-54's. Campbell emphasized
that the pilot instructors for this group were of
extremely high caliber. Throughout the course of
Project JMATE
at Eglin was subject to
constant pressures from all sides, and in the very
early days:
We had to maintain our aircraft at
Eglin, we had to assist in Guatemala,
and we had an operation going commer-
cially down in Ft. Lauderdale with
training crews there. We we
- 108 -
TO ECRET
TOP ECRET
pretty thin and we needed help. Initial-
ly, because the target dates that we had
were so early and then they kept changing
on us. 17/*
Eduardo Ferrer was in the first group of Cuban
pilot trainees to be flown from Opalocka to San Jose,
Guatemala.** From San Jose, they were transported by
bus to a coffee plantation near the town of Retalhuleu,
a drive of some four and a half hours from San Jose.
The coffee plantation, Finca Helvetia, was owned by
The Ft. Lauderdale operation to which Campbell
referred was run under cover of
tion was set up for transitioning ANU ana ontract
crews from C-54 operations. The program is discussed
in some detail in Persons's book, Bay of Pigs. 18/
** As shown on the map (see Frontispiece) flights
from CONUS to either Guatemalan or Nicaraguan bases
were instructed to avoid overflights of third countries.
11.1 upeL-
On return flights to the us, Tnorsrua saia many riignrs
came in at heights of 25 feet to avoid Air Defense
Command radar and then regained altitude to check with
the Miami control tower. 18a/
- 109 -
TOP CRET
Roberto Alejos.* Ferrer reported that there were
44 pilots included in the first group. Arriving in
Guatemala in late August 1960 they were joined on
9 September by 14 additional pilot trainees -- bringing
the total number to 58. 19/** They spent roughly two
weeks living in very primitive conditions in a coffee
warehouse at Finca Helvetia while waiting for comple-
tion of the BOQ and other facilities at Retalhuelu.***
The infantry Brigade was being trained at JMTRAV base
about 10 miles away from Helvetia -- also on property
owned by Robert Alejos.
* Alejos was a confidante of President Ydigoras and
the brother of the Guatemalan Ambassador to the United
States.
** The only explanation for the difference in the
reported number of Cuban pilot trainees between the
58 indicated by Ferrer and the 39 mentioned previously
in the JMADD cale of 23 September 1960 is that Ferrer
must have included ground crew and maintenance person-
nel in his pilot total.
*** Some discussion of the construction of the air
base facilities at Retalhuleu appears in Volume II
of this history. A full description of the construc-
tion effort is contained in Support Services Historical
Series OL-11, Agency Engineering Activity, 1947-66,
Feb 72, Vol. I, pp. 53-67, Vol. II, pp. 131-193. S.
For photos of JMADD, see Figures 1-23, pp. 455-478 of
this volume. Eduardo Ferrer has some interesting
vignettes of daily life of the trainees at both Hel-
vetia and MADD in Operaci6n Puma, pp. 50-73.
- 110 -
TOP RET
When informed by one of the North American train-
ers that JMADD would soon be ready for occupancy, Ferrer
claimed that the Cubans were told that they would be
trained in C-46's, C-54's, and B-26's, and that fighter
aircraft, either 1).-51 Mustangs or F-4U Corsairs, would
also be assigned. Hearing that the move to JMADD was
imminent, the Brigade Air Force proceeded to set up a
formal organization of the Air Group -- evidence of
the Cubans' concern for titles and status. This problem
would plague both the air and the infantry organization
throughout the course of the operation JMATE. The
pilot trainees were assigned squadrons, squadrons
being designated on the basis of the previous experi-
ence of the Cuban pilots. 20/*
The initial breakdown and responsibilities as shown
by Ferrer was as follows:
Adjutant Mario ZUNIGA;
Chief of Operations - Luis Cosine
Deputy Chief of Operations - Rene Garcia
Chief of Supply - Mario Tellechea
Chief of Security - Eduardo Ferrer
Chief of the C-54 Squadron - 0. Alvarez Builla
Dep. Chief of C-54 Squadron - Jose Perez Menendez
Chief of C-46 Squadron - Juan Perez
Deputy Chief of C-46 Squadron - Pedro Etchegoyen
Chief, B-26 Bombers - Jose A. Crespo
Deputy Chief, B-26 - Joaquin Varela
Chief, Personnel - Leonardo Seda
Chief, Radio Section - Cesar Luaices
Ferrer noted that he also was designated as a
Captain in the C-54 squadron. 21/
111 -
TOP ET
Aside from differences because of political
beliefs, Ferrer also was quite conscious of the dif-
ferences that developed between those who were ex-
military fliers and those who had served as civilian
pilots.. He reportedthat when it was the turn of the -
ex-military group to be responsible for preparing and
serving meals, there was a rigorous drill that was
S.O.P. -- "with the tables organized in perfect forma-
tion, the bottles of catsup, sugar bowls, and salt
shakers equally spaced, and in reach of everyone." 22/
The ext-naval officers were pointed to as being
the most meticulous and concerned with form. One of
the officers, in fact, reportedly posted a notice in
the dining area reading:
This mess has been served by members
of the Navy. Conduct yourself like a
gentleman and an officer. 23/
Following the move to JMADD, Ferrer pointed out
that the training got under way as they had been told
some time before, and he emphasized that the training
for the C-46 and the C-54 pilots was, in fact, a re-
training exercise rather than an initiation of train-
ing to pilots of those aircraft. The basic need for
the transport pilots was "to learn the procedures of
- 112 -
TOP CRET
the USAF." 24/ Almost immediately however, there began
to be some doubt in the minds of the American instruc-
tors, as to whether there was need for something more
than retraining. Before the end of September, Manuel
Gonzales, one of the most experienced of the Cuban
C-46 pilots, made such a rough landing that he damaged
the landing gear in his aircraft and in the process of
attempting to regain control, herniated his diaphragm,
and was lost from the program. 25/
In addition to the loss of this C-46, two C-54's
flown by the Cubans also were lost before the end of
September. One instance was a real comedy of errors.
A C-54, under the command of Orlando Alvarez Builla,
the commander of the C-54 Squadron, with an experienced
co-pilot, navigator, and radio operator -- the cockpit
crew claimed a total of roughly 45,000 hours of flying
experience -- took off to make a supply drop near the
city of Trinidad in the Escambray area of Cuba. Un-
fortunately, they dropped their load on a power plant.
After a series of misadventures, they had to make an
emergency landing in Mexico, near Comitgn. The air-
craft was confiscated by the Government of Mexico, and
the crew's release was obtained only through the
- 113 -
TOP CRET
intercession of Col. Antonio Batres, Chief of the
Guatemalan Air Force and the personal pilot of Presi-
dent Ydigoras Fuentes. 26/
In the second instance, a C-54 with a Cuban
pilot and a North American instructor was coming
through the mountains when one of the wings touched
an outcropping and tore a third of the wing off. The
consequence was a forced landing on the beach near
Champerico. Neither the pilot nor the co-pilot were
injured, but a Cuban pilot who was on board as an
observer suffered a wound and had to be evacuated to
a hospital in the United States. 26a/ Needless to
say that North American trainers took a rather dim
view of these accidents.
The episode in Mexico, in particular, caused
considerable consternation. Major Campbell, who was
in charge of the flight training operations, made
the following comment:
We set up operations ... and prepared
the first air crews to fly resupply mis-
sions into Cuba. There must be about
7 or 8 hours of tape on the first mission
... We lost that first airplane. Stan
Beerli was with me down there [Guatemala],
and we both sat up all night long waiting
for the bird to come back. This is the
one where the air crew dropped a 12,000 lb.
- 114 -
TOP CRET
NTOP S RET
supply of cargo on top of a power station,
mistaking the lights on the power station
for our ground support team. It had a side
note too ... the air crew in command of
that airplane had about 45,000 pilot hours,
and they got lost coming back and landed
up near Comitan in Mexico. We found the
airplane before the Mexicans did, and were
refused permission to go in and pick it up.
I say, "we" ... one of the officers of the
Guatemalan Air Force and Mr. Alejos, I be-
lieve, and probably Connie Seigrist were
included. They flew to Comitin and landed
and came back and said we could pick up the
airplane because the air crew had mismanaged
their fuel. The airplane had fuel in it,
and it could have been taken off and flown
back to JMADD. 27/
The series of mishaps in the early weeks of the
air training program, initiated a period of declining
relations between the Cubans and their American instruc-
tors -- the Americans tending to regard the Cuban capa-
bilities with some considerable suspicion. From the
early fall of 1960 through the initiation of overflight
operations there were constant requests from the field
for authorization to use the American pilots in both
the transport and in combat training operations.
Ferrer, himself, pointed out in considerable detail
that there was a negative impact on the American
trainers as the result of these early foulups. In
this context, too, Ferrer also charged that the North
- 115 -
TOP SE ET
TOP CRET
Americans consistently looked down on the Cubans.
The separation of club facilities, the existence of
areas which were closed to the Cuban pilots, and con-
stant patronizing by the North Americans antagonized
the Cubans. There is no question that some of the
Americans undoubtedly felt superior to the Cuban
trainees; but by the same token, JMATE personnel were
much more concerned with the security and cover as-
pects of the operation in which they were involved
than the Cubans ever were.
In'his.own story, Ferrer said that on several
occasions he demonstrated that the Cubans, flying
the C-46'.s and C-54's, were competent to do the tasks
assigned; and in one instance, he was responsible for
carrying out some tests of navigational skills which
he claims were performed to the full satisfaction of
the American instructors. On another occasion in
early November 1960, he was responsible for bringing
together a crew for an airdrop in the Escambray.
There, despite some problems concerning the signal
in the drop zone, the mission was carried out exactly
as planned -- Ferrer being cautioned, incidentally,
by Billy Campbell following the debriefing, not to
- 116 -
TOP CRET
TOP SECRET
repeat to the other Cuban pilots the problems that
had come up concerning the identification of the drop
zone. 28/
Success of the November drop, notwithstanding,
airdrop operations on the whole were a dismal failure.
Of 68 missions between September 1960 and March 1961,
only seven of the drops put supplies as intended in
the hands of the guerrillas who were operating in
various parts of Cuba.
Ferrer took umbrage with the charge that the
basic reason. for the failure of the air drops was the
inability of the air crews to find the proper drop
zones, or that they were less than brave in pushing
on through difficult situations. This is a subjective
matter and some of the American personnel involved
in the air operations still believe that some of the
Cubans discharged their cargoes into the sea at the
first opportunity and spent the time "tooling" around
until the fuel gauges indicated that it was time to
return to the base.
Regardless of the question of courage or cowardice,
Ferrer was entirely justified in his criticism of the
failure to provide for direct contact between the air
TOPS RET
operations personnel and the guerrillas who were seek-
ing support through the air drop of materiel. Consid-
ering the success of the maritime infil and exfil
operations, it does not appear that this would have
been as difficult to accomplish as some of the project
planners believed.* Jake Esterline, Chief of Project
JMATE, put it in the following manner:
I just felt the air crews weren't
telling the truth about what they saw
or didn't see, and I knew damn well
where they were dropping their stuff
because our intercepts -- within six
hours -- would let us know exactly how
many miles away the [Castro] Cubans
* Stan Beerli made the following comments about the
airdrops ...
We had a heck of a time trying to
determine if we were getting to those
spots. There was really no way to know,
and we were getting very little feed-
back ... We weren't really sure if we
were really making it and how effective
we were. It was always a great concern
to us. Then, of course, there were 'the
crews that would come back and report
that they had drifted off to the side of
the drop point ... I am sure there was
a question mark in their [US] minds that
maybe there was some collusion among the
[Cuban] crews ... But we had nothing to
substantiate that except that we understood
that the crews were all dedicated to sup-
porting the operation, and so we hoped
they were doing the job. 29/
- 118 -
T ECRET
CRET
had picked up the stuff that had been
dropped ... and then the messages coming
in from the agents on the ground ...
these plaints and these bleats about
"What happened to the aircraft? Our
fires were there ... they went all
around us and they did all kinds of
things." 30/
As previously mentioned, the Cubans organized
their squadrons by types of aircraft and/or tasks; and
almost immediately upon moving to MADD signs of polit-
ical action on the part of the Cuban cadre were apparent.
On 21 September 1960, a cable from Miami to the Director,
reported that the pilot group at Retalhuleu was threaten-
ing to leave the training camp and withdraw from the
FRD because their families had reported that the FEW
Headquarters were treating them badly and "in an arro-
gant or condescending manner and that their pride was
hurt." The pilots reportedly were dissatisfied because
of various administrative difficulties -- principally
the screwup in the delivery of mail from home. JMADD
personnel, however, made clear that they would tolerate
little or no more nonsense from the Cuban group. One
suggestion was that those who were threatening "drastic
action" be put on bread and water and incarcerated un-
til they straightened out.
- 119 -
TOP S RET
TO
ECRET
The crisis was averted by the intervention of
Roberto Alejos, the arrival of two B-26's, a step-up
in the transition training that was already under way
using one of the C-54's, and, perhaps most
the clarity with which the Acting Chief of
cated that procedures would be followed as
important,
Base indi-
specified
or all air training would immediately cease. It was
also directed that the Cubans be made responsible
under the same FRD military code that was employed at
JMTRAV; and if any of the air trainees were unwilling
to accept this, they were to be grounded until they
changed their minds. 31/
Even as the pilot trainees at MADD were threaten-
ing to strike, DPD prepared a memorandum which raised
questions concerning disposal of Cuban air crew members
under various unfavorable conditions. The questions
concerned such items as: refusal of an airman or air
cy;ewman to go on a second mission; refusal to go on
a first mission, once
plan; and the problem
fabricated stories to
addressing himself to
having learned of an overall
of handling those airmen who
cover mission failures. In
solving these kinds of problems,
Chief, WH/4 instructed his Chief of counterintelligence
- 120 -
TOP SRET
TO ECR ET
that the problem should be met by in-
creasing case officer competence to the point where
they would recognize problem individuals -- those
whose morale was low, who lacked motivation, or who
were cowards.
also was urged to make use of
any information on the air training program being
acquired by a WH/4 penetration agent who had been
infiltrated among the Cuban air crews to report on
just such problems. Esterline believed that attempts
should be made to rehabilitate -- mentally or physi-
cally -- aircrew members who had problems; but if such
rehabilitation failed, the FRD military tribunal which
was in place on the Base should apply its code of
military justice. Those who failed to comply were to
be committed to the Base brig, pending transfer to a
permanent detention facility. 32/*
* More than a month after the DPD memorandum had raised
the questions about the handling of the air crews it
appears that Col. Gaines, DPD's principal contact with
WH/4, was unaware of the fact that there was a controlled
penetration agent among the Cuban air trainees. Chief,
WH/4/CI had to point out to Col. Gaines that a priority
cable outlining the agent's background, reporting on his
polygraph tests, and recommending his use as a penetra-
tion agent had gone to MADD in August 1960. Because
the subject of a penetration agent had come up in con-
nection with problems of security and cover at JMADD,
(footnote continued on following page)
- 121 -
CRET
American concerns about the Cuban air crews
were not misplaced. As Ferrer himself pointed out,
even though things seemed to improve through November,
once the Cubans had met certain of the tests that had
been posed them, a number of the pilots who were dis-
content asked to be transferred back to Miami. To
Ferrer, this was a difficult time; for among the dozen
who, as he said, "renounced the privilege of fighting
for their country," were the second in command of the
Air Force (Leslie Nobregas), the Chief of the C-54
squadron (0. Alvarez Builla), and the Chief of the
C-46 squadron (Juan Perez) -- key figures among the
Cuban air group. 34/
The loss of these personnel was rather quickly
reflected in air operations at JMADD, for a Director
cable of 11 December
indicate curtailment
noted "Headquarter's records
flying, training, combat activi-
ties. Request clarification and future plans." 35/
MADD was quick to respond to Headquarters questions,
Col. Gaines also was requested to report any such
problems to Chief/WH/4/CI. According to DPD's Security
Section, the penetration agent was a useless boob who
was widely known for what he was -- an informant. 33/
- 122 -
TOP CRET
pointing out that the stand down of "operational train-
ing flights" had not affected MADD's "operational capa-
bility." Moreover, the air base attributed part of the
stand down to completion of the B-26 air training pro-
gram per Ops Plan 60 AD-5. 36/*
The departure of the 12 pilots from the training
program, also meant a restructuring of the Cuban cadre,
a position which was supported by the field. A cable
to Headquarters, for example, pointed out that the
trainees had requested a Tb O for an air group showing
military rank structure and emphasizing that those
who were in training at MADD -- and who might be par-
ticipating in overflights -- should have first oppor-
tunity toward obtaining rank. The Cubans were supported
in this position by the field which cabled Headquarters:
If trainees permitted to wear rank,
and realizing they would be cadre for
the new air force, morale would improve,
the Cuban commander would have positive
* Even before the partial stand down, MADD had re-
ported that six B-26 pilots had completed their train-
ing program, including rocket firing. Noting that
there were 93 rockets available at MADD, the message
closed with the suggestion "let's go"! 37/
control of troops, trainees would have
more pride in themselves, and, most of
all, would believe the FRD is supporting
them. 38/*
Headquarters deferred on the question of rank, however,
suggesting instead that the continued use of different
colored baseball caps and, perhaps, the addition of
scarfs would be adequate identification for the dif-
ferent flight groups. A promise was made that some
sort of rank designation would eventuall be permitted
the Cubans. 39a/
Whether and which of the Cuban air trainees would
be available was at question throughout the training
activity at MADD. Toward the end of March 1961, when
COB MADD was suggesting R&R for various of the Cuban
* Ferrer indicated that there was extreme concern
among the Cuban trainees about this question of rank
at the time of the defection, of the dozen men. He
pointed out that within the C-46 squadron when he
proposed advancing two of the C-46 trainee group, he
ran into opposition from Col. Villafana, the Chief
of the Air Group, and Luis Cosme. (The latter became
the second in command, after the Nobregas defection.)
Villafana and Cosme suggested that pilots who were
available in the Miami area had more experience and
were better qualified for the positions which Ferrer
wanted for his squadron trainees. In fact, so serious
and violent did the discussion between Cosme and
Ferrer become, that it nearly ended up in a shoot-
out between two highly emotional Cubans. 39/
- 124 -
pilots, the cables that went forward to Headquarters
stated in very specific terms that "Sefior So & So was
most trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly," etc.,
and sure as hell would return if given three days R&R
in Miami. Those who had stuck it out through the
training program did return from their R&R's, includ-
ing at least one, Osvaldo Piedra, who lost his life
in a B-26 over the Bahia de Cochinos. Some of those
who bugged out of the training program, apparently
had qualms of conscience -- or at least made inquiries
about the possibilities of returning; and it appears
that at least one of the defectors did return on 12
or 13 April 1961. Two others, however, "Stalled,
then defaulted. Suggest they be forgotten." 40/
Connie Seigrist recalled that in addition t
the normal problems and stress of training, the polit-
ical discussions and differences would occasionally
become quite heated. Seigrist has 'written:
The biggest and most continual problem
concerned the dislike for our Cuban Air
Commander ... I have forgotten his name
[Col. Villafana]. He was the Commander
throughout. One of the Cubans explained
that it was his (the Commander's) back-
ground dating back to Cuba. I was sent
(flew a C-46) to Mexico City to persuade
some AWOL Cubans to return to MADD. Not
- 125 -
a single AWOL would return to MADD with
me, as they said they would not serve
under him. Although, overall I felt then,
and now, it was not a serious impact.
I do not remember the exact number of
the R&R Cubans who refused to return, but
there were a few and [it was] well known
by all that they would not return. They
packed their belongings at MADD and took
[them] with them, not to return. Surpris-
ingly, some that [sic] packed out did
return. They, (WDL's) as a rule, were
non-producers and were not missed. 41/
Seigrist apparently had an unusually good rapport
with the Cuban pilot trainees, including those who
bugged out at the end and also those who were contem-
plating a return from Miami to the air bases. "Simpson"
[Seigrist] was the one the Cubans looked to for reas-
surance should they decide to come back. 42/ In his
own words, Seigrist said:
The only thing I kept intact was my
pseudo of "Seig Simpson." I believe the
Cubans had high respect for me, and I also
believe they knew my name, because they
had everyone else pegged immediately. But
because oIf their respect, they were not
really interested in exposing me. 43/*
* Aside from the fact that he was a top pilot and in-
structor, that Seigrist flew a B-26 out of MADD in sup-
port of the Government of Guatemala at the time of the
November 1960 attempted overthrow of Ydigoras Fuentes
also added to his favorable reputation among the Cubans.
See Volume II of this history, Participation in the
Conduct of Foreign Policy.
- 126 -
Life with the Cuban air trainees at JMADD was
undoubtedly made even more difficult because few of
the North American trainers were fluent in Spanish,
even though Gar Thorsrud expressed a more pragmatic
approach to the problem: "There was some language
problem, but an airplane is an airplane; and they
overcame it by physical actions and signs." 4(4/ Even
though most of the other principals involved in air
operations also tended to disregard the language
barrier as a significant problem insofar as the train-
ing went, it.is interesting to observe that in December
1960 MADD made a specific request to Headquarters for
a Spanish speaking CI representative -- "request made
due to increasing possibilities more trainees will try
to leave base. In addition, will be asset to security." 45/*
* Eduardo Ferrer, of course, was quite conscious of
the lack of ability to communicate with the North
Americans who did not speak Spanish. The cable traf-
fic requesting increments of personnel to SMASH, to
JMADD, and to JMTIDE reflects a strong interest on
the part of the people involved in the day-to-day
operations to have assignees available who were fluent
in the language. The December request to Headquarters
from MADD for someone fluent in Spanish had been pre-
ceeded by a similar suggestion at the end of October
in the course of a meeting called by Lt. Col. George
Gaines, Chief, JMCLEAR. Several returnees from JMADD
met with Chief, WH/4/CI and other
krootnote continued on following page)
- 127 -
TOP RET
In an October meeting at Headquarters where,
among other items, the question of the Spanish language
competence was discussed, it was apparent that there
was ongoing friction between DPD and WH/4 representa-
tives -- with each side seeming to want to pass respon-
sibility for the identification of the problem cases
to the other. DPD suggested that its Air Commanders
should not be responsible for determining the stability
of Cuban personnel, and indicated that such decisions
should be made prior to sending personnel to JMADD for
training. WH/4 representatives, however, were of the
opinion that those actually in the field were best able
to finger those with personality or other problems that
made them unsuited for flight training. Col. Gaines,
in fact, vigorously recommended that the whole opera-
tion at MADD be closed out, because of the insurmount-
able security problems and the lack of discipline among
security officers from WH Division (as well as other
security officers and personnel from DPD) to discuss
various problems at the air base. A recent DPD re-
turnee from JMADD reported that:
Not one American speaks or under-
stands the Spanish language and the
Cubans do a great amount of talking
on the flight line and the mess hall.
It would, therefore, be of signifi-
cant value to plant an American there
who does speak and understand Spanish. 46/
- 128 -
TOP RET
NCNT?P RET
the Cubans. Gaines even suggested the possibility of
moving the training activity to Nicaragua -- limiting
the training to the actual number of pilots required
to carry out the air strike and the support types who
would be a minimum number required to support that
strike effort. 47/
Difficulties between administrative and opera-
tional personnel at MADD continued from the fall of
1960 through the early winter of 1961 -- the situation
being further complicated by the desire of
to play.a more active role vis a vis MADD. Toward
mid-February 1961, for example, asked
DPD to appoint a Chief of Air Operations for MADD and
to station him permanently at the Base. Because of
the numerous shifts and/or rotation of personnel be-
tween the airbase and Headquarters,
unable to keep track of who was on first.
cabled Headquarters that "to prevent this
now, and in future,
as apparently
type confusion
will not allow any personnel
to depart MADD without his concurrence." 48/
Apparently Headquarters was not too enthralled
with the suggestions from
and a 2 March 1961 cable
to MADD indicated that the movement of personnel and
- 129 -
TOP CRET
aircraft would be decided by Headquarters or Eglin
and stated specifically that the determination of
Agency interests would be decided by Chief, Air Ops,
and/or the COB, at MADD. One paragraph of the Head-
quarters message read:
Order provide positive CIA control
one CIA Air Ops Officer, will be kept
MADD as Chief all air operations. He
will be responsible insuring peculiar
CIA requirements accomplished and over-
all objectives achieved. Deviations
will be reported to Headquarters im-
mediately by COB or Chief, Air Ops. 49/
This response was inadequate for Ernie Sparks,
who was the off-again-on-again COB from the time of
the establishment of MADD throughout the course of
that activity. In response to the Headquarters direc-
tion just cited Sparks requested:
To avoid confusion MADD due constant
rotation air ops personnel, request
CLEAR [JMCLEAR] designate by name CIA
Air Ops Officer ... FYI MADD has had six
changes involving four people acting as
Air Ops Chief in past five weeks. 50/*
* It is perhaps understandable in view of the long
term association that Sparks had with the somewhat
and sometimes mad MADD operation that the following
Director cable to Eglin Air Force Base was sent:
Request 100 packages Tums, anti-acid
tablets be procured and shipped to MADD
via first avail acft. Package should be
carried and marked for Santoro [Ernie
Sparks] on inner marking. 51/
- 130 -
TOP RET
A Letter of Instruction to Gar Thorsrud (24 March
1961) eliminated much of the difficulty between COB
and Chief, Air Ops at MADD. Thorsrud's letter clearly
spelled out his responsibility as Chief, Air Ops, as
distinguished from the responsibilities of COB at MADD
-- or at TIDE since Thorsrud's LOI also made provision
for him to continue as Chief, Air Ops at TIDE when the
move to Nicaragua took place. 52/* Even before h
actually took over as Chief of Air Operations at JMADD,
Thorsrud had been in and out of JMADD and was well
acquainted with the training situation there. He
recalled that when he first arrived at MADD in January
of 1961, the basic training was largely completed, and
unlike some of the other problems that had been faced
by Billy Campbell -- who had to depart MADD earlier
than anticipated because of restrictions imposed on
USAF personnel by DOD -- the flight training had been
largely completed. Thorsrud stated:
[Morale] wasn't a problem for me, be-
cause by the time that I got there, the
operation was getting close, and everyone
was trying to pull together ... We set up
a little bar down there. When I came
* See Appendix 4 for copy of Thorsrud's LOI.
- 131 -
down there was a kind of a segregation
... of Americans and Cubans and everyone
else. I just set up a little beer bar,
and when the flying was done, everyone
came in and talked together. There was
a lot of comment, and some of these more
outspoken Cubans said ... "if we are
successful and we land we are all
going to be fighting again, just to see
who has got control." They'd tell these
stories on themselves, so there were
plenty of political factions, but I'm
not up to date on what they were. 53/
In addition to the problems of interpersonal
communications, communications between the field and
Headquarters or between the field bases at MADD and
TRAV also caused headaches. Shortly after the Cuban
personnel at MADD began to fly operational missions,
propaganda drops, and supply drops in December 1960,
MADD sent a detailed cable to Headquarters complaining
bitterly about two aspects of the communications
problem. One complaint concerned the use in opera-
tional messages from Headquarters of mission names
which were completely unknown 4nd unidentifiable to the
field, and as MADD said:
These names are entirely foreign to
our operations section. Our only means
of identifying any mission is by the as-
signed mission number. We would be aided
immensely, if at the time a mission number
was assigned an operation, your messages
would also identify any previous reference
that had been made to the operation by
name only. 54/
132 -
TOPS RET
TO
ECR ET
Further in this same cable, it was pointed out to
Headquarters that various of their messages concerning
drop zone times or control times had been received
without identifying the time zone. MADD reported:
It was apparent that the time was not
ZULU. Therefore, it was necessary to
reason that it was Cuban local time ...
To prevent confusion, suggest all times
be identified by the time zone, or that
all times that are vital to the success
of all operational mission be stated in
ZULU only. 55/*
In response to another question concerning mission
approvals, Headquarters spoke very firmly to the field
concerning its (Headquarter's) responsibility for weather
forecasting as related to approvals for given missions;
and specified that:
Mission approvals from Headquarters are
based on intelligence, political, security,
and other considerations usually known only
at Headquarters as well as review of weather
forecast to determine general missicn feasi-
bility. 56/
On(,-:e Headquarters approval had been received, how-
ever, the message authorized the launch-base commander,
?or designated officers at given sites, to cancel or
* Emphasis by author. The criticality of this last
statement concerning the use of ZULU time will be dis-
cussed in detail later in this volume.
- 133 -
T>
CRE
delay any mission based on their repsonsibilities or
safety of flight considerations. Go-no-go permission
had to do with such things as aircraft and equipment
status, crew proficiency, and numerous other considera-
tions. While Headquarters also claimed the responsi-
bility for providing the appropriate bases with recap
weather forecast for return routes,
ized to provide MADD with
was author-
return flight approval based
on the weather forecast -- a question which had been
of some concern to MADD. Headquarters claimed responsi-
bility both for designating stations which would be
responsible for maintaining communications with aircraft
in flight and also primary responsibility for giving
directions to crews in flight. Eglin had been delegated
the responsibility for providing inf light control using
the commo facilities JRIMM or YOGURT as necessary to
insure that action messages got to airborne aircraft
engaged in current support missions. Current support
missions being designated as the Egli/FIG/MADD/EGLI
route.*
There was also a communications breakdown between
Headquarters and the field in the early part of
* JMFIG was a cryptonym for the Opaloc*a airfield.
- 134 -
TOP CRET
February 1961 when JMTRAV complained that the base was
receiving trainees and supplies with little or no prior
notice. JMTRAV requested Miami/Opalocka or Eglin Air
Force Base to provide them with details concerning the
ETA of passenger or cargo flights, and they asked for
an advance notice of 24 hours. Similarly any outgoing
flights from MADD for CONUS were to be brought to their
attention so that they could plan movements of passengers,
cargo, or whatever from TRAV to the other bases. 57/
The push for air drop operations antedated the
opening of JMADD when as early as 1 September 1960 a
strong pitch was made to provide an arms drop to sup-
porters of Manolo Ray in the Escambray region of Cuba.
One of the first suggestions, apparently, had been to
use the OSTIARY crews out of Eglin Air Force Base to
fly the mission; but recognizing the difficulties of
using these particular pilots, the second suggestion,
since the Cuban crews were not yet ready, was to use
an HBILKA crew. Although discussed with the Special
Group, the plan was rejected by the DCI. 58/
In the interval between the Mexican disaster and
the completion of the training of the Cuban pilots and
the initiation of operational flights, the DDP, Mr.
- 135 -
CRET
Bissell, outlined the procedures that should govern
all overflights of Cuba, except U-2 overflights. *
Addressed to the A/DDP/A, to Chief, WH Division, to
Chief WH/4, and to the Acting Chief, DPD, Bissell's
memorandum of 24 October 1960 specified, among other
things, that prior to any authorization to the field
for an operational overflight, the DDP and the A/DDP/A
-- or one of them and the DDP's Assistant for Executive
Branch Matters (EBM) would be included in a briefing
of the operational plan. The Assistant for Executive
Branch matters, Thomas A. Parrott, was included so
that he would be informed when the question was pre-
sented to the Special Group. Bissell made WH/4 re-
sponsible for arranging the briefing; and the minimum
aspects of the operation which were to be covered were
a detailed flight plan, the communications plan, and
the methods for communicating with the reception party.
DPD was given the responsibility for briefing on the
detailed flight plan.
The Bissell memorandum further provided that once
the senior echelon of the DDP had been briefed, that
* The referenced Mexican episode is described on pp.
114-115.
- 136 -
TO ECRET
group would then be responsible for briefing the DDCI,
General Cabell, on each planned overflight. In emergency
situations, however, the DDP did suggest that a single
briefing could be held for all of the individuals men-
tioned, providing that the briefing was arranged through
his office. Once an overflight was approved, Chief,
WH/4 and Acting Chief, DPD were authorized to communi-
cate the plan to the field. It was stressed, however,
that both Chief, WH/4 and Acting Chief, DPD were to
limit their instructions to matters that had already
been reviewed by the DDP, or the DDCI. The final
caveat entered by Mr. Bissell was that:
No flights shall be dispatched until
the Special Group has been advised of the
plan or the DCI has specifically waived
this requirement. 59/
In a memorandum subsequent to that of the DDP,
Richard D. Drain issued a memorandum to various WE/4
Section Chiefs, providing even more explicit details
concerning overflights of Cuba.* In addition to
* On 12 December 1960, when the memorandum in ques-
tion was issued, Drain was Acting Chief WE/4. During
the course of Project JMATE he appeared in a number
of different capacities, including both Executive
Officer and Chief of Operations.
- 137 -
restating that all briefings on overflights would be
arranged through Chief WH/4, Mr. Drain's memorandum
of 12 December 1960 made the WH/4 Special Assistant
for Military Liaison responsible for notifying both
State and DOD in advance of planned overflights --
and also as to the results of the overflights. The
Drain memorandum also had an added fillip regarding
the Special Group which did not appear in Mx. Bissell's
24 October memorandum -- "each member of the Special
Group will be advised in advance in each instance of
a leaflet drop, as in the case of supply drops." 60/
There is no evidence, however, that specific
attempts at individual briefings were ever employed,
insofar as can be determined. Briefings on overflights
were presented to the Special Group, whoever was there.
As previously mentioned, the Air Support plan for
Project JMATE (AD 5-60) scheduled the initial flight
training for the Cubans to be completed in November
1960. Beginning in that month, there was a stir of
activity concerning the use of the JMADD contingent
for drops of propaganda leaflets. Interestingly
enough, the initial request for authorization for
prop drops over Cuba seems to have originated with
- 138 -
TOP CR ET
TOP CRET
Col. J. C. King, Chief, WH/D, on 9 November 1960. At
that time King prepared a memorandum for the DCI re-
questing approval for overflights frallAgency control-
led fields in Guatemala for the purpose of propaganda
drops. Routed to the DCI through the DDCI, King's
memorandum was not sent to the DCI, but was, sent to
the DDP instead. 61/
By mid-November, the cable traffic reflected a
high level of concern about leaflet drops. The B-26's
-- acquired for a combat role -- were going to be put
into service for both the propaganda activity and re-
supply missions. Attention was immediately focused on
the problem of the tail numbers game -- with Headquarters
telling the field to be sure and obtain
sufficient numbers from Guat AF to allow
assignment of a MADD number for each B-26
in present inventory. This will allow the
same number utilized' for each individual
aircraft any time presence at MADD. 62/
The problem with flying B-26's from Retalhuleu
to Cuba, however, was that they couldn't make the round
trip without refueling. Consequently, it was worked
out with Roberto Alejos, President Ydigoras's right
hand man, that Puerto Barrios, on the east coast of
Guatemala, would be made available for refueling the
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TOR SECRET
aircraft on both launch and recovery from the Cuban
overflights. In late November 1960, however, the
cable traffic -- but no other record -- reveals the
evolution of a major air strike to be launched out
of Puerto Barrios by six B-26's carrying both ordnance
and leaflets against unspecified targets in Cuba.
The air crews were given a cover story of being
recruited by the FRD in the US and then being trans-
ported to an unidentified airfield in Honduras where
they were presented with combat-ready B-26's. Sched-
uled for launching on 26 November 1960, Puerto Barrios
airport was having its supply of avgas built up to
8,000 gallons capacity, most of which was being air-
lifted from MADD in 55 gallon drums. Aircraft ordnance
would be loaded on the B-26's at MADD rather than being
hauled overland to Puerto Barrios or being airlifted
in by C-46's or C-54's. Authentic Cuban tail numbers
had been obtained from two FAR aircraft and they were
to be used on the B-26's. Unfortunately, however,
available records did not reveal the intended targets
for the ordnance. 63/
Originally planned for 26 November 1960, the
first of the B-26 missions was not actually flown
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until 5 December. By that time, however, the combat
role had been eliminated -- again for unknown reasons
-- and the mission became strictly a resupply drop for
Manolo Ray's MRR. After an apparently exact job of
navigation and identification of the drop zone lights,
the pilot failed to open the bomb bay doors on his
first pass over the drop zone; and after making second
and third passes without any sign of drop zone lights,
he returned to Puerto Barrios to refuel en route back
to Retalhuleu. Billy Campbell's comment to Headquarters,
with regard to the mission put things in proper perspec-
tive: "Pilot head up and locked." Headquarters felt
it necessary to cable apologies to Havana for the failure
of the drop plan for the MRR group, and also to raise
the question of whether that drop zone had been so badly
blown by the three aircraft passes above it that it
should no longer be considered for use. 64/*
Of the other B-26's which had been declared
ready for operations in November, two flew a propaganda
drop on 12 December 1960. They worked the western
* The US had not yet broken diplomatic relations with
Cuba, and Havana Station was still in operation.
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T>
CRET
end of Cuba, from the Isla de Pinos to Cienfuegos, in-
cluding Havana; and on the same night, a C-54 dropped
leaflets in the Manzanillo area. Except for one B-26
which tried to unload leaflets through a side hatch
rather than the bomb bay -- making it impossible for
them to get the full load out -- the mission was quite
successful.*
Reporting on the operation, JMADD cabled: "Suc-
cessful completion of missions has made trainees happy
and eager to repeat. Highly recommend fast follow-up
any type mission using as many aircraft as possible.
Believe time right for airfield strike, if political
situation warrants. Don't stop now. Let's go."
Aside from the bad luck associated with the
initial drop mission in September 1960 and the abort
in the first week of December when the bomb bay doors
* One B-26 carried 1,700 lbs. of leaflets; the other
B-26, 1,000 lbs.; and the C-54, 1,000 lbs. 65/
** In addition to its combat supply drop and leaflet
drop role, Billy Campbell reported that there also
were plans to use B-26's for dropping infiltration
teams into Cuba. In response to a question of how
such personnel would exit this particular aircraft
without suffering serious injury or killing themselves,
Campbell noted that they had developed a platform for
use in the bomb bay. He also stated that a couple of
the aircraft had been modified to handle as many as
12 people. 67/
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wouldn't open, the missions flown from October through
the end of December 1960 -- principally propaganda
drops -- were successful, averaging about one a week
during that period. Marine Col. Jack Hawkins, Chief
of WH/4/PM, however, was very dissatisfied with the
air operations. On 4 January 1961, Hawkins claimed
that for the ten B-26's which were available to JMADD,
there were only five Cuban pilots of "high technical
competence" and six others were "of questionable pro-
ficiency." For the seven C-54's available to MADD
and for the four C-46's, Hawkins claimed that there
was "one qualified [Cuban] C-54 crew on hand at this
time and three C-46 crews." On the basis of these
estimates Hawkins made a strong appeal for the employ-
ment of US contract pilots in his memorandum to Jake
Esterline, Chief, WH/4. 68/
From the first of the year until the middle of
March 1961 there was a significant increase in the
number of air drop operations that were launched out
of JMADD. All three types of aircraft available to
the Brigade were employed -- B-26's, C-46's, and
C-54's. As the number of overflights increased, so
did the ground opposition in terms of small arms and
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anti-aircraft gunfire, to the point where in early Janu-
ary 1961, the DDCI, Gen. Cabell agreed that only the
B-26's would be used in propaganda drops over the city
areas and that the C-46's and C-54's would do their prop
drops in the less-inhabited parts of the island. 69/*
It seems that there was probably more propaganda
material than the air operations could have handled under
the most ideal conditions. On 15 February 1961, it was
noted that 75,000 leaflets asking teachers to support a
student strike were available from Miami for an upcoming
drop and that 100 pounds of materials bearing the "fish
symbol" also were to be used in a drop aimed at Villa-
nueva University in Havana. On 18 February, a cable
from MADD stated that there were approximately 18,000
pounds of leaflets "occupying about One third of the
available warehouse space required for man-pack storage.
Request deliveries leaflets to MADD to be withheld un-
til present supply reduced." 70a/
For those who questioned the validity of risking
air crews and aircraft on propaganda drops, it is
difficult to imagine that they were particularly
* The increase in anti-aircraft fire probably coincides
to the increasing quantities of Soviet heavy weapons,
including 37 mm. anti-aircraft artillery, which Cuba
claims it began to receive in the final months of 1960. 70/
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TOP CRET
enthusiastic to hear from Headquarters with reference
to a Havana drop that:
Again qualitative rather than, quantita-
tive dispersion will be required, since
leaflets are directed to a specific group
now being suppressed by Castro. These
missions carry small amounts, only be-
cause of the importance of hitting the
select groups. Headquarters feels that
these small quantity runs are most im-
portant to overall mission. 71/
In order to deliver to these select groups, the
directions given to the Cuban aircrews sounded like
directions being given to a city taxicab driver. For
one drop it was stated that "Villaneuva University
located on southside Fifth Avenue between 172nd and
176th Streets. Fish to be dropped after University
drop on way out.* Fly down Fifth Avenue and COP be-
tween Hotel National and US Embassy." 72/
Before mid-March, with the exception of the
propaganda drops, which were considered 100% success-
ful, DPD began to show increasing dissatisfaction
* The fish symbol was one of the more widely used
during the course of the anti-Castro movement. Samples
of this, and other propaganda leaflets appear in Ap-
pendix 2. In all there were 23 leaflet drops between
12 December 1960 and the collapse of the Bay of Pigs
Operation, About 12 million leaflets were dropped in
addition to assorted publications. 72a/
with the supply drops. Both the Headquarters and
field elements of DPD agreed on the need for improve-
ment in such areas as the rapid transmission of agent
reports on the effectiveness of the drops, particularly
on such matters as time spent in the drop zone compared
to brief instruction and the in and out routes over
potential drop zones. On matters of improving the
navigational training for the crews, there was no dis-
pute; nor was there any disagreement on'the suggestion
that it would help some of the weaker Cuban air crews
if Cuban instructor-pilots flew with such crews. DPD
was not going to take full blame for the failure of
the drop missions. While admitting the need to improve
the quality of the air training program, Col. Beerli
emphasized the need for better support from the recip-
ient dissident groups in Cuba. DPD wanted better
lighting and identification of drop zones, elimination
of blind drops, wider use made of beacons, and per-
mission to make drops from higher altitudes. 73/
Although the question in Cuban crew discipline
worried DPD throughout the course of the JMATE opera-
tion, the performance of the Cuban trainees -- ex-
cluding the initial disasters of the first month of
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Ls.?14
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operation -- appears to have bee quite satisfactory.
With the exception of one B-26 mishap in late March
1961, such other aircraft as were lost during the period
of air operations out of JMADD were the result of
damages suffered during the course of missions over
Cuba; but no aircraft were lost, nor were deaths or
injuries suffered by any of the crews. In one such
instance a C-54 was forced to land at Kingston, Jamaica,
and this presented a problem in diplomatic relations
between the US and Great Britian which was satisfactor-
ily resolved and the aircraft recovered. The C-54 had
been badly shot up in an attempt to carry out three
supply drops over the Escambray area, and according
to Eduardo Ferrer, it had not only lost one engine,
but also suffered numerous punctures in its fuel tanks
and was rapidly losing fuel when it made the landing
at Kingston. 74/
In other instances, B-26's made forced landings
at the US Naval Air Station (NAS) at Boca Chica, Florida.
This base, incidentally, was highly praised by one of
the DPD officers stationed in the area of Boca Chica
who had responsibility for providing assistance to
downed aircrews who might turn up at this NAS.
(an intelligence officer) said of one
episode at Boca Chica where ?a B-26 was repaired, re-
fueled, and the crew rested,
I believe any future incident such as
this need be no cause for Headquarter's
concern. Due to the frequency of other
air and sea operations by other agencies
of similar nature, Navy at Boca Chica is
witting and accommodating. 75/*
Insofar as can be determined from the available
records, the only aircraft accident in which one of
the Cuban trainees was involved concerned a B-26 train-
ing flight which landed with wheels up and locked at
the San Jose airfield. A cable from JMADD to
* The question of availability of emergency landing
strips was a continuing concern to air operations
personnel. In addition to Boca Chica, Grand Cayman
Island was a much used emergency strip whose use, if
not officially sanctioned, had the unofficial blessing
of the British Government. /
Toward the end of March 1961, WH/4 and DPD
representatives planned to raise the question of
bulldozing an emergency strip on Navassa Island with
the Navy. Navassa is a US possession, two miles long,
and lies between Jamaica and Hispaniola. There is
no evidence that this suggestion got beyond the
talking stage. 75b/
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headquarters reported "in 5 hours and 30 minutes, 5
ANG pilots voluntarily and unassisted, with minimum
equipment and a lot of initiative and a lot of imagina-
tion, raised Ref B[26] A/C, lowered gear, replaced
damaged props, and flew A/C to MADD." 76/
This local initiative went over with a dull
thud in Headquarters. Although stating that Head-
quarters appreciated the "initiative, enthusiasm,
imagination" of the Air National Guard pilots, Wash-
ington pointed out that engine malfunction or struc-
tural failure with the resultant loss of crew or equip-
ment would represent an "irreplaceable loss to us in
addition to being an embarrassing situation in explain-
ing the circumstances." As a grudging afterthought,
Headquarters added: "in this instance, due to suc-
cessful outcome, you are commended." 77/ A subsequent
cable from Gar Thorsrud, Air Commander at MADD, un-
doubtedly mollified Headquarters DPD, for Thorsrud
pointed with reference to the repairs that:
Of the five ANG pilots, three are ex-B-26
crew chiefs, one is a certified [FAA] A&E
mechanic, two are qualified maintenance
officers, and three were civilian test
pilots. On this basis it was felt they
were technically qualified to determine
air worthiness.
Regret Ref B did not contain sufficient
information and may have led Hqs to believe
MADD running an unsafe operation. Will re-
quest Hqs approval future similar actions. 77a/
The other two accidents to JMADD aircraft which
appear in the records, both concern Col. Tony Batres,
the personal pilot of President Ydigoras Fuentes of
Guatemala. In one instance, Col. Batres had borrowed
the Agency's L-28 Helio while his Aero Commander was
down for maintenance, and MADD's initial report of
the accident said that the plane had been "damaged"
on landing at Guatemala City. In fact, the plane had
struck a grass covered log in the middle of a sod
runway which was on the property of the President of
Guatemala -- not the air strip at Guatemala City.
The plane was more than damaged -- for all practical
purposes it was ruined and, in fact, it was recommended
that the aircraft be dismantled and returned to JMADD
by C-46 or by truck and that the aircraft be scrapped
for parts. 78/*
* In addition to pushing the main gear structure up
through the bottom of the fuselage into the pilot and
the co-pilot cockpit, the other damages were reported
as follows:
Broken engine frame, a ripped and
buckled bottom fuselage and cabin floor,
(footnote continued on following page)
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TOP ECRET
In an attempt to salvage the Helio that Col.
Batres had piled up on the sod runway at President
Ydigoras's plantation, a C-46 was dispatched from MADD,
with an American pilot and an American co-pilot, plus
5 Cubans and 4 Guatemalans to assist in the salvage
operation. In approaching the sod field at the Ydigoras
plantation, a sudden gust of wind caught the C-46 and
threw the left wing tip into the top of a coconut tree,
with the result that the plane, despite the best efforts
of the American crewmen, hit a clump of trees, cart-
wheeled, and was totally destroyed in the subsequent
fire. Fortunately, however, the crewmen and all pas-
sengers on the aircraft escaped serious injury. Less
fortunate however, was a Guatemalan worker who had
been picking coconuts in the tree that the plane hit
on its initial approach. He was killed when he fell
out of the tree to the ground.
a warped right wing tip, probable engine
damage, probable propeller damage, a
windshield popped out, a buckled top
right wing, rudder controls ripped loose,
a bent control column, fuselage tube
framing was broken, the left fuselage
door entrance buckled, and the right
stabilizer slightly buckled. 79/
N-
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TOP CRET
Col. Batres had actually witnessed the crash,
and when the father of the Guatemalan worker threatened
legal action, Col.
saying that he had
Air Force provided
plane.
Batres covered for the Agency by
been flying the plane. The Guatemalan
cover by claiming ownership of the
sought Headquarters permission
to authorize $5,000 to settle the claims, including
legal fees, of the father of the deceased worker who
was threatening to go to court. Apparently this was
the way the matter was finally settled. 80/
D. JMTIDE: Strike Base, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
As a training program for the Cuban fliers at
JMADD was intensified and as an increasing number of
air drop missions were being performed, negotiations
were under way to establish a strike base (JMTIDE) at
Puerto Cabezas, Niaaragua.* One of the first problems
to be resolved with reference to the establishment
of JMTIDE was that of selecting an efficient manager
to be Chief of Base. Apparently having learned from
the experiences at JMADD that an efficient base
* For more details on the Agency's negotiations for
the base at Puerto Cabezas, see Volume II.
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TOP CRET
administrator was an absolute necessity, James A.
Cunningham, Assistant Chief, DPD, approached Col. L.
K. White, the Dpputy Director for Support, early in
December 1960 to discuss the appointment of a qualified
support officer to be the base manager. Cunningham
stated:
We were keen on having a Chief of
Base who would effectively control the
management and base operating end of
the effort so as to avoid criticism
arising from unpredictable changes in
the scope and cost of the facility. 81/*
The concern regarding the choice of a COB for JMTIDE
paid off for, short lived though it was, at no time
during the operation of TIDE was there the sort of
friction between the Chief of Air Operations and the
COB that occurred at MADD.
The JMTIDE crypt was assigned on 10 December
1960 and four representatives from Headquarters went
to Nicaragua in January 1961 to negotiate with Presi-
dent Somoza concerning the renovation, use, and opera-
tion of the JMTIDE base. With the full cooperation
of the Nicaraguan Government, the construction activity
* In his discussions with Col. White, Cunningham also
noted that it would be beneficial if the appointee to
be COB were fluent in the Spanish language.
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TO ECRET
got under way; and although the base was not ready for
occupancy as initially scheduled (e.g., by the first
week of February 1961), the communications link between
the base and
established. 82/
With the base
in Managua had been
at JMTIDE being completed and
readied for operation, Garfield M. Thorsrud received
a Letter of Instruction on 24 March 1961 assigning
him as Chief, MATE Air Operations at JMADD and JMTIDE;
and he was instructed to designate an Acting Chief
for JMADD, Air Ops in his absence. It was made quite
clear that Thorsrud had authority over all things re-
lated to the planned air operation -- personnel,
materiel, logistics, or whatever. His responsibilities
as Chief of the air operation were distinct from the
duties of the COB's of MADD and TIDE. Thorsrud was
responsible to the Chief, JMCLEAR (Gaines), who in
turn was responsible to Chief, JMATE (Esterline), and
to the Acting Chief of DPD (Beerli). 83/*
Thorsrud had been involved in the JMATE activity
in a marginal capacity prior to this time. In mid-July
* A copy of the Letter of Instruction to Thorsrud
appears as Appendix 4.
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N'\NTO ECRET
1960, he had been assigned as Acting Chief of the Air
Section when Lt. Col. George Gaines was relieved as
Chief, Air Section, DPD and assigned as the DPD Project
Officer for JMATE (e.g., JMCLEAR). 84/ Thorsrud's
responsibilities were principally outside of the JMATE
Project area until the Letter of Instruction.
In the cable to the Base at MADD, announcing
Thorsrud's imminent arrival, there were two or three
items of interest. Concerning the ongoing problem
of obtaining an adequate number of air trainees, the
cable contained the following comment:
Request Villafana be contacted to
determine any knowledge Cuban trainees
or pilots presently in Cuba who might
be defected. Event potential defectors
known, expedite names, positions occupied,
etc. 85/
Perhaps this was an unintentional reflection of
the suggestion in the same cable that Thorsrud be
briefed on "all facets air activities, including
idiosyncracies/attributes personnel involved air
mission." More interesting to the recipients on the
MADD end of the cable, however, was the
request MADD paint white stripe, 36
inches wide completely across runway,
five hundred feet from normal approach
end. Measure four thousand feet down
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TO ECRET
runway from white stripe and paint second
white stripe same measurements as first.
Teegen [Thorsrud] will explain specialized
B-26 training program on arrival. 86/
The request to paint the white stripes on the
runway was a result of decisions made in Washington,
one aspect of which called for B-26's to land on an
air strip at the invasion site inCuba -- an air strip
which, at best was just over 4,000 feet in length.*
In describing the training activity at MADD for the
short field landings, Billy Campbell noted that one
means of encouraging the Cuban B-26 pilots to land
within the white stripes was a promise of a tour
of guard duty for those who after touching down, failed
to stop their roll in the interval between the two
stripes. 87/**
* It is interesting that one of the arguments used
when the operational plan was changed from the Trinidad
site to the Bay of Pigs was that the B-26's would not
be able to operate from the 4,000' asphalt runway at
Trinidad.
** In an oral interview, Mr. Campbell indicated that
the tour of guard duty was without parachute attached.
Recalling the somewhat wistful nature of Mr. Campbell's
comment on this subject, one suspects that perhaps in
his cadet days in the Army Air Force, Mr. Campbell
had pulled similar duty -- but with parachute attached.
The 4,000 foot landing roll was shorter than the '
4,500 foot roll for a loaded B-26 (over a 50' obstacle).
See Appendix 2.
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The cable to JMADD notifying the base of Thorsrud's
appointment also mentioned (in alias) Gen. George R.
(Reid) Doster, the Commanding Officer of the Alabama
Air National Guard. As stated earlier in this volume,
Doster worked very closely with Agency representatives
to secure the services of Alabama Air National Guard
personnel -- ground crews and flight crews -- to
support the training and, eventually, the air opera-
tions against Castro's Cuba. In early February 1961,
subsequent to his efforts to obtain ANG personnel to
-support the JMATE operation, Doster himself
requested that he be allowed to participate
in JMCLEAR activities as Chief of Tactical
Aviation at the forward strike base. Gen.
Doster's request was based on the fact
that he had personally recruited crew
members, operations supervisors, and
maintenance personnel from his own ANG
units; and he desired to complete a
"package" capability. 88/
The request by Gen. Doster was discussed with Mr.
Richard Bissell, the DDP; and with Mr. Bissell's approval
a contract was prepared for the General. Almost immedi-
ately upon his arrival, Thorsrud got together with
Gen. Doster, Col. Villafana, the Commanding Officer
of the Cuban Air Operation, and Luis Cosme, Chief of
Operations for the Cuban air contingent, to discuss
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procedures for bringing the Air Force up to peak per-
formance. Among other things that fell out of this
discussion, was the selection of two Cuban B-26 pilots
to go into the short field training exercise preparatory
to the initial landings at the airfield at Playa Giron.*
The C-46's were to be checked out for night for-
mation proficiency; and as the cover plan to disguise
the actual movement of the air oprations from MADD over
to TIDE, gaggles of 5 to 6 aircraft were to fly with
other training exercises on and off the JMADD air base.
R&R's for both Cuban and American air personnel were
to be cancelled as of 26 March 1961. 89/ On 31 March
1961 the use of Air National Guard pilots on C-54's
as oo-pilots for the move from MADD to TIDE was approved,
the subject apparently having been under serious dis-
cussion since the first week of March 1961 when Col.
Gaines had scheduled a visit to the base at JMADD "to
check out procedures, possible use of US pilots." 90/
Thorsrud's arrival at JMADD raised the morale
of Cuban air trainees because it was apparent that the
* The author had been unable to ascertain the identities
of the two Cuban pilots who were so selected.
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TO SECRET
operations for which they were trained so long were
about to begin on full scale. The Cubans were probably
also aware that Headquarters had been requested to
provide the materiel for use by the Cuban air person-
nel for the assault phase, including personal side
arms and ammunition, submachine guns for the aircraft,
light machine guns for base defenses at JMTIDE, watches
for pilots, co-pilots, and navigators, binoculars, and
other equipment. 91/
Cuban morale undoubtedly received an additional
boost with the opening of Gar's bar. In a cable to
headquarters on 31 March Thorsrud requested authoriza-
tion for:
1. Purchase of operational beer/
cigarettes commencing 31 March on arrival
Cuban crews.
2. Plan giving Cuban[s] same privilege
as Americans while' at JMTIDE. However,
most Cubans without funds ...
3. If approved, please advise EGLI
0 ? ?
4. For EGLI: Upon receipt answer
Par. 3, advised Donigran [Doster] and
Dunn [R. J. Durnin] to pick as much beer,
cigarettes, and general commisery [com-
missary] items as allowable. 92/
In addition to painting the MADD landing strip
for practice STOL operations, another painting problem
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TOP CRET
that surfaced as early as October 1960 concerned the
color, identification, and insignia of the Castro B-26
aircraft. The availability of oil paint was noted in
the early weeks of air training operations, and it
continued to present difficulties in the final weeks
of JMATE. As the time to move the B-26's from MADD to
TIDE approached, there were two problems -- one being
painting the B-26's identically to the B-26's of Castro's
Air Force, and the other being the question of painting
B-26's for the transfer to TIDE so that they would
appear to be part of the Nicaraguan Air Force. In
the operations out of both JMADD and JMTIDE, the hope
of maintaining plausible deniability for the B-26's
lay in the possibility of disguising
aircraft of either the Guatemalan or
the B-26's as
Nicaraguan Air
Force. It is difficult to understand, therefore, why
on 22 March 1961, Headquarters was raising questions
about the availability of painting matctrials for putting
Cuban markings on the B-26's still stationed at JMADD.
Headquarters also recommended to both MADD and TIDE
that the specific marking which would identify Brigade
aircraft from Castro's FAR aircraft -- the painting
of a three foot wide light blue stripe around the
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TOP CRET
B-26 wings outside of the pylon tanks might be
undertaken almost immediately.
Whether it was in the supply line or whether it
was simply an oversight, the question of paint for the
aircraft at JMTIDE, seemed to be serious. As late as
14 April, TIDE was appealing to Eglin for all colors
of oil paint, even a partial shipment, and making a
specific request for red, white, blue, and silver
lacquer, masking tape, and paint brushes for special
shipment via Southern Air Transport C-46 on a flight
to TIDE. 93/
Billy Campbell shed some light on the problem
of painting the B-26 aircraft when, in response to a
question if the planning couldn't have been a little
better, he noted as follows:
You are getting into a problem area
here ... we had three different areas
working on this one. The main fleet
of B-26's was sitting at Eglin. The
ones that we had borrowed had come in
through Kelly. The ones that we took
down ... we started off in Guatemala
with two National Guard airplanes that
we had borrowed from the Air Guard,
Andrews AFB. So they then picked up
six B-26's out of Kelly which had been
flown in and cleaned up -- no markings.
We flew those down to Retalhuleu. Then
we began to get other airplanes in at
Field 3, where we had the capability of
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TOP CRET
changing the markings. Then we got into
a problem -- that you were on a US mili-
tary installation and you couldn't do
that. Then we had the problem where if
you'd fly them anywhere else in the
United States and try to reconfigure,
then you've got another problem because
you would have to do it at night, ...
So the planes were flown in, if I recall
correctly, from Eglin as Air Force air-
craft and flown down to Guatemala un-
marked ... and reconfigured and flown
from there on into Puerto Cabezas, un-
marked. Then, at Puerto Cabezas, the
Cuban markings were put on them, and
this is where we needed the paint. 94/
Even as the discussions were being held concern-
ing the painting of air strips and the aircraft, prog-
ress was being made toward assembling the necessary
aircraft -- 10 C-54's and 4 C-46's -- to provide the
airlift from Retalhuleu, Guatemala to Puerto Cabezas,
Nicaragua. The movement of aircraft involved not only
flights from Guatemala to Nicaragua and return, but
also flights of aircraft from Eglin Air Force Base
to Roosevelt Roads (Puerto Rico) and thence to TIDE,
or from Eglin Air Force Base directly to TIDE. Inas-
much as the transfers were going to be made after
dark, the problems were made even more difficult.
Although TIDE was scheduled to become operational
on 1 April 1961, the airlift of the ground forces
from JMTRAV was not to begin until D-8 and was to
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ECRET
TO ECRET
continue through D-Day. The actual opening of JMTIDE,
however, was delayed until 2 April 1961 because leaders
of the recently organized Consejo Revolucionario Cubano
(CRC), Jose Miro Cardona, Antonio de Varona, Antonio
Maceo, and Manuel Artime were still visiting in the
MADD/TRAV area; and rather than begin the airlift out
of MADD while these people were still present, the
operation was delayed for 24 hours. 95/*
Once the political representatives of the Cuban
exiles had departed the base at JMADD, operations at
TIDE went into high gear. By 2 April, a gunnery, bomb,
and rocket range had been located some 45 miles north-
east of Puerto Cabezas in the vicinity of the Cayos
Miskito Island. In 4 three hour' period on 3 April,
11 aircraft had arrived at JMTIDE -- six B-26's, three
C-46's, and two C-54's -- with the transport aircraft
scheduled to return to MADD for additional cargo and
passengers. \These aircraft brought in 169 Cuban
personnel; and on that same day, two of the B-26's
were sent out to inspect the bomb and gunnery range
* Eduardo Ferrer stated that this visit of the Consejo
took place at the end of February 1961, but he was a
month early in his recollections. 96/
- 163 -
TOP CRET
with Capt. Quintana of the Nicaraguan Gardia Nacional
riding in one of the B-26's as an observer. On 4-5 April,
17 sorties were planned for the First Pilots of the
B-26's, with the pilots to ride in both the left and
the right seats of the aircraft. The ordnance load
for these sorties was to be two 500 pound bombs, four
200 pound fragmentation bombs, four rockets, and 800
rounds of .50 caliber ammunition. 97/*
With the move to TIDE, it was not only the B-26
pilots who went into advanced training -- the C-46
pilots, too, were immediately engaged in upgrading
their skills and improving their techniques. According
to Eddy Ferrer, the Cuban pilots also spent their time
assisting the ground crews in aircraft maintenance and
arming bombs and rockets -- the ordnance activities
being conducted under the supervision of the armorers.
Insofar as Ferrer was concerned, it appeared
that the living conditions for the air crews at JMTIDE
were an improvement over the situation at JMADD. The
* Interestingly enough, "five sorties on live bomb
range [5 Apr 61] cancelled due lack Nicaraguan mark-
ings." 98/ The paint shortage which had been raised
with Hea-dquarters was no joke!
- 164 -
NT SECRET
quarters, messing, and other facilities were not notice-
ably better than they had been at MADD; but the fact
that the airstrip was both longer and wider, added to
the mental comfort of the pilots. 99/*
At the same time that the advanced training for
the aircrews was going on, plans were made to airlift
the ground troops from JMADD to JMTIDE for embarkation
?
on the ships which were being assembled to transport
them to Cuba. Because of delays imposed by Washington,
the bulk of the Brigade cargo had been airlifted to
TIDE before the troops were ready to be debarked.
Initially, it had been planned that troops and cargo
would be flown in simultaneously. Major Billy Campbell,
who had been in charge of air operations at JMADD prior
to Thorsrud, was called back from Eglin to coordinate
the administrative airlift details with Gar Thorsrud.
\
* The one lament that Ferrer did raise about facilities
at JMTIDE concerned the latrines. Apparently some of
the quick-lime used in the latrines for sanitary disposal
got on the seats of the johns and the Cubans were coming
up with sore butts. Consequently, some chose to go,
pistol in hand, into the nearby woods to perform nature's
functions -- the pistols being necessary, according to
Ferrer, for protection from the wild animals which roamed
the areas near the Base. 100/ For photos of JMTIDE,
see Figures 24 through 33. Also see DDS Historical
Series OL-7, James Burwell, Logistics Support for Opera-
tions in Cuba, March 1.960 - October 1961, Fig. 70-88. S.
- 165 -
TOP CRET
With Campbell handling the airlift end of MADD, a lift
of nearly 1,300 troops was to be completed in a period
of less than 4 days, leaving only a handful of new
trainees at JMTRAV and, at JMADD, the 160 airborne
troops who would be flown directly from JMADD to the
drop zones in Cuba on D-Day. 101/
During the period of transition from JMADD to
JMTIDE and in the interval before the first of the
operational air strikes, the records reflect numerous
indications of a serious shortage of Cuban pilots for
the planned air operation. This is contrary to the
belief of all of the principals who were most directly
involved in the air operation. Richard Bissell, how-
ever, claimed to have been seriously concerned about
the number of air crews:
I do clearly remember that one of the
limiting factors in the whole operation
was the number of competent Cuban air
crews that could be found, recruited,
and trained. I remember saying to [Col.
Stanley] Beerli that I wished he had a
lot more [aircraft], and he said "No
point ... we could get more B-26's easily
enough, but we don't have the crews to
man them and we just can't find them.
We are training all the competent Cubans
-- pilots, co-pilots, air crewmen --
that we can find, and this is as much of
a capability as we are able to develop." 102/
- 166 -
TOP
CRET
TOPSECRET
Additionally, too, it has already been noted
that when Gar Thorsrud took over as Chief of JMADD-
JMTIDE air operations, one of the first sessions he
had with Col. Villafana and Luis Cosine was to find
out whether they could recommend any additional Cuban
aircrews who might be picked up for training -- or
who might be defected out of Cuba if they had not
already fled to the United States. Of less than a
dozen individuals whose names were produced as a result
of this meeting, six in fact, arrived at JMTIDE, prior
to D-Day -- none of them, however, are known to have
participated in the air operations over Cuba. But at
least one of the Cubans who had gone through the
training at JMADD, Fausto Valdez, a C-54 commander
did return from Miami to JMTIDE in time to participate
in the air operations. 103/
Examination of the cable traffic between Head-
quarters and JMTIDE for the ten day period prior to
D-2 (15 April 1961), when the first tactical air op-
eration against Cuba was launched, indicates that
there was a very narrow margin between the number of
trained pilots, particularly B-26 pilots, and air-
craft that were available for the planned operations.
- 167 -
TOP SE T
On 6 April 1961, it was reported that there was some
doubling up in the training effort -- four of the C-54
captains were reported to be qualified to fly B-26's
or C-46's in addition to the C-54's which were their
primary responsibility. 104/ The situation was com-
pounded by the fact that at this same time, JMTIDE
was reporting
Review aircrew capability TIDE reveals
critical shortage C-54 and C-46 aircraft
commanders due loss trained personnel
various causes. Trained pilots ... Miami
area] should be dispatched immediately TIDE
order to provide better indigenous crew air
drop capability. All three personnel ...
[in Miami] are A/C commanders in C-46 or
C-54. 105/
Where both George Gaines and Gar Thorsrud were
of the opinion that this last minute flurry of activity
regarding the acquisition of the additional Cuban pilot
personnel would have made no difference at all -- had
the initial air operation plan been carried out -- Col.
Stanley Beerli, who was Acting Chief of DPD at ..he
time, went a step further and suggested that the supply
of Cuban pilots who were really qualified to go into
the air operations training program of JMATE had already
been put into the program:
The ones that were screened that
had any sort of potential, were taken
- 168 -
TO CR ET
whenever we could get them. But near
the end, as you know, everyone got a
little bit apprehensive, as we got near
the D-date; and they were beginning to
think, "do we have enough"; and people
were saying, "well, maybe we ought to.,
have a few more pilots here and there. 106/
But like Gaines and Thorsrud in response to the
question of whether more pilots could have changed the
course of the action, Beerli said:
I don't think so, because what you are
doing here ... you're not going to send
aircraft in there that are going to be
shot down. Once we let that T-33 off the
ground, it raised havoc with us. Then
there was no number of aircraft ... there
was no number of crews that were going to
do it. 107/
In addition to the problem of insuring adequate
numbers of air crews to fly the three types of aircraft
that were involved in the operation, there were addi-
tional difficulties that cropped up at TIDE, prior to
the D-2 air strike. Through D-2, as a matter of fact,
one of the problems of considerable importance concerned
the availability of 230 gaIlon drop tanks for use on
the B-26's. These were necessary to extend the range
of the aircraft. TIDE was going to Eglin requesting
supplies of these tanks -- while at the same time,
Headquarters was going to Eglin and saying that the
- 169 -
TOPS ET
230 gallon tanks were in such short supply that if
they were shipped to TIDE, they should not be dropped
in the course of the air operations except as a last
resort.
Not only was there a question about the availa-
bility of the drop-tanks, but TIDE originated a request
the day before (14 April 1961) the first air strike
for an inf light test of the drop-tanks to see if their
release damaged the aircraft. Moreover, TIDE's message
said: "Request documentary film of test." Faith in
Headquarters judgment seems to have been in short supply!
A rather interesting response from Eglin pointed out
that various of the Headquarters personnel were thoroughly
experienced with the drop tanks, including dropping
them from B-26's. Headquarters informed TIDE that
there was only minor damage that might be expected to
the flap areas of the wings, and that this was so
minor that it didn't interfere with the flight charac-
teristics. In the cable reporting this, the comment
was made "that no noise or anything occurs to frighten
the pilots." 108/ At best these last minute questions
about drop tanks for the B-26's appear to indicate a
serious oversight of an issue that should have been
studied, diagnosed, dissected, and determined long
before D-Day.
In the days immediately before the instigation
of tactical air operations, another difference be-
tween JMTIDE and Headquarters concerned TIDE's request
for parts and spares, including fly-away kits and inci-
dental materials relative to the maintenance of B-26
aircraft. A sharply worded protest was directed by
Headquarters to JMTIDE on 8 April 1961 questioning
"the tremendous volume of items requested ... Most
requirements you request previously shipped your
activities." 109/
TIDE went back to Headquarters in very positive
terms stating that:
1. Original mission TIDE distorted be-
yond recognition. Instead of forward air
base providing support maritime (i.e.
unlimited storage diesel fuel and arm packs)
TIDE now primarily engaged support maritime
operations.
2. Investigation reveals TIDE base
logistics and PDO personnel unloading ships,
loading and shifting cargo between ships,
plus providing provisions and records keep-
ing. In addition, approximately 250,000
pounds cargo shipped MANA, thence:EME,
thence ships. Also, aircraft parts and
equipment for MADD dropped on TIDE extremely
short period of time. These actions con-
ducted concurrent providing quarters and
- 171 -
TO CRET
TO ECRET
rations 350-400 personnel on base. built
and manned to support approximately 200
personnel.
3. Recommend following actions provide
timely and orderly accomplishment all mis-
sions simultaneously:
A. Personnel experienced KUBARK
air (repeat air) logistics be sent to
TIDE TDY to/support this operation.
B. Five motor scooters be made
available immediately. for operations,
security, commo, armament, airborne
section supply and maintenance. 110/*
Although the bickering between Headquarters and
the field over the need for various support items for
the air operations continued, even through the course
of the invasion itself, it can safely be said that the
logistics support for the Air Operations, through the
* In discussions the author had with principal air
officers regarding the change of the target from TRINIDAD
to ZAPATA, the question was asked if this change in
location made any significant difference in terms of
air operations. Both Cols. Beerli and Gaines suggested
that this did not make any particular difference, and
Gar Thorsrud, who was the Air Operations Commander at
JMTIDE, recalled only some of the maintenance problems
about the actual use of the air strip at Playa Giron --
the need for pumping equipment and ground support equip-
ment was more difficult than would have been experienced
had the air strip at TRINIDAD been available. Thorsrud,
as well as Gaines and Beerli, apparently forgot about
the difficulties that were caused to the logistics
support effort at TIDE with the dispatch of the B-26
items intended for Playa Giron mentioned in the dis-
cussion above.
- 172 -
TOP RET
TOP CRET
period of training at both JMADD and JMTIDE, and through
the course of the invasion itself, was highly successful.*
Having then assembled the strike aircraft, having
completed the advance training, and having laid in the
necessary ordnance, the next aspect of the air story
to be discussed, must be that of D minus 2 (D-2).
* One of the most needless cables that was sent by
Headquarters to the field concerning supply items was
the following of 10 April 1961 which read:
Request every effort be made to prevent
further cracking of (B-26] windshields,
since this one of critical supply items.
The field response to this on 12 April was:
Concur. Will stop cracking wind-
shields. 111/
- 173 -
TOP
RET
Part III
Initiation of Combat Air Operations
A. D minus 2 (15 April 1961)
Initiation of tactical air operations against
Cuba on 15 April 1961 evolved as insurance for the
planned invasion -- in fact it came to be the keystone
of the operation. This tactical air strike caused a
real brouhaha in the United Nations and put Adlai
Stevenson -- the US Ambassador to the UN - in the
center of a controversy concerning the ultimate out-
come at the Bay of Pigs which, even today, brings
harsh words and bitter recriminations from Agency
personnel who were involved -- some quite marginally
-- in the JMATE project. From this first tactical air
operation, there also evol-ged the controversial episode
commonly referred to as the "second strike." Eventually,
this issue would involve not only all of the key Agency
personnel assigned to Project JMATE, but also Mr.
Richard Bissell, the Deputy Director for Plans; Lt.
Gen. Charles P. Cabell, the Deputy Director of Central
Intelligence; the Secretary of State, Dean R. Rusk;
the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy;
and the President's brother, Attorney-General Robert
F. Kennedy.
Although there has been much written about air
operations over Cuba between 15-19 April 1961, much of
it has been pure speculation or exaggeration, with
only limited segments being demonstrably accurate --
the most reliable stories were those told by Eduardo
Ferrer and Albert C. ("Buck") Persons who served as
transport pilots. *Because it has been examined from an
all source basis, what follows may help to clarify --
if not resolve -- some of the issues about which there
has been the greatest dispute.
Final decisions on what, where, and when the
tactical air operation was to be mounted was discussed,
debated, and decidedin theoHeadquarters area -- the
principals most directly concerned with the overall
air operation more frequently than not were relegated
to the sidelines as observers. The ball, in terms of
the management of the air operation, was being carried
principally by Mr. Bissell and General Cabell. Even
before the departure of President Eisenhower, the new
Administration had been infoLmed in specific detail
- 175 -
TOP CRET
of the nature of the anti-Castro operation; but it was
not untilmid-March 1961 that the Kennedy administra-
tion really opted into the anti-Castro program.
Between 11 and 15 March 1961, the issue of the
TRINIDAD Plan 7- the agreed choice of CIA and the JCS
as the best site for the invasion -- was debated; and
at the direction of the President -- following the
f)?::i1.;?.s....,?_
advice of
/M. Rusk,'-- the CIA planners and their JCS
counterparts were directed to find an alternative
site for the upcoming thrust against Castro. The re-
sult was a decision to launch the invasion of the
Cienaga de Zapata from the Bahia de Cochinos. The
change in the invasion site forced a number of signif-
icant alterations to be worked into the planning. In
the version finally submitted to JFK, TRINIDAD would
have provided tactical air support concurrent with,
but not prior to, the amphibious and airborne assault
on Cuba; and earlier versions had called for a pre-
liminary strike, principally at Castro's airfields,
during the period D-3 to D-1. The revised plan
targeting the ZAPATA area required the landing of
troops and the concurrent movement onto the beachhead
airstrip at Playa Giron of B-26 aircraft. Operating
- 176 -
TOP CRET
these aircraft from the beachhead was intended to
support plausible deniability re US responsibility
for the attacks and also to protect the invading
Brigade from Castro's planes.
One impact of this decision has already been
mentioned -- the need to provide ground support for
the two B-26's to be operated from the Cuban beach-
head forced a drastic revision in the loading program
for one of the supply vessels in order to insure that
appropriate materiel, POL, and parts would be available.
Personnel adjustments also had to be made so that
ground crew would be waiting at the beachhead air-
stripe when the B-26's arrived. The aircraft and
materiel, in turn, had to be replaced by Headquarters;
and Headquarters, in turn, complained about the field's
mismanagement of supplies. The change in invasion
sites also forced an additional effort on the part of
th?. reconnaissance and photo interpretation people to
identify the most suitable possible landing strip
for B-26 operations. In the end, the 4,000 foot strip
at Playa Giron was chosen -- a decision reached after
having rejected the possibilities of using the airstrips
at either Trinidad or Soplillar, both of which were
N-
- 177
TOP CRET
ezt-11-4-1-41 ex4..../411?ett14.4Jrtic
6"4"( ? 6, P"12.-88, A1RFIEL
irria-va.??.5.8
COUNTRY: Cuba
COUNTRY CODE: 520
MAP REF: WAC 586
CHT. P.SSOTW VOL. 6-01
CLASS:
ID ENTIA
VALUATION
4
INSTALLATION NO.: 8017
50
ALT (FT.):
DATE LATEST INFO: Feb 58
Cuoa, Page bi
Vol. 6, Mar 58
NAME: TRINIDAD
ALTERNATE NAME'S:
Grau San Martin
COORDS: 21 48 N
80 00 W
LOCATION AND LANDMARKS: Just SW of Trinidad; 32 miles SE of Cienfuegos;
32 miles WSW of Sancti Spiritus; 37 miles S of Santa Clara.
PHOTO OR SKETCH DATE: Mar 55
RWY DIMENSIONS:
4000' x 120'
ORIENTATION:
SURFACE:
NE/SW Asphalt,
excellent
NOTE: Extensibility NE limited by urban
CAPACITY: EXTENSIBILITY:
C-54 Unlimited SW
(by use)
buildup.
TAXIWAYSANDPARMNG1 Turning circle at SW end of runway. Parking
for large aircraft at N end of field; ample parking for light
aircraft on grassed areas.
eRINIDAD
WIGATION FACILITIES?(1) RADIO
ORtZQENT1AL
AIRFIELD LATION
(2) COMMUNICATIONS
(3) AEROLOGY (4) LIGHTING:
?) None
Telephone; telegraph and cable in Trinidad.
*) Forecasts available by telephone from Jose Uarti Airfield,
150 miles NW.
?.) None
.
S'/ICES?(I) POL (2) REPAIRS: (3) JET STARTING UNITS (4) OXYGEN SUPPLY (5) OTHER:
1) None 2) None 3) None 4) No info 5) No info
?
,XED INSTALLATIONS?(1) HANGARS (2) PERSONNEL ACCOMMODATIONS (3) MISC ELDGS:
None
:-!) Poor quality hotels in Trinidad.
?;) Small administration building.
T:ANSPORTATION FACILITIES?(1) ROAD (2) RAIL (3) WATER:.
1) Secondary paved road joins Central Highway at Sancti Spiritus.
3) Single-track railroad in Trinidad, joins island network at
Santa Clara.
3) Small freighter and lighter accommodations at Trinidad.
Excellent port facilities at Cienfuegos.
OPERATORS: Civil: Aviation Company of Cuba.
jSERS: Civil: Aviation Company of Cuba.
W=FICANTST;JEMENT: Trinidad was rebuilt and officially opened in
53 to encourage tourist trade. The runway will support .
medium transnort aircraft, ? however the lack of facilities
rsLrCt it o liLtited operations of this type.
Tob SECRET
judged to be too short for the B- 6 operation.*
Another significant difference between the TRINI-
DAD and the ZAPATA air strike plans was that TRINIDAD
anticipated the use of six US pilots, each in a B-26
which was scheduled to strike one or another of the
fields on which Castro's combat aircraft were stationed.
The ZAPATA plan maae no such provision for US airmen,
and as has been pointed out previously, the use of US
pilots was a point of considerable contention between
Headquarters and the field -- and in Washington between
CIA and State/White House air experts throughout
the course of the training activities at JMADD and at
mom. 1/
In planning for tactical air operations, the
question was raised of the need for the number soften-
ing, pre-D--Day strike (or strikes) prior to the actual
day of the invasion. During meetings of the Special
* The B-26 pilots had been training on 5,000 - 6,0.00
foot strips at both JMADD and JMTIDE; and, as noted
later in this volume, during final training, the can-
didates for flying the B -26's into Playa Giron were
practicing landings between the two white strips 4,000
feet apart on the runways at JMTIDE and JMADD. The
author has been unsuccessful in attempts to discover
why no serious protest appears to have been made over
the rejection of Trinidad on the basis of the airstrip-,(*
% The--wan--4-70.0'1V-4-ri40'.ter.7Pr:?-0" -Sv-art-,--1-41-4-t---0-"-7,1-1 A, '
44,,,?&?.., i
..1.4,2-tx -4_4,-.4.(4.-1 ,i,&?... f ) , C---LA -171 ".'.'' 4/s-4 '16 f
itia; it44 6-t-.- 42147 - 4 - , 4 i (..ttr, - 178 - .-6, I .-- i
4,4,,-c.
742 T-rvw-d-i-4 4-?,72Z.14
SVC. TOP SET
P-i
P?z-0.1
TO ECR ET
Group on 8 and 15 December 1960, the issue of spoiling
raids and tactical air operations out of Puerto Cabezas
had been raised, but not resolved; and in planning for
the 5 January 1961 meeting, Tracy Barnes was instructed
to ask the Special Group for approval for air strikes
:
fro
beginning on D-1. The need for such a strike had
been advanced as early 16 Januaryn-y the Department
of Defense; when the Joint Staff rvewhe Agency's
thinking about the operation against Castro. The
actual responsibility for incorporating the D-2 air
strike into the ZAPATA plan as it finally evolvedic-as
been a subject of some speculation; but it appears
clear that Col. Jack Hawkins, Richard Bissell, and C.
Tracy Barnes were responsible for devising the D-2
strike and the "defector" story that went with it. 3/
None of the principal air officers -- Thorsrud, Gaines,
Beerli, Campbell -- nor Chief WH/4 was able to pinpoint
the actual individual or time when the decision was
made that the inclusion of a pre-D-Day air strike was
essential to the success of the operation.
The records provide evidence that the push for
a pre-D-Day air strike received strong support from
McGeorge Bundy, President Kennedy's National Security
Adviser. In a most interesting Memorandum to the
President, dated 15 March 1961, during the period when
the Agency, and JCS were in the process of revising
the TRINIDAD plan, Mr. Bundy noted among other things
that:
Even the revised landing plan depends
strongly upon prompt action against Cas-
tro's air. The question in my mind is
whether we cannot solve this problem by
having the air strike come some little
time before the invasion. A group of
patriotic airplanes flying from Nicaraguan
bases might knock out Castro's air force
in a single day without anyone knowing
(for some time) where they came from, and
with nothing to prove that it was not an
interior rebellion by the Cuban Air Force,
which has been of very doubtful loyalty
in the past; the pilots will in fact be
members of the Cuban Air Force who went
into the opposition some time ago. Then
the invasion could come as a separate
enterprise, and neither the air strike,
nor the quiet landing of patriots would
in itself give Castro anything to take
to the United Nations. 4/
This recommendation by Bundy was undoubtedly the
result of his contacts with Hawkins aril Bissell. In
his May 1961 post-mortem of the operation, Hawkins
claimed that both the pre-D-Day and D-Day strike con-
cepts went to the President; and in response to a
query on the subject, Mr. Bissell could not recall
whether the plans went directly to President Kennedy
- 180 -
TOP CRET
or "some of his [JFK's] principal aides." McGeorge
Bundy was probably the recipient of the Hawkins-Bissell
message calling for two strikes, for Bundy wrote:
I have been a skeptic about Bissell's
[Cuban] operation, but now I think we are
on the edge of a good answer. I think that
Bissell and Hawkins have done an honorable
job of meeting the proper criticisms and
cautions of the Department of State. 5/*
There is, however, evidence to indicate that
President Kennedy himself was involved at least twice
-- on 5 and 6 April 1961 -- in discussions of the
planned defection operation and the concomitant pre-
D-Day air strike. David W. Gray** specified that on
5 April, the President, Secretary McNamara, General
Lemnitzer, and State and CIA representatives met at
the White House and discussed, among other things,
"fake defections and preliminary [air] strikes." 5a/
* In response to a question concerning the validity
of Hawkins's statement that he (Hawkins), Bissell, and
Barnes had origir,lated the D-2 strike and defector opera-
tion and that the President had been briefed on both
D-2 and D-Day strike plans, Bissell told Sherman Kent
(on 23-24 March 1977) that Hawkins was correct, except
as noted above, that Bissell could not recall if it was
the President or "some of his principal aides" who had
been given the detailed plans.
** Major General (USA), Chief, Subsidiary Activities
Division, J-5, and the JCS liaison officer with the
JMATE project.
- 181 -
TOP
In reference to 6 April, Gray did not list the partici-
pants; and he reported that Bissell outlined the defec-
tion plans, with air strikes and diversionary landings. 5b/
In another reference to "results of meetings with the
President on 4, 5, and 6 April," Gray stated that
"Planned 'Defection' air strikes" had forced revisions
in the CIA plan. 5c/*
It is difficult in retrospect, to understand,
how one of Bundy's position, could seriously believe
that the mounting of a tactical air strike would not
t,
be used against the United States in the ggrforum by
Castro. Certainly there had been enough publicity
on the training efforts in both Guatemala and Nicaragua
and on US support for the FRD's anti-Castro efforts
to indicate that the White House Staff had not done
its homework if, in fact, Bundy really believed the
US would not be held culpable. Bundy's reference to
the possibility of "a quiet landing" -- per the stric-
ture of Secretary Rusk -- also seems to offer a placebo
??????
During the period 5-7 April 1961, Jack Hawkins,
(WH/4/CI), Dick Drain (C/OPS/WH/4), and Mr.
isse , among others, appear to have been most closely
involved in planning the B-26 defection-deception op-
eration. 5d/
TOP ECR ET
for the President. Even without an accompanying air
strike, how could a landing of 800 - 1,200 men with
tanks, heavy machine guns, mortars, and recoilless
rifles be considered quiet?
Although uncertain concerning the origin of the
D-2 and defector plan, both George Gaines and Stanley
Been! of DPD recalled that they were firmly in favor
of the idea. Gaines who was Chief of Air Operations
for DPD on Project JMATE stated:
We wanted something to insure success
of the absolute, total annihilation of
retaliatory capability when we put our
troops ashore. One strike early in the
morning we didn't think was sufficient
to guarantee the degree of success that
we needed. So several schemes were pro-
posed, and we checked them; and finally
we decided that -- and I think the
decision actually was made in Bissell's
office -- that what we would do would
be to pursue the course of a fake Cuban
Air Force defection. We had intelligence
enough available to us that we knew the
names of the people who still were active
-- even though they may have been part
of a dissident element to some degree --
they were still active in [the] Cuban
Air Force. So we decided what we would
do was stage, very near to the time of
the actual strike, a fake defection,.
Purportedly one of Castro's own pilots
would become disgruntled, and take an
aircraft, shoot up his own Air Force
facilities, and seek asylum in the US.
The damage done during that fake strike
would give us the insurance that we
- 183 -
needed. In other words, whatever damage
we could do -- we were hoping for some-
thing around SO% -- if we could knock
out SO% on that strike, then when we went
in with our morning strike, just a couple
of days later, we could be more sure of
getting everything that could hurt the
ground troops and the ships. The timing
was arranged that closely to the actual
landing because it would "keep -- the
short period of time -- would keep the
analysis of the overall damage from being
complete by the time the total invasion
occurred. We were going to hit three,
not one ... which would purportedly have
been his act [the notional defector].
We are going to hit three bases [Libertad,
San Antonio, and Santiago]
I think there were several of us that
thought that we needed a little bit more
of an edge than putting all our eggs in
one basket for that one strike to be to-
tally successful. I was one of the people
who was apprehensive about trying to
guarantee 100% success with one effort,
and I think that the discussion among us
... we sort of ... this decision evolved. 6/
Gaines's opinion is supported by Stan Beerli,
who was the Acting Chief of DPD, during the course
of Project JMATE. Beerli, for example, noted:
I think we determined that ... if we
could have an air strike on D-2, and then
follow it up with an air strike after we
had an assessment, that we could accomplish
the air control mission. But, we would
like to have had an air strike ... maybe
we wanted air strikes . . maybe
as far back as D-6. But ... you risk your
covert operation when you start doing that
... You couldn't depend on doing it all at
one ... on one strike. In other words, if
you would like to establish the fact that
you have control of the air before you hit
the beaches. You have got to go before
D-Day, unless you are prepared for air-to-
air combat -- which we were not. The thing
is, I don't think the air operation really
ever got seriously nailed down to a schedule
until after we went to the second landing
site. You see, the air people would like
to have gone in and neutralized it all be-
fore the ground force was there. But, of
course, ... you start compromising your
covertness ... What you did was to alert
the world press that something was probably
going on. In other words, we couldn't do
everything we desired to do to guarantee
neutralizing the Cuban Air Force in one
day. 7/
Unlike Cols. Beerli and Gaines, Gar Thorsrud,
who was Air Commander at JMTIDE, and would be responsi-
ble for setting the tactical air operations into motion,
was far more optimistic about what might have been
attained by the single D-Day air strike using the full
force of B-26's as originally intended. Thorsrud
The tactical strikes -- or if you want
to call them strategic -- really didn't
matter whether it was TRINIDAD or Playa
Giron, because we had to knock out the
air -- the enemy air capabilities, and
I was in on the tactical planning on how
we hit those fields. The time of day,
and the type of weapons that we were going
to use. That was for the first day of the
operation. That was to go in simultaneously
- 185 -
TOPS RET
said:
with the invasion, and we had napalm ear-
marked for the 75 tanks that were lined up
on the soccer field, and we had .50 cali-
bers -- the 8 gun nose B-26's, which was a
helluva lot of fire power -- to hit the
parked aircraft ... There was just no doubt
in anyone's mind that, with the element of
surprise, at the crack of dawn that first
day, that there wouldn't have been anything
left on those ... on any of those fields. 87*
With the decision made that there would be a pre-
invasion strike on D-2, it is easier to understand the
reason for the intensification of the training activity
as the air operation was moved from JMADD to JMTIDE.
That the Cuban crews were ready to undertake tactical
air operations, had been attested to by both George
Gaines and Gar Thorsrud. Gaines made quite a point of
the increased capability of the B-26 contingent, noting:
The B-26 capability -- combat capa-
bility -- was exceptional. They had come
* It was not until he was reviewing this volume that
Thorsrud learned of the origin of the D-2 effort. He
was highly incensed to learn that such a strike was
being considered even as he was being appointed air
commander for TIDE and MADD on 24 March 1961. Thorsrud
claimed that the first he heard of the plan was when
notification of its approval was cabled to him as a
fait accompli. As the only Agency staffer who had
first hand experience in a similar air effort --
- Thorsrud said he was either ignored
or torgotten by the Headquarters planners. To say he
was unhappy to learn how the decision was made is an
understatement!
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TOP ECR ET
from the last place in combat capability,
as far as proficiency was concerned, to
what I would consider first place among
the three airplanes -- the 46, the 54,
and the B-26. They were good. Now, the
American Air Staff -- USAF -- didn't
realize how good they were, and probably
doesn't to this day; but they were unusu-
ally good combat crews. They had not had
any seasoning in combat, so when I say
they were unusually good, I'm not talking
about the psychological factors that go
into combat. I'm talking about the tech-
nical proficiency in putting the gun on a
target and bomb on a target. They didn't
have the guts that an American would have
displayed, but on the other hand, they
might have had a little bit more intelli-
gence than the average American combat
pilot. When they were asked to fly in
sorties up to the beach and provide some
cover forthe people on the ground, the
Cubans didn't want to do it because of
the danger; and so the Americans volun-
teered to do it, and we lost some. The
C-54's and C-46's ... for a long time,
the 54's were the prima donnas of our
entire Cuban Air Force -- the Brigade
air force -- because ... a lot of them
were ex-Cubana Air Lines [pilots], and
capable. [They] were sort- of looked up
to as the old senlor pilots with ...
thousands of hours. But, as time went on,
the C-46 people got more and more pro-
ficient too; and they turned out to be
kind Of brash, johnny-come-latelys who
really did a good job. I would say the
C-54's turned out to be technically com-
petent, and the C-46 people were much better
than would originally have been expected. 9/*
* Like Thorsrud and Gaines, Stan Beerli also was high
on the technical competence of the Cuban pilots. More
than the others, however, Beerli did indicate some
(footnote continued on following page)
- 187 -
TOP SECRET
Within the first week of the move to JMTIDE, and
the rush into the final training activity in anticipa-
tion of D-2, Gar Thorsrud received a set of final in-
structions concerning the B-26 operations. The nature
of these instructions emphasized that complete authority
for target selection, except for tactical close support
targets assigned by the Brigade Commander on the beach,
would reside at Headquarters. It was stressed that
B-26 aircraft commanders should understand this, be-
cause deviation from Headquarters authorized targets
"could jeopardize the entire operation. Innocent
victims or non-tactical target destruction can bring
world reaction and/or intervention against this ef-
fort." 11/*
In addition to the final instructions for the
Air Commander of JMTIDE, there was a continuing
reservation about the emotional makeup of the Cuban
crews for tactical air operations. For this reason,
he was more sympathetic to the frequent requests from
the field for the authority to use US pilots during
the course of air operations -- even before the tactical
air operations began. 10/
* Complete text of these final instructions appears
in Appendix 5.
TOP ECRET
flurry of activity regarding the risk of capture
briefing materials that were forwarded for the Cuban
crews. There were instructions that this information
also be passed on to the American crews in case they
were used in the combat areas; and there was an on-
going hassle over the number of aircraft that would
be involved in the initial strike at the three air-
fields -- Libertad, San Antonio, and Santiago. Ini-
tially it was planned to use a total of six B-26's,
two at each of the three fields. As will be noted
later, when the plan matured/Headquarters did agree
to assign three B-26's to attack both Libertad and
San Antonio, with the remaining two aiicraft being
sent to Santiago. An additional B-26 was assigned
as a spare in case of mechanical failure of one of
the eight attacking aircraft, and a tenth B-26 was
assigned to the "defector" operation which will be
discussed later.
There also was a deception aspect built into the
planned attack on the Libertad and San Antonio air-
fields. Two of the three B-26's assigned to Libertad
and two of the three assigned to San Antonio would
bear identical tail numbers. At each airfield, two
TOP CRET
aircraft with unidentical tail numbers would make the
first strikes, and then the third aircraft -- with an
identical tail number to one of the other aircraft --
would make its pass. The theory was that this would
make the Cubans believe that a total of only four
aircraft were engaged in the strike at San Antonio
and Libertad. In fact, this proved to be the case
at least for a few days; for Castro, in his 23 April
1961 TV spectacular on the invasion, specified that
there had been two aircraft at each of the three
airfields. 12/*
Another of the problems that faced the planners
of the D-2 operation concerned procedures regarding
both US Navy and US Air Force aircraft. USN aircraft
operating in the area of Nicaragua and Cuba during
the initiation of tactical air operations were advised
to stay clear of both the south coast of Cuba and of
Nicaraguan air space. TIDE reported that Nicaraguan
Air Force P-51's had been alerted to intercept any
nonscheduled aircraft approaching the TIDE base.
* Castro observed the attack on Libertad from the
nearby General Staff quarters where he was attending
a meeting.
- 190 -
TOP kCRET
TOPS RET
Technically the Nicaraguan pilots were supposed to
provide warning before shooting at strange aircraft,
but TIDE suggested that it would be advisable not to
tempt them.
With reference to the coastal areas of Cuba,
TIDE pointed out that there had been at least two
instances where USN aircraft had strayed over Cuban
territory and had been lost. In one instance "One
[USN plane] shot down by rebel forces backed by
KUBARK." 13/*
A set of rules had been delivered to the Com-
mander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD)
providing rules for identification and engagement at
the time that the Cuban air operations were being
monitored out of Nicaragua. The main concerns of
CONAD were to prevent Castro's aircraft from entering
United States air space for possible attack under the
guise of Brigade aircraft and to prevent the destruc-
tion of Brigade aircraft, which might be headed for
the United States air space on an emergency basis. 14/
* Whether the information about the shoot down of the
USN aircraft by Agency-backed rebels in Cuba has ever
been revealed, is not known.
In the context of possible violations of air
space by Brigade aircraft being forced to make emergency
landings, Headquarters told TIDE that:
The planned air operation for D-2 was not finally
set until 14 April 1961 at 2100Z, when a message to
TIDE from the Director specified the commitment of
eight aircraft against three airfields, the airborne
spare in case of an abort of an aircraft assigned to
either San Antonio or Libertad, and one aircraft for
the special defection operation. 16/ As mentioned,
there had been considerable
and the field in the period
ment of a
Libertad.
third aircraft at
Gar Thorsrud was
niggling between Headquarters
12-14 April for the assign-
both San Antonio and
very much concerned about
the need for the extra aircraft, and then Lt. Col.
Gaines arrived at JMTIDE to conduct the final briefings
for the upcoming air strike, he too was convinced; and,
consequently, the decision finally was made favorable
- 192 -
to the wishes of the Air Commander at JMTIDE. 17/
On 10 April 1961, Lt. Col. George Gaines was
at JMTIDE to begin the briefings for CIA staff person-
nel and advisers on the D-2 and D-Day air targets.
The briefings began at 1300 in the afternoon, continued
through that day and on through 11 April until the
final preparations for the attack plan were worked
out. On 12 April, the six Cuban combat crews, plus
the spare crew, chosen for the D-2 strike, were moved
into isolation -- an area surrounded by concertina
wire adjacent to the operations compound and guarded
by two security officers. Here, they were given a
general operations and intelligence briefing and the
crews were assigned to the individual targets. Be-
ginning at 0800 local time on 12 April, the crews
studied the targets with the advisers and intelligence
officers in a series of two hours on - one hour off
sessions throughout the day. 18/ Each crew was called
on to present its attack plan for a specific target
from memory, and Col. Gaines said the system worked
well:
We had the Cuban pilots go over and
over and over their role, and striking
those three bases, to the point where
- 193 -
TOP
they knew exactly from what compass head-
ings they were to arrive at the base and
when they switched from 50 calibers to
bombs and when they switched from bombs
back to 50 calibers ... Which direction
they pulled up in ... Whether they made
a 90 or 270[?] degree turn to come back
in on their second run. They could do
it in their sleep, they had done it so
many times on photographs ... aerial photo-
graphs. We got an unexpected amount of
damage because they had followed their
briefing right down to the "T" I
think if we could go back and look at
the training that they had received and
the job that they did ... they did a job
on those three air bases that our first
line American fighter pilots would have
been proud to claim as their own handi-
work. 19/
The crews were served their meals within this
isolation compound; and if they had to leave the area,
they were accompanied by their operations advisers and
security personnel. A cable going back to Headquarters
from TIDE on 13 April 1961 at 0953Z made the following
comment about the Cuban air crews:
Concensus [sic] here that crews were
highly motivated and appear eager for
strike. Morale could not be higher.
Selection of crews was very competitive,
as all 17 crews volunteered. As for
combat readiness, believe this group
could compete with any comparable se-
lection USAF pilots. 20/
This cable was probably prepared by Lt. Col.
George Gaines, and it is interesting to note that there
- 194 -
TO ECR ET
TOP CRET
was a rather significant modification of the language
which appeared in this cable from Col. Jack Hawkins's
cable from TIDE of the same date (but at 1802Z) in
response to a Headquarters request concerning the
readiness of the Cuban Brigade. In the much publicized
cable of 13 April 1961 Hawkins stated among other
things the following:
Germosen [Lt. Col. George Gaines, USAF]
informed me today that he considers the
B-26 squadron equal to the best US Air
Force squadron. 21/
The "best US Air Force squadron" is not necessarily
the same as "any comparable selection USAF pilots."
Eddy Ferrer, although not a B-26 pilot, wrote
that the whole situation surrounding the target brief-
ings highly irritated the Cubans. He pointed out that
when the Constellation carrying the VIP contingent
arrived, they met exclusively with US personnel t9
lay out the strike plan. Ferrer says that the Cubans
were totally excluded and ignored, despite the fact
that it was their country, their fight, and, moreover,
they had a better knowledge of the terrain and the
people than the Americans who were taking full charge
of the show. Ferrer stressed that there were nearly
- 195 -
TOP
RET
20 ex-Cuban Air Force and ex-Navy pilots at TIDE,
whose expertise was completely ignored in the initial
stages of the briefing and planning operation. Ferrer,
too, pointed out that when volunteers were requested,
all of the B-26 crews stepped forward. Unfortunately
Ferrer said that the feeling among the Cubans was that
the Americans regarded anyone from south of the US
border down to Patagonia as "uncivilized, savage
Indians." The eight Cubans who were not selected
were particularly critical. Although it cannot be
confirmed, Ferrer also reported that Gen. Reid Doster
had lost his composure and had thrown his flight bag
against the wall, cursing out the Headquarters idiots
who had conceived of the D-2 air strike employing
only eight B-26's. 22/
As a C-46 pilot, Ferrer had not been a partici-
pant in the briefings for the B-26 bomber pilots, how-
ever, Connie Seigrist's comments on the briefings
tend to support some of the reactions that were
stressed by Ferrer. Seigrist wrote:
There was a Staff briefing for our
Staff personnel first. I was not invited
-- I was not Staff. There was some VIP
from D.C. that gave this briefing. I
- 196 -
TOP CRET
always thought it was Mr. Bissell, but
again I am not sure.* The VIP left, and
Gar and/Gaines gave we management personnel
our briefing. Gen. Doster from ANG
attended, along with myself, the troop
commander (American) (Col. Egan], and
someone else I don't remember.
I do recall vividly, I objected to the
plan. The reason was because of the stand
down period. I felt we could only win by
striking hard and fast, day and night, and
could gain victory in 48 hours. I felt
the 2 day stand down would prove our undo-
ing as it would permit Mr. Castro the time
he needed to organize his air and ground,
and become unbeatable. Col. Gaines in-
formed me the plans were made by brilliant
people, and it wasn't our duty to pick the
plan apart, but to abide by it. I was
sick at heart and have never forgotten
that moment I learned of the 2-day stand
down. It was like working for a traitor
and, yet, not knowing who the traitor was.
I just could not believe our Joint Chiefs
would permit our President to go ahead
with that part of the plan.
I had made friends with the Cubans,
and they came to me afterwards actually
crying and very upset when they found
out about the stand down. They expected
me to explain this -- I could not -- it
was an impossible situation for me I
have never felt worse or more hopeless. 23/**
* Carlos Rivero, author of Los Sabrinos del Tio Sam
(Havana, 1976, p. 98), also claimed that Bissell, "who
always kept his identity secret," was at the briefings;
but Bissell was not in attendance. Possibly the VIP
in question was Colonel Hawkins.
** Emphasis by author.
- 197 -
T ECRET
The commitment of the D-2 air strike was to
destroy Castro's air force. One of the persistent
questions concerning that air strike was whether
Castro's T-33's were the specific targets for the
attack. The plan of attack, however, called for the
destruction of all combat, or potential combat, air-
craft. Both Gar Thorsrud and George Gaines clearly
recognized the superiority of the T-33 to any of the
aircraft that the Brigade would be mounting, and the
fact is that when the D-2 airstrike was set up, all
of Castro's operable T-33's were believed to be located
at the three airfields which made up the D-2 targets.
Stan Beerli, however, was quite emphatic about the
nature of the planned air attack on D-2, with regard
to the T-33's saying:
If you had said prior to the mission
[D-2], had we made a specific point to
go after the T-33's, the answer is no. 24/
The question ef the T-33's as primary targets
is mentioned at this point because both Richard Bissell
and Stanley Beerli apparently indicated to the Taylor
Committee during the post-invasion investigation that
among the reasons for the defeat was an underestima-
tion of Castro's air capability and, particularly, a
- 198 -
TO CRET
belief that the T-33's were not armed. 25/*
Before discussing the actual strike on 15 April
1961, the second aspect of the D-2 operation must be
explained ...that is, the planned "defector" opera-
tion. The scenario for JMFURY -- the crypt which was
assigned to this particular aspect of the project
read in part as follows:
At or about 0800Z (0300 EST), on Friday
14 April [1961], a Cuban pilot, selected
from the group now on alert in TIDE, will
depart TIDE in a specially prepared B-26
for a point 15-20 miles off the coast of
Cuba.** He will arrive at this point, at
or about 0610 (local). He will then fly
* No satisfactory explanation is found in the record
for either man having this particular belief. Beerli
admittedly recognized the fact that the T-33 was a
trainer; but as DOD had pointed out in response to an
Agency request, the planes were equipped with two .50
caliber machine guns. Perhaps both men were too far
from the actual air operations to be fully briefed on
all of the details of the air equipment, but this seems
doubtful in view of the serious debates which had
\taken place concerning the choice of aircraft to be
employed by the exile Brigade facing opposition from
Castro's T-33's and Sea Furies. Unfortunately, how-
ever, in its final report on the Bay of Pigs, the
Taylor Committee did fault "the intelligence ... as
to the evaluatioate06 effectiveness of the T-33's." 25a/
** The date for the pre-D-Day air strike had initially
been set for D-3 (14 April 1961), but on 12 April 1961,
Headquarters notified TIDE that the JMFURY project had
been set back to D-2 or 15 April 1961. 26/
199 -
TO ECR ET
to Miami International Airport. Time of
arrival will be at or about 0740 (local).
He will send a "MAY DAY" distress signal
while off the Florida coast and inform
US authorities that he has defected from
the Cuban Air Force, is having engine
trouble, must land in Miami, and requests
asylum. The US Customs and Immigration
and Naturalization authorities will take
him in hand after landing. The pilot will
inform these authorities that he defected
from the San Antonio de los Banos airbase;
that he had, before leaving the area,
attacked this base; that two colleagues
had also defected (from Campo Libertad
base), and had attacked other Cuban air
bases.
The pilot will be held under maximum
security for his protection; a press
interview will be scheduled in which he
will answer questions along lines set
forth in preliminary briefings. He will
be escorted that night by black flight
from the United States to TIDE, by
KUSODA [Security] personnel. 27/
Both pilot and aircraft were to be reamed, steamed,
dry cleaned, sterilized, and sanitized in order to make
it appear that ?a legitimate defection from Castro's
Cuba had occurred. The aircraft itself was to be
painted identically to the B-26's of the FAR (Fuerza
Aerea Revolucionaria), and it was also to be given a
tail number identical to one of those used on a par-
ticular Castro B-26 which was known to be inactive at
the time. The pilot would be chosen on the basis of
- 200 -
TO ECR ET
"individual motivation, emotional reliability, and
security awareness, as currently adjudged and on the
basis of DPD's extensive period of work with these
pilots." 28/ According to the scenario, none of the
pilot's colleagues would know the details of this
mission, either before or after its completion. His
return to JMTIDE would be by a C-46, which would be
stationed at Miami, and upon his return to the Air
Base at TIDE, it would only be stated that he had
been damaged by gunfire, and this was the explanation
for his return by the C-46.
In terms of the down time at Miami, pilot Garcia
(a phony name dreamed up for the pilot) would be under
the control of Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) officers who were briefed about the operation
to the extent necessary to insure the security of the
activity. The pilot would be debriefed and held in
custody by the INS; and his cover story and such
briefing as INS was directed to permit, would be
totally in Spanish. INS was told to prohibit all
picture taking, and nothing was to be said about
the relatives or friends of the pilot. In addition
to deceiving the other Cuban fliers, Agency personnel
- 201 -
TOP RET
at the JMWAVE Base also would be in the dark as to
the identity of the supposed defector. 29/
Once the plane landed at Miami International,
David Phillips, Chief, WH/4 Propaganda was to call
the base and tell them that he had received a report
that a Cuban military aircraft had landed somewhere
in the Miami area and asked the base personnel to check
out this lead and to get the full press coverage of
the incident.*
In addition to the high standards which the
pilot had to meet, the project outline appealed to
the pilot to keep his mouth shut out of respect for
the success of the operation which was upcoming
and perhaps not incidentally, a sum of $10,000 was
* In his book, The Night Watch, published subsequent
to his retirement, Mr. Phillips claimed that about
13 April 1961, "Abruptly I became involved in the
air action ... It was my assignment during the next
24 hours to stage manage the incredible charade." 30/
From the record, there is no question that Phillips
probably contributed significantly to preparing
questions (in Spanish) to ready pilot "Garcia" for
questions by US reporters, but he implies a larger
role in this episode than can be supported. Also,
as noted later, Phillips story is in error when he
states that there were to be two "defectors" -- one
in Miami and one to Key West.
TRT
CRET
to be deposited for him in a New York bank. He could
withdraw the money on the basis of a personal check
at the rate of $2,000 a year for a five year period
if, according to the scenario "over this five year
span ... no word on the deception aspects of the
mission leaks out." 31/* One further incentive to the
chosen pilot was that his children, if any, or his
first two, were to be educated in the United States
at company expense.
In charge of this deception operation for DPD,
,was Casimiro Barquin, who apparently huddled with the
chosen pilot, Mario Zuniga, in isolation from the
eight crews who were being briefed for the airfield
missions. According to at least one report, Barquin
was in charge of makeup and disguise for Zuniga, in
case he should be inadvertently photographed while
down in Miami. The aircraft itself, in addition to
being painted to resemble the FAR B-26's, was to be
given a weather-beaten look, by rubbing the markings
* On 18 April 1961, the Chief, WH/4/CI requested that
such an account for Zuniga be opened in a New York
bank. 32/ Presumably the pilot collected the full
amount.
203 -
TOP SEC T
with dirt, holes were to be punched
bullet holes, and phony maintenance
similar to that traditionally found
aircraft were to be included in
flew into Miami International.
Ferrer, the cowlings were
taken
the B-26 and shot full of holes.
in it, to simulate
logs and litter
on Cuban military
the B-26 that Zuniga
According to Eddy
off the engines of
They were then re-
placed over the engines. When Zuniga went into Miami,
these at least would appear realistic. 33/
On a course that would take him over a less
,dangerous part of Cuba enroute to Miami, Zuniga was
also to fire the eight .50 calibers that were mounted
on the B-26. One unconfirmed story indicates that he
may have failed to do this, and when the plane was
spotted by reporters
covers were still on
Before turning
in Miami International, the muzzle
the guns.*
to the story of the actual D-2
operations -- both deception and tactical attack --
* The author has not been able to establish the valid-
ity of this story. It seems inconceivable, however,
with the attention being given to the aircraft that
such a stupid mistake could have occurred. Phillips,
The Night Watch (p. 106), also repeats this story.
TOP CRET
mention should also be made of another interesting
deception operation which never materialized. Shortly
after noon on 14 April 1961, Headquarters received
a cable from TIDE, originating with Col. Hawkins which
read as follows:
Request large scale sonic booms over
Capital [sic] night following JMFURY and
over other major cities if feasible same
night. Suggest arrange with Col. Clarke,
USAF, at Pentagon, through Gen. Gray. 34/
Based on the author's interview with Richard D. Drain,
who was Chief, Operations from WH/4 at this time, the
rationale for the sonic boom was that:
We were trying to create confusion,
and so on. I thought a sonic boom would
be a helluva swell thing, you know. Great
... Let's see what it does ... break all
the windows in downtown Havana ... dis-
tract Castro. I remember briefing the
appropriate authorities in the Department
of State about this, because they had to
know about it -- I don't quite know why --,
and "yes, Gen. LeMay, I can tell you
exactly who turned that down -- Department
Assistapt Secretary of State Wymberly Coerr"
... and LeMay said, "Thank you very much,
young man. Now can you tell me why that
sonofabitch turned it down?" I said, "No
sir, General, the reasoning was unclear
to me, but it had something to do with
Berlin." LeMay said, "Jesus Christ!"
and slams the phone down; and frankly
that was typical of the Department ...
So I told LeMay in answer to his question
... "Sure, I know who turned it down in
- 205 --
TOP CRET
State." He [LeMay] obviously never got
it unturned, because we had no sonic
boom. 35/*
The D-2 air strike at San Antonio, Libertad, and
Santiago was based on a targeting operation that had
been conducted at Headquarters, an operation in which
both Cols. Beerli and Gaines played a most active role.**
According to Stan Beerli
We did that [target planning] right
there in Washington, based on U-2 photog-
raphy and prime intelligence ... knowing
where everything was ... and at that time,
the priority was on the Cuban Air Force. 36/
* An unsigned chronology of events related to the Bay
of Pigs, dated 23 April 1961 and submitted to the Taylor
Committee by the Agency, noted among other items that
on 14 April 1961: "Consulted General Cabell, Mr. Bissell,
and Mr. Braddock in State re using sonic boom. Mr.
Braddock said Acting Assistant Secretary Coerr could
not approve as too obviously U.S." 35a/
It is probable that this chronology was prepared
by Richard D. Drain, C/OPS/WH4, from his personal notes.
For 23 April 1961, Drain noted that he came to the office
"to do Chrono record for diary." On 14 April 1961,
Drain wrote that among other items, "Consulted Cabell,
Dan Braddock, Bissell re sonic boom." 35b/ The need
to prepare the Chronology for the Taylor Committee
triggered the additional information about Assistant
Secretary Coerr which otherwise might have been lost
to the historian working exclusively from the written
record left by COPS/WH/4.
** See map following p. 206.
- 206 -
5
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-20 -
CUBA
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TOP SECRET
Beerli also stated:
The one big concern that I remember we
were preoccupied with, but could do nothing
about ... we knew where their aircraft
were and we had designed a number of mis-
sions that had to be flown to knock these
out. But we were concerned that maybe
what they would do after the first mission
was to take the [undamaged] ones and de-
ploy them ... especially, go into the Havana
International Airport, and then we would
have their aircraft mixed in with the
airliners. That would really have given
us a problem. 37/
The best available U-2 photography of the three
Cuban airfields had been taken on 11 and 13 April 1961.
On 13 April, there were five B-26's and five F-47's
or Sea Fury aircraft at Campo Libertad. At San Antonio
de los Banos, on the same date, there were at least
five B-26's, one T-33, and one F-47 or Sea Fury --
the PI readout, however, noted that haze and partial
cloud cover had obscurred most of the San Antonio
airfield. The Santiago airfield had been photographed
on 11 April, and there were two B-26's, one T-33, and
one derelict F-47 or Sea Fury aircraft identified on
the photography. In addition to the aircraft at
Libertad, at least 140 trucks and 130 pieces of
artillery were identified on the infield between
- 207 -
TOP RET
TOP ECRET
the runways and taxiways. 38/*
The reader familiar with the problem of bomb
damage assessments given by participating air crews
-- in contrast to the read-out of post-strike photog-
raphy -- can appreciate that a similar difference of
opinion occurred following the D-2 air strike against
Castro's air fields. Although no copy of the PI read-
out made immediately following the attack is available,
a review of the post strike photography for this history
stated that:
Analysis of 15 April 1961 photography
revealed that air strikes had been made
against the air fields at Campo Libertad,
San Antonio de los Banos, and Santiago
de Cuba. No damage to any of the runways
and only minimal apparent damage to the
combat aircraft was observed. The only
confirmed damage to combat aircraft was
the destruction of a B-26 at Santiago de
Cuba. A C-47 cargo plane and another
unidentified probable cargo plane were
also destroyed at Santiago de Cuba. A
C-47 cargo plane was destroyed at San
Antonio de los Banos airfield. The
edge of a taxiway was cratered at Campo
Libertad airfield. There could have
* These trucks and artillery pieces were still present
when the Campo Libertad airfield was resurveyed by the
U-2 on 23 April 1961, so apparently, these were not
part of the artillery that were called into action at
the Bay of Pigs.
- 208 -
TO
SECRET
been additional damage to aircraft from
cannon fire that would not be visible
on the photography ... The combat air-
craft at Campo Libertad Airfield on
15 April 1961 consisted of four B-26 and
five F-47/Sea Fury aircraft. All of these
aircraft were parked in out of the way
areas, rather than in the main operations
area of the airfield and were probably
unserviceable. No movement of these
aircraft was observed between 11 and 20
April 1961. 39/
The combat mission report prepared by Col. Stanley.
Beerli following the D-2 action, a report which was
prepared on 15 April 1961 stated as follows:
Santiago: Both aircraft returned to
base safely. Pilots reported airfield
completely destroyed and fires everywhere.
One B-26 reported destroyed by rockets,
one T-33 probably destroyed by .50
caliber fire, and one C-47 destroyed by
.50 caliber fire. All aircraft on ramp
reported afire. AAA reported as heavy and
determined. Aircraft repeatedly exchanged
fire with AAA positions until AAA ceased.
One aircraft returned base with numerous
holes, complete hydraulic failure, and one
hung rocket. However, it landed without
incident.
San Antonio: Two aircraft returned
base safely and pilots reported attack
destroyed 75 percent of field. Operations
building was destroyed and one T-33 on
alert exploded. Two additional T-33's
were possibly destroyed. Smoke from
bombs partially obliterated target and
precluded accurate damage assessment.
Heavy AAA was reported. One aircraft
landed at Grand Cayman Island because
of low fuel.
- 209 -
TOPS RET
Libertad: One aircraft returned to
base safely and pilot reported target
partially destroyed. All bombs fell
within confines of the base. (Press
reports stated one bomb scored direct
hit on an Air Force ammunition dump and
explosions were still occurring 30
minutes after the attack.) Heavy AAA
was reported. One aircraft was damaged
by AAA and forced to feather engine
which was on fire. Companion aircraft
accompanied toward Key West, but observed
damaged aircraft in uncontrolled crash
into ocean. No parachutes or survivors
were observed. Second aircraft, now low
on fuel, continued to Florida and landed
at Boca Chica. Extent of damage not yet
determined.
Special Aircraft: The special air-
craft landed at destination as planned.
Airborne Spare: One airborne spare
aircraft aborted on take off, due to
engine trouble. 40/
The difference between the PI report and the
crew debriefing was highlighted in a cable from TIDE
to Headquarters on 16 April 1961, defending the air-
crews' reports:
1. Considerable discrepancy exists
between D-2 strike crew debriefings and
[U-2] reports in regards to damage assess-
ment. Granted that strike crews and
excitement may have tendency to over-
state, nevertheless, this does not account
for so great a discrepancy. Concensus
[sic] TIDE that 250 [lb.] frags and 50
cal. guns have caused considerable damage
that is not possible for [U-2] to see.
- 210 -
2. Strike crews were debriefed
separately and had no opportunity to
collaborate on each other's assessment.
Yet, under separate debriefing, crews
verified what other crews on same target
had said. 41/*
The best source for bomb damage assessment con-
cerning D-2 strike came from the Cubans -- particularly
from Castro himself. Based on Castro's own statements
- of 23 April 1961, when he appeared on the "People's
University" TV broadcast in Havana before a live
audience and told the story of the Bay of Pigs, it
appears that the TIDE assessment of the damage was
more accurate than was revealed through the photo-
graphic intelligence available from the U-2 flights.
On 17 April the photography showed four T-33's, 13
B-26's, and two Sea Furies at San Antonio de los
Banos. 42/ On that date, Castro claimed that his Air
Force had at its disposal two jets, two Sea Furies,
and two B-26's; but according to the Chief of the
Revolutionary Air Force, Capt. Raul Curbelo Morales,
the situation was even worse than had been painted
* Appendix 6 provides examples of the cable traffic
received in Headquarters following the return of the
B-26's from the D-2 strike.
- 211 -
TOP CRET
TOP ECR ET
by Castro, for of the six aircraft that were available
four weren't fit to fly. 43/
Assuming that Castro may have had an inventory
of as many as 30 combat aircraft (20 B-26's, 6 Sea
Furies, and 4 T-33's) prior to the D-2 air strike and
that he had available on 17 April only six aircraft,
then 80 percent of his combat aircraft were down, at
least on D-Day. Some of the downed aircraft were
undoubtedly unserviceable because of malfunctions
unrelated to the bombing attack on 15 April, but other
aircraft may have suffered gunfire or bomb damage that
was not visible on the photography. 44/
The debates, discussions, and problems attendant
upon the mounting of the D-2 air strike were as nothing
compared to the problems following the attack. These
problems are discussed in the following section.
TOP S CRET
Part III
Initiation of Combat Air Operations
B. Post-Strike Contretemps
The post-strike philosophy of air operations
personnel affiliated with project JMATE was probably
best summed up by Col. George Gaines, who said:
We had the key to Cuba already in our
hand. All that we had to do was to elimi-
nate those few other airplanes and our
landing Brigade would have owned Cuba. 45/
Not only would this represent the belief of every-
one who was even remotely affiliated with the air opera-
tion, it also was the belief of many of those who were
closely associated with the JMATE project in capacities
other than air operations. The manner of dealing with
the few aircraft available to Castro would come to be
the pivot about which reputations were made and unmade,
tarnished and shined. In the first glow of victory,
"Carpenter, Barnes, and crowd" from JMADD told TIDE to
"Give the boys our congratulations." 46/* Even as Gar
* The Barnes referred to in this cable was not C.
Tracy Barnes, the A/DDP/A, but was the alias used
for a military assignee to air operations at Retal-
huleu.
- 213 -
TOP ECRET
TOP CRET
Thorsrud was requesting additional B-26 replacements
he cabled:
Suggest B-26 be loaded with operational
beer on bomb bay racks in the rear gunner's
compartment. 47/
Even though convinced that the D-2 air strike
had done more extensive damage than was apparent on
the U-2 photography, air operations personnel at
JMTIDE -- and Col. George Gaines who had returned to
Headquarters -- wanted a second strike at the aircraft.
Gaines was convinced that because of the 48 hours con-
centrated briefings they had received that the B-26
pilots could easily manage the re-attack. Gaines was ?
concerned that any potential combat aircraft had been
left untouched; and in an Oral History interview he
stressed that the air and ground force leaders and
Chief, JMATE agreed that no troops would be landed
as long as there was any combat capability available
in Castro aircraft. Gaines stated:
We knew we had to get every single
gun that could be put in the air before
we put our soldiers ashore. Jack Hawkins
and I agreed to that over and over. We
said, "we don't land anybody," and Ester-
line agreed to that ... that we don't '
land anybody until we can stop a goat
if it goes down the highway. Our air
cover will be constant, and if a Castro
tank moves, we knock him out. 48/
Gar Thorsrud also commented about the D-2 strike:
The tactical surprise on that first
strike was aimed at getting those air-
craft, and if you didn't you're in
trouble -- they didn't get them, and
we were in trouble ... There was plenty
of concern among the pilots at Puerto
Cabezas because they knew they had to
get them [the T-33' s}. I don't know
what was discussed at the Headquarters
at the Staff levels, but that was the
primary target -- to get those T-birds
first. It was their ass that was going
to get shot down if they didn't; and so
there was no doubt in any pilot's mind
what they were after first when they got
to that airfield. The first thing they
looked for, was any aircraft taking off
on the runway; then to the taxiways; and
then to the parking ramps -- where they
were briefed by their targets -- by the
pictures -- where they were supposed to
be located. But the first thing they
were to look for was that runway, or some-
thing just breaking ground; and then back
to where the aircraft was supposed to be
parked if they weren't alerted ... What
would you be looking for first? If there
is only one aircraft that is a threat to
you? That's what we were hoping to do,
even with the six [sic] aircraft that
went in, instead of the 22. We still
had to get those aircraft. 49/
Even though he claimed to have only six aircraft
available following the D-2 air strike, Castro also
said that the 15 April air strike was a bust -- claimin?
that as a result of the air strike he actually lost
- 215 -
TOP CRET
only two combat aircraft, one at San Antonio and one
at Santiago (plus a transport at San Antonio, a Cubana
C-47 at Santiago, and several smaller aircraft). Castro
stated that the attack on Libertad was a net loss to
the invaders, since there were no operable aircraft
on that base and at least one of the attacking planes
was hit. Moreover, he claimed that unserviceable air-
craft had been dispersed about Libertad and the other
fields. Review of the pre- and post-strike U-2 photog-
raphy lends some credence to Castro's claim about the
dispersal of unserviceable aircraft, but the photography
clearly indicated which aircraft were being used for
decoy purposes. 50/
The two combat aircraft that Castro claimed were
destroyed in the course of the D-2 attack probably were
dual-controlled B-26's according to one of the FAR
pilots, Jacques Lagas, the only dual controlled B-26's
available to the Fuerzas Aerea Revolucionaria. Loss of
these particular aircraft help to explain why, despite
the high number that were spotted on the Castro air-
fields, so few B-26's actually participated in the
combat; even on those occasions on 18-19 April, when
Brigade aircraft were not in the area. 51/* Lagas
pointed out that after the D-2 strike -- and the loss
of the dual-controlled planes -- a number of Cubana
Air Lines pilots showed up, requesting that they be
given transitional training to fly the B-26's. Lagas
said that efforts had been made many weeks prior to
15 April to get these pilots to take the transitional
training, but none of them had taken advantage of the
opportunity; and after 15 April it wasn't possible!
Painting identical tail numbers on the Brigade
B-26's -- as already noted -- did deceive Castro as
to the actual number of planes that were involved in
the attack; and painting the planes the same color as
FAR aircraft made it possible for the aircraft at
Libertad to come in low, as though they were making
a landing approach, before beginning their actual
strike against the airfield. In addition to the
damage to the aircraft and airfields, the 15 April
* Lagas was a Chilean pilot who flew for the Castro
Air Forces. He later became disillusioned, or was per-
suaded to become disillusioned, and returned to Chile;
\ Based on the other evidence
available, there is little reason to doubt the truth
of what he had to say about the Bay of Pigs air opera-
tion.
- 217 -
TOP CRET
strike resulted in the deaths of eight Cubans and the
wounding of some 40.* 52/ Castro lost no time in
denying that the attack on the airfields had been by
dissident members of the FAR; and Castro's Foreign
Minister and UN representative, Raul Roa, readied
charges against the US as the instigator of the air
attacks for the UN session on Monday 17 April.
As the attack on the airfields was in progress,
the planned deception operation for the B-26 flying
to Miami International was carried out successfully.
Sefior Zuniga put his plane down, was taken in tow by
Immigration and Naturalization, notification was made
to WAVE, Zuniga remained silent, and the press gathered
* The D-2 air strike was not without cost to the
Brigade air force for the B-26 piloted by Daniel
Fernandez Mon, with Gaston Perez as navigator, was
shot down by ground fire and crashed into the sea.
Gar Thorsrud has suggested that rather than ground
\f ire, Mon's plane was caught in the blast of a 500
lb. bomb (260 lb.?) that he dropped when too low,
damaging the aircraft to the extent that it caught
fire and crashed. Thorsrud stated that this was the
report from one of the other pilots. In Ferrer's
book, Capt. Osvaldo Piedra -- the pilot of the 3rd
aircraft involved in the attack on Libertad --
stated that Mon and Perez were ready to make a third
pass over the field when the plane blew apart in the
air and fell into the sea in flames. 53/ Hugh Thomas
is in error in his statement that no Brigade aircraft
were lost on D-2. 54/
- 218 -
TOb ECRET
TOP CRET
to get the story.* Unfortunately, however, the B-26's
piloted by Jose Crespo in the attack on Libertad was
hit by ground fire; and Crespo was able to make an
emergency landing at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station
in Key West. Fortunately, neither Crespo nor his
navigator, Lorenzo Perez Lorenzo were injured, and
* Even after it had been exposed as false, the cover
story which required Zuniga to land at Miami after the
first air strike continued to cause problems. The
pilot's first story was that the B-26 belonged to
Castro's air force, and the plane of course carried
Cuban markings.
Taking this story at face value, Harris and Com-
pany, a Miami advertising agency which claimed the
Cuban Government owed it money for tourist advertising,
obtained from the Superior Court of Dade County a writ
of attachment on the aircraft. The advertising agency
had previously tried to attach Cubana Airlines planes
to satisfy a judgment against Cuba.
The B-26 had been under US Customs guard since
arrival. To keep the Dade County sheriff from seizing
it, DPD arranged with the Customs Service to have the
US Attorney in the Miami area file action under Section
1934, 401, Title 22, of the US Code. This section dealt
with the unauthorized entrance into the United States
of arms, armed vehicles, or aircraft and specified
that such equipment would be forfeited to the Secretary
of Defense for disposition. Federal action would super-
sede the Dade County writ.
On 27 April Chester Emerick, Assistant Commissioner
of Customs for Investigations, informed DPD that the
action had been filed and that the US Marshal had taken
over custody of the B-26. DPD then planned to have an
Air Force crew move the plane at night to Field 3 at
Eglin Air Force Base. 55/
- 219 -
TO SECRET
TO EC R ET
the plane was repairable. The aircraft, as chance
would have it, bore the same identification -- No.
933 -- that was carried by the plane which Zuniga
had landed at Miami International Airport; and the
discrepancy was quickly noted by reporters. 56/ The
landing of aircraft No. 933 at Boca Chica, was only
one of the misfortunes with regard to the great decep-
tion operation that had been a part of the D-2 air
activity. The Navy apparently offered to provide a
cover story -- that the plane burned up -- but actually
would allow the plane to take off for TIDE after dark
on 15 April. 57/ No action was taken on the offer.
The B-26 piloted by Alfredo Cabellero in the
attack on San Antonio de los Banos developed engine
trouble on the return flight and was forced to make
an emergency landing on Grand Cayman Island. The
spare aircraft which had been intended as a replace-
ment in case difficulties were encountered by the
planes heading for either San Antonio or Libertad
was forced to abort before it could join in the at-
tack. 58/
On 16 April 1961, Fidel Castro was in charge
of the funeral services for the eight individuals
- 220 -
who had been killed in the D-2 air strike; and in the
course of his funeral oration, Castro damned the United
States Government and the Central Intelligence Agency
up one side and down the other for their unprovoked
Pearl Harbor-type attack on Cuba. He also challenged
the United States to provide the name of a single "de-
fector" who had participated in the D-2 raid. 59/
In an attempt to divert the upcoming UN accusa-
tions which would be filed on Monday, 17 April, the
day on which the invasion was scheduled, Dave Phillips,
Chief, WH/4/Propaganda, spotted an opportunity to pro-
tect the cover story and suggest a means by which
Castro's call for the identity of any FAR defectors
could be countered. Phillips, who was fluent in
Spanish, heard a live broadcast from Cuba reporting
that early on the morning of 15 April a FAR jet piloted
by Orestes Acosta had been lost at sea; and Phillips
also was aware that a live broadcast from Havana on
15 April had stated that one of the planes attacking
the airfields had been shot down at sea. Having heard
both of these broadcasts, the WH/4 propaganda chief
then advised a US journalist that the Cubans had
claimed that a jet "which was among the attacking
NCNTOP S RET
forces had been shot down at sea and that this jet was
flown by Acosta." 60/
story,
Castro claims concerning the failure of the United
States to identify any of the attacking pilots. In
Chief, WH/4/CI on hearing this
was of the opinion that this would counter the
addition,
noted that he and Phillips had dis-
cussed some follow-up action:
A. That the UPI be requested to check
to determine if jet pilot Acosta had a
wife. If so, it was agreed that a US
money collection drive be initiated to
provide for the widow's well being.
B. If such a widow, providing she
exists, claimed her husband was an ardent
Fidelista, then Mr. Phillips and the under-
signed agreed that a collection
be initiated on a nationwide basis for
the unhappy but brave widow subjected to
such coercion by Fidelista security forces. 611*
A further part of the D-2 story concerns Gar
Thorsrud's request to Headquarters for a follow-up
* There is no further reference to the suggestion
advanced by Phillips, and in all probability it came
to naught in view of the proximity to the. invasion.
When the UN debate began on 17 April, the Brigade
forces had already landed at Playa Larga and Playa
Giron; and it had already been proved that the B-26
involved in the deception effort did not belong to
Castro's Air Force.
- 222 -
TOSECRET
TOP 'SECRET
strike to complete the destruction of Castro's combat
air capability. Thorsrud has stated:
We were at this time, however, more
concerned with eliminating the remaining
T-33's that U-2's had also confirmed
were operational at Havana. We therefore
proposed a strike ... during daylight,
coming out of the sun, and we talked all
day Saturday [15 April] on this, and said
... how can we do this. We all got to-
gether in the operations room, and they
said -- these pilots flew out of Havana
-- they said that sun is just big and
golden and that you could come out of
the sun and no one will see you coming
... We had it planned to ... come in
off the coast of the western tip of
Cuba ... skimming right out of the sun,
where you've got the sun shining down
on those T-birds ... We had U-2 photos
clearly depicting where they were.
They weren't in bunkers, or they were
half bunkered. Six aircraft were going
after those two T-birds and not coming
back until they got them. They turned
the plan down. Not only did they turn
that down, then they turned down the
next request ... We said, "O.K., we were
turned down. It's maximum effort this
morning ... we've got to get them";
and then they wiped that out. They
might just as well have closed the whole
operation right there and called off
the landing on the beach, because that
decision wiped out the whole operation
right there. 62/
Thorsrud was referring to his cable of 16 April
1961 in which he recommended B-26 strikes against both
the Libertad and San Antonio airfields. His request
NNNK\NN
- 223 -
TOP CR ET
to Headquarters read as follows:
Approach to target will be directly
out of the sun. One pass only. Pilot
proficiency and familiarity with the
area makes this pattern feasible. Haze
should make AAA sighting extremely diffi-
cult into the sun. Bomb load NBR 2 will
be 6 each 600 lb. (500 lb.?] GP on one
aircraft and 10 each, 260 lb. frag on
the other. All pilots volunteered.
Crespo, #2 target with Piedra wing.
Garcia and Herrera target #1.
Above will allow max utilization air-
craft and crews turnaround for D-Day
strikes. Targets 1 and 2 will not be
hit on D-Day if pilot report successful
mission.
TIDE in process of preparing ref sorties.
Consensus here, above best tactics. Ad-
vise soonest. 63/
As already indicated, however, Headquarters re-
jected Thorsrud's appeal for the follow-up strike on
D-1.*
* The Thorsrud cable requesting the D-1 strike raises
some interesting -- but unresolved -- historical prob-
lems. As nOte,d, Thorsrud himself indicated that after
reviewing the results of the strike, the remainder of
the day -- Saturday, 15 April 1961 -- was spent dis-
cussing reattack; and he said that a request for such
reattack, on D-1 (Sunday, 16 April 1961) went forward
to Headquarters. In reproducing a copy of this cable
for the writer of this history, the Cable Secretariat
copy of TIDE 654 (IN 3752) carries a date to be 20 April
1961 (0144Z) and the same cable is included in the DPD
records -- if the date were correct, a cable arriving
in Headquarters four days after the original request
(footnote continued on following page)
- 224 -
TOP SiRET
(footnote continued)
and one day subsequent to the collapse of the 2506
Brigade. There is no explanation for this discrepancy,
but Headquarters did get the request; for on 16 April
1961 a cable from the Director to TIDE (at 1714Z) read:
Ref: TIDE 654. Regret unable approve
strike per ref. Will advise D-Day strike
schedule soonest. 64/
In view of this Director response, it is reason-
able to assume that there was some unexplained hang-up
in reproduction of the cable by the Cable Secretariat,
otherwise, there would have been no response from Head-
quarters rejecting the suggestion advanced in TIDE 654.
In a subsequent cable to Headquarters (TIDE 710,
17 Apr 61), Thorsrud referred back to TIDE 654 and
asked as follows:
Request authority launch strike at San
Antonio, Libertad, and Santiago airfields
five minutes prior to sunset, as requested
ref [TIDE 654]. Also, launch afternoon
strikes today on basis pilot debriefings. 65/
One further discrepancy is that, in his 17 April
cable requesting restrike at the airfields, Thorsrud
also specified Santiago as well as San Antonio de los
Banos and Libertad. The original request (TIDE 654)
specified only the two fields, San Antonio de los
Banos and Libertad.
Eduardo Ferrer introduced another version of the
D-2 air strike operation in his book Operacion Puma,
claiming that the first strike on D-2 was the one which
actually took place, but also claimed that a second
follow-up strike was set up for the same crews at 1400
hours on the afternoon of 15 April 1961. In addition,
Ferrer alleged that there were to be two follow-up
strikes by the same crews on 16 April 1961, along with
strikes against other military targets, bridges, and
roads; and that on 17 April, two more strikes would be
made to complete the destruction. In short, three
successive days of air strikes. 66/
(footnote continued on following page)
- 225 -
TOP CRET
Once having initiated tactical air operations
against Cuba, the immediate question that comes to
mind is why the planners scheduled a 48 hour break
between the initiation of these operations and the
strike which was planned for D-Day, 17 April 1961.
Testifying before the Taylor Committee Col. George
Gaines seemed opposed to the D-2 strike in favor of
a D-1 and D-Day air strikes. When queried about his
opposition, however, Gaines responded as follows:
I wouldn't use the word "opposed."
I recommended that timing, militarily,
would be better if you hit them on the
day before D-Day -- or D-1 -- and then
go back the next day and get all of
them. Once you start hitting them,
don't have the interlude for them to
move airplanes or create defenses.
Nobody goes into a fight by popping
a guy in the nose and then standing
back five minutes and letting the guy
get his bearings ... and come to you.
I was overruled, and so ... I was not
adamantly opposed ... I just thought
it was a better plan to go D-1 instead
of D-2. 67/
The Taylor Committee investigation also revealed
some vast differences of opinion between representatives
C-.__-/2.212-Obviously Ferrer, who was assigned to fly trans-
port missions, usually in C-46's, has confused the
various on-again-off-again target plans and target lists?
which he had heard about from the B-26 pilots.
- 226 -
TOP SE
TOP
ECRET
of the Department of Defense and the JMATE principals
concerning D-2. To CIA, the 0-2 operation was aimed
at the complete destruction of the FAR -- and when it
was apparent that that objective had not been achieved,
Thorsrud requested permission for a follow up strike
on D-1 to complete the job. Unfortunately, at least
two senior military officers displayed varying degrees
of ignorance concerning D-2 objectives, with perhaps
the strangest comment of all being made by Admiral
Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, member of
the JCS, and a most active participant in Special
Group meetings on the anti-Castro effort. In testi-
fying before the Taylor Committee, of which he himself
was a member, Burke spoke as follows about D-2:
None of the Chiefs [JCS] felt that the
D-2 strikes were good militarily, but they
could see that it was an important aspect
of the plan politically. The D-2 strikes
were not built or designed to knock out any
great amount of the Cuban Air Force. This
was to be done by the D-Day strikes. 68/*
More abysmally ignorant than Admiral Burke, was
the Chairman of the JCS, General Lyman Lemnitzer.
Testifying before the Taylor Committee a day in
* Emphasis by author.
\OP CRET
advance of Burke, the General offered the following
remarks about D-2:
The D-2 strikes were added for non-
military reasons. We would have prefer-
red to do without the D-2 air strikes.
They were never intended to accomplish the
destruction of the Castro Air Force. They
were to lend plausibility to the story
that the D-Day strikes had been launched
from within Cuba ...
I'd like to point out that the D-2 air
strike was never expected to wipe out
Castro's entire (Air] Force. It was the
D-Day strike which was the important one. 691*
How the deception aspect of the D-2 strike -- particu-
larly considering the 48 hour stand down -- could pos-
sibly have lent "plausibility" to the D-Day strike, the
General failed to explain. Unfortunately, however, he
was not called on for clarification:**
* Emphasis by author.
** Of the senior military personnel called before the
Taylor Committee only General Decker of the Army is on
record in support of the D-2 air operation. Decker
testified:
The advantages of pre-D-Day strikes
would be that Castro's aircraft would be
knocked out prior to the landing. I was
in favor of pre-D--Day strikes two or three
days in advance. 70/
General David Gray who was responsible for liaison
between the Joint Staff and CIA said nothing pro or con
about the D-2 strike, emphasizing in his testimony only
that the Joint Staff's understanding of the air opera-
tions plan was that there would be D-Day air strikes
out of Puerto Cabezas beginning at dawn. 71/
- 228 -
TOP CRET
Secretary of State Rusk's testimony before the
Rusk
Taylor Committee saileint was
a41..
claimAftlamong other things, that he and the President 0,14->,-,,"tus-
-tkut,C
410Mtftimami.Athere was to be a D-21110 strike.;
ANLalso told the Committee that "there was an inadequate
appreciation of the enemy's capability in the air." 71a/
Less than two years after this display of innocence,
Mr. Rusk compounded his error when the subject came up
during an appearance before the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations. In a briefing on 16 January 1963,
Rusk told the Committee that with reference to the
BOP:
It is also true that in terms of the
deficiencies of information that turned
up after the event, that the count of
planes on the island [Cuba] from sources
on the island as well as other resources
turned out to be inaccurate. There were
some planes in hangars and so forth that
were not hit with [sic] the strike that
did take place, and more planes, in fact,
turned out from the Cuban side than had
been anticipated. 71b/
Rusk's comment is completely unsupported by any
evidence that has surfaced since the colWc5se of the
invasion. To the contrary, one area in which the
- 229 -
TO ECR ET
TOP CRET
plans and operations personnel of JMATE were on sure
ground was in the number of potential combat aircraft
available to FAR from 11-19 April 1961.*
Col. Gaines was quite correct in his assessment
of what might happen if the enemy were given breathing
space between initial air attacks and D-Day -- from
0
Castro to common laborers the D-2 air strike got the
Cubans together. The high point, of course, was
Castro's oration at the funeral of the eight who died
in the attack. The speech was given on 16 April and
was attended by thousands of Cubans. Castro, as
usual, portrayed the evils of the Agency. and US imperi-
alists; and, predictably, ordered all military units
on the alert, ready for action. 72/
In his television address of 23 April 1961, sub-
sequent to the collapse of the invasion, Castro himself
* Mr. Rusk has continued to pop up with interesting
statements related to the Bay of Pigs, apparently
claiming that Allen Dulles confided to him that he
never had much faith in the Bay of Pigs operation
and had reservations about the outcome. Leonard
Mosley, a Dulles biographer, states that Rusk said
of Dulles "that he (Dulles] never once mentioned
those doubts during the cabinet meetings." One won-
ders why this information was not surfaced long
ago. 71c/
'I?F,,
- 230 -
TOP SE T
appeared at a loss to understand the reason for the
D-2 air strike rather than a D-I or a D-Day air strike.
He emphasized that militarily the nature of the air
strike itself was a give-away to the impending invasion,
and he was able, in effect, to reinforce his reinforce-
ments.* The strike on the airfields was clearly dif-
ferent than the harassing tactics which had been em-
ployed heretofore against the Fidelistas -- sabotage
of sugar mills and industrial facilities and fires in
cane fields were not in the same category as an air
operation which obviously sought to destroy the
revolutionary air force. The message to Castro and
his leaders was clear. The Army, the Militia, and
the people were given common cause; and it stimulated
their will to resist. 73/**
* It also served as a signal to Castro to adopt
vigorous measures to insure that the attacks did not
provides thecatalyst for a "spontaneous" uprising to
overthrow the regime. Mass arrests of potential dis-
sidents began "just a few hours after the air attack
on 15 April." 72a/
** Clarence F. Welch, the air materiel chief for DPD
during Project JMATE, told the author that shortly be-
fore the D-2 operation he was in attendance at a meet-
ing on the project at DPD Headquarters at 1717 H Street
NW, Washington, D.C. In the course of that meeting,
Welch claimed that two Department of State attendees
(footnote continued on following page)
-_ 231 -
TOP ECR ET
Among those most directly concerned by the appear-
ance of the Brigade B-26's were the pilots of Castro's
Air Force. Most of these men were well known to members
of the Brigade Air Force; and as Eddy Ferrer noted, during
the final days of training in Nicaragua, there were fre-
quent sessions where the individual FAR pilots were dis-
cussed and rediscussed as potential enemies in the skies
over Cuba. Some of the moe experienced FAR pilots had
actually received training in the United States. Among
others, there were several Nicaraguan pilots who would
participate in the air action; and of nine Chilean in-
structors who had been working with Castro's Air Force,
one, Jacques Lagas, joined the Castro Air Force and
participated in the air operations against the Brigade.*
were adamant that there be a breathing space between the
first air strike and any subsequent follow-on strike.
According to Welch, when Hawkins heard this, he (Hawkins)
audibly stated that if this was the case, the operation
should be cancelled in too. Welch said Bissell either
"didn't hear, or didn't choose to hear" the remark.
Welch said that Ralph Brown, a logistics officer as-
signed to the project, also heard the remark. Welch
told the story because he believes Hawkins's reputation
was unjustly tarnished because of his key role in the
operational planning. 74/
* As mentioned earlier, Jacques
write a book,
ing bitterly thDOUL tne influence
the Castro Air Force at the time
- 232 -
TO SECRET
Lagas would eventually
complain-
or tne communists on
of the Bay of Pigs.
TOP
ECRET
According to Ferrer, the Brigade pilots also
discussed the capabilities of the equipment which would
be flown by Castro's pilots -- particularly the US
built Lockheed T-33's. Even though subsonic, the
T-birds were far faster than the B-26's; and they
carried two .50 caliber nose guns and had provision
for mounting rockets on the wings. The Sea Fury, the
British fighter aircraft which was the fastest non-
jet aircraft ever to be produced, mounted four 2inm
cannons in its wings; and Castro's B-26's were basi-
cally identical to the B-26's in which the Brigade
air force had trained. The Castro B-26's were still
configured for bomber-reconnaissance activity and
mounted 6 wing guns and 4 tail guns (presumably two
tail guns in each of two turrets, top and bottom). 75/*
C. The Stevenson Story and the Second Strike
Reference has already been made to the attempts
of Gar Thqsrud and other air operations planners to
* One other feature helping to distinguish FAR B-26's
from those of the Brigade was the plastic nose of the
FAR compared to the metal nose of Brigade planes. See
photos pages 535, 537.
- 233 -
TOPS RET
TOP ECRET
get authorization for a follow-up strike against the
Castro airfields that were taken under attack on D-2,
and it has been noted that such requests were denied.
The only other scheduled air attack in addition to D-2
was to be mounted against selected targets -- including
reattack on the airfields at San Antonio, Libertad, and
Santiago -- on D-Day. It has been emphasized that
with the shift from Trinidad to Zapata for the D-Day
invasion, two B-26 aircraft would put down on the beach
at Playa Giron and begin operations from that airstrip.
The plan for D-Day consisted of 11 primary targets to
be attacked by 15 B-26 aircraft. Four of the primary
targets -- the three airfields which were struck on D-2
plus the Managua military base -- were to be attacked
by two B-26's each. Five other primary targets, in
fact, were double-headers requiring single B-26 air-
craft to hit two separate facilities. The remaining
two targets also were to be attacked by single B-26's.
With the exception of the Managua military base --
where napalm was to be employed against the tank park
-- all other targets were to be attacked with rockets,
machine guns, and either friamentation or demolition
bombs.*.
* See Appendix 7 for a list of the D-Day targets.
- 234 -
TOP ET
TO SECRET
As of 16-17 April, the list of 11 targets --
which had been pared down from well over 20 targets
-- represented the maximum which Headquarters author-
ized for the available aircraft and crews. Destruction
of the targets on the list would do much to insure the
success of the planned operation. This list of D-Day
targets came to be the focus of one of the major dis-
putes concerning the Bay of Pigs -- "The Second Strike
Controversy." This section of the history of JMATE
air operations will attempt to put that controversy
in perspective.
The cancellation of the second strike -- for on
16 April all of the targets, including restrikes at
the D-2 airfields, were cancelled -- turned a long
planned, much discussed, tactical air operation into
a 100 percent ground support mission for the invasion
troops. By denying the requests from the field for
a strike to eliminate (or at least reduce even further)
Castro's fighters, it forced the Brigade B-26's into
an unplanned and unwanted air combat role. Many of
those who were most heavily involved in the JMATE
operation and much that has been printed lays the
blame for the cancellation of the second strike
- 235 -
almost exclusively to the opposition from Adlai Steven-
son, the United States Ambassador to the.United Nations.
Some have contended that Stevenson was fully briefed
about both the planned D-2 air strike and the subse-
quent D-Day air strike -- others are less sure about
the degree of Stevenson's knowledgeability. Because
it has been established that Stevenson was given a
briefing on the Planned invasion on 8 April 1961 by
a CIA representative, for many he has become the villain
in the piece. For this reason a serious effort has
been made to determine the degree of Stevenson's (and
his UN colleagues') knowledgeability regarding the
planned air operations against Castro's Forces.
The D-Day air strike was to be against both
Castro's air force and Cuba's principal military and
communications installations; but as the planning
progressed, the D minus 2 strike?was evolved both as
insurance for keeping Castro's Air Force on the ground r
and politically it was intended to help maintain the
fiction of plausible deniability. By late January
1961 when the DCI, the DDCI, the President, and the
JCS were all given briefings on the PM aspects of
Project JMATE, references were made to a D-1 air
TOP
CRET
strike. When briefed on 31 January 1961, the JCS
representatives queried the wisdom of the D-I air
strike because they were afraid that it would alert
the Cuban forces to the imminence of an invasion. The
Agency's response was that while this might be true,
the risk of having Castro's aircraft in opposition
to the landing was greater than the possibility of
an alert that would result from the pre-D--Day strike.*
The responsibility for briefing Ambassador
Stevenson on 8 April 1961 at the UN Headquarters in
New York City was delegated to C. Tracy Barnes,
A/DDP/A. What Barnes was instructed to tell about
the .upcoming operation and what he told has been the
subject of much speculation; but the Agency has been
charged with everything from outright deception to
sheer ineptnessMterms of the Stevenson briefing.
In his book One Thousand Days, Arthur M. Schlesinger,
Jr., who was then a member of the Kennedy White House
Staff, spoke of the briefing as follows:
* In fact, it was reported that the DCI tended to
agree with the JCS in this evaluation, but "General
Cabell (the DDCI] said he would hold firm on the con-
cept that D-1 is necessary, but that his compromise
position with the Director would be that strikes on
D-1 would not take place before the afternoon of said
day, extending into the morning of the attack." 76/
N\T?P CRET
In preparation for the debate [US Cuban
debate in the UN], Tracy Barnes and I had
held a long talk with Stevenson on April
8 [1961]. But our briefing, which was
probably unduly vague, left Stevenson with
the impression that no action would take
place during the UN discussion of the
Cuban item. Afterward, when Harlan
Cleveland, the Assistant Secretary for
International Organization Affairs,
Clayton Fritchey of the United States
Mission to the UN, and I lunched with
Stevenson at the Century, he made clear
that he wholly disapproved of the plan,
regretted that he had been given no
opportunity to comment on it, and be-
lieved that it would cause infinite
trouble. But, if it was national policy,
he was prepared to make out the best
possible case. 77/
The question of what Stevenson was or was not
told became critical following the D-2 air strike
against Cuba on 15 April 1961. Appearing in an emer-
gency session of the UN Political and Security Commit-
tee on the afternoon of 15 April -- an emergency session
that had been called at the request of Raul Roa, the
Cuban Foreign Minister -- Stevenson stated that the
attack on the airfields had been conducted by defectors
from Castro's own air force. In the course of this
discussion Stevenson presented the photographs of the
B-26 which Zuniga had landed in Miami International
Airport to support the defector cover story, but the
- 238 -
TOP RET
story was soon blown because the photograph of the
B-26 from TIDE which was given to Stevenson showed
metal nose, rather than the plastic nose characteristic
of the FAR aircraft.*
One writer, in speaking of the Bay of Pigs
operation, stated:
A prominent victim of the air strike
was Adlai Stevenson, at the time the
United States Ambassador to the United
Nations. Ironically enough, along with
Senator Fulbright and Chester Bowles he
was one of the few with some prior knowl-
edge of the invasion project, who was
completely opposed to it. However, he
* Interestingly enough this must have been an agonizing
time for Senor Roa. In mid-July 1960, one of the daily
reports of Dave Phillips's propaganda activity noted
that there was "a defection pitch for Cuban UN delegate.
The sky is the limit if this one can be accomplished
dramatically in the UN meeting." 77a/ A memo from
Jake Esterline to Mr. Bissell on 11 April 1961 revealed
the identity of the Cubans:
Our contact with Raul Roa reports that
this defection attempt is still alive
although Roa would make no firm commit-
tment [sic] or promise on whether he would
defect in the U.N. Roa has requested that
no further contact be made at this time. 77h/
The planned defection did not come off, and Roa continued
as Castro's Foreign Minister until the 1970's. Currently
(1979) he is Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly
and a member of the Council of State.
- 239 -
TO SECRET
TOP S.,ECRET
was kept in the dark about the actual
plans and so on the very afternoon of
the attack [15 April 61], in a verbal
dual with Raul Roa at an emergency meet-
ing of the United Nations Political [and
Security] Committee, he accepted as truth
the misinformation he received from Wash-
ington. 78/
Charles Murphy who wrote one of the few articles
that was favorable to the Agency in terms of the Bay
of Pigs operation, stated that after Stevenson's em-
barrassment of 15 April:
From this hapless moment on, Steven-
son's role becomes unclear. There was a
subsequent published report that he had
intervened to block the second strike.
Stevenson has flatly denied, and con-
tinues to deny, that he even knew about
the second strike, let alone that he
demanded it be called off. 79/
A notorious ex-CIA employee who also has written
about this episode noted:
It was later alleged that Stevenson
had been kept in the dark about invasion
preparations. In self defense, Barnes
was to produce a record of his briefing
of Ambassador Stevenson well prior to
invasion date. The Barnes-Stevenson
memorandum was furnished Lyman Kirkpatrick,
CIA's Inspector General at the time. 80/*
* The ex-employee was E. Howard Hunt.
240 -
TOP CRET
Unfortunately,
hOweVer,
-
4/0
v/u.?
the former Inspector 4 ,9V70/1
General of CIA has no recollection of such a memorandum
coming from Mr. Barnes nor do the records of his rA,./1)
former office or of other repositories within CIA pro-
vide any such memorandum that Barnes might have written, t,
either at that time or later, concerning the Stevenson ,Itv/
briefing. 81/ The only piece of evidence that can be
attributed to Barnes is contained in a memorandum which
he wrote more than two years after the fact, concerning
comments which appeared in Wise and Ross's book, The
Invisible Government. With reference to the book's
relation of the Stevenson episode, Barnes wrote:
I can best provide an answer by first
giving a brief statement of what, in fact,
occurred. I would like to say that my
entire statement is based on my recol-
lection, without having reviewed documents
or other evidence, so I would not like to
be held to the accuracy of minute details
without a further check. Generally speak-
ing, however, I know it to be correct ...
The rash of publicity, however, much
of it inaccurate, plus the presence of Roa
in New York, with the threat of a UN pres-
entation, made it seem advisable to provide
Stevenson with an up-to-date briefing of
the exact status of the operation. Con-
sequently, such a briefing was arranged
for Saturday, 8 April (1961], and I was
chosen to give it. In addition to Steven-
son, Arthur Schlesinger was present as were
a number of Stevenson's staff, including
- 241 -
TOP SE ET
Francis Plimpton, Charlie Yost, and
Charlie Noyes. Although Stevenson did
not know me well, we had known each
other slightly for a good twenty years,
and there was no doubt ?in his mind as
to my association with CIA -- in fact,
the briefing had been announced to him
as a CIA briefing. I told him about the
then status of the operation in detail.
I also explained to him that as of this
date, it was impossible to state whether
or not, such an operation would ever take
place, since the final decision was entirely
in the President's hands, and he had not
yet made up his mind. I did state that
the President had called a meeting for
12 April, for another review of the
entire matter, and it was possible that
he would announce a decision after, or
shortly following, this meeting. My
recollection is that I did not mention
to Stevenson the air raid which occurred
on Saturday, 15 April, since this plan,
as I recollect it, was not worked out
until after the briefing. I did,however,
explain to him in some detail not only
the essentiality of achieving the control
of the air, but also a number of the air
proposals which had been made, including
those which had as of 8 April, been turned
down. If it is important, I could check
the matter of the 15 April raid. If my
recollection is faulty and the plan for
this raid had been completed on 8 April,
I would have told it to Stevenson, since
I told him all the significant aspects
of the invasion plans then in effect,
or under consideration ... Stevenson,
a week later, following the 15 April raid
sent a message to the Secretary of State
and the DCI, saying that I had given him
an inaccurate assurance on one point,
i.e., that no invasion would occur while
the Cuban matter was before the UN. What
I did say, was that no invasion would occur
- 242 -
TO SECRET
(
TOP
CRET
prior to, or during Roars presentation on
Monday, 10 April. I said this because at
that time, after the delays mentioned
above, Roa was definitely expected to make
his postponed attack on the floor of the
UN on 10 April, and it was so scheduled.
Obviously, I could have said nothing else
in view of my other statements that no
decision of any kind existed as to the
invasion, and that nothing could be known
prior to the Wednesday, 12 April meeting
called by the President. In fact, at the
time the Stevenson message ?was not taken
in the least seriously
It is alleged that I did not mention
that an invasion was about to begin over
the weekend, nor that I indicated that
one was even imminent. As indicated
above, I could not do either, since the
only decision authority had not spoken. 82/*
Barnes also noted that Stevenson was specifically
told about plans that included any aspect of US involve-
ment in the JMATE anti-Castro operation. 83/ Stevenson's
* The provenance of the document from which this quo-
ta#on is taken has not been determined. The author
inherited a Xerox copy from miscellaneous files col-
lected by David McLean, but was unable to locate the
original or a carbon copy. Consequently, it is impos-
sible to determine whether the emphasis shown in the
quotation came from the Barnes's original copy or was
added when McLean made his copy. Similarly, the
author's copy reflects at least one grammatical change
and two spelling corrections (from "eminent" to "imminent"
and from "eminence" to "imminence") which may or may
not be part of the original. At the time that Barnes
wrote the referenced memorandum he was Chief, Domestic
Operations Division, DDP; and Gordon Mason, to whom
the memorandum was addressed was a Special Assistant
to the DDP.
remembrance of the briefing was, according to Hugh
Thomas, that it left something to be desired:
Tracy Barnes of the CIA came up and
briefed us here on the Delegation [to the
UN] ... He assured us ?that this was simply
a question of helping the exiles and this
was not in any way a US operation. In the
light of what happened, I suppose this can
be regarded as less than candid.*
It is not known if Barnes was ever called on to
retrace his steps concerning the briefing for Ambassa-
dor Stevenson, but if he did so, no written record has
been recovered.** As for his comments about setting
the date for the D-2 strike, it has already been pointed
out that Barnes himself had been involved in promoting
such action as early as January 1961, and the need for
such a strike had been generally accepted by mid to
late March. By 1 April when it was anticipated that
D-Day would be 10 April, rather than 17 April, the
cable traffic between TIDE and Headquarters indicated
that the briefing team that came from Headquarters
* Quoted in Thomas, Cuban Revolution (Harper & Rowe,
1977), p. 530 as told to Thomas by Stevenson on 6 February
1963.
** Various attempts to locate the "Tracy Barnes papers,"
like similar attempts to recover the "J. C. King papers,"
have come to naught.
-244 -
TOP SE
TOPS
should be prepared to brief in TIDE on 4 April, with
5 April being reserved for coordination of air/ground
and maritime operations. The briefings were to be
completed by the night of 5 April at the latest. 84/
The briefing team was delayed, however, because
in the period from 4-6 April, the President and his
White House staff were still discussing the merits of
a pre-D-Day air strike with representatives of the
Agency, the JCS, and State.* By the morning of 6 April
the pre-D-Day defection and deception strike had been
approved, and Barnes clearly should have included this
information in his briefing for Ambassador Stevenson.
Inasmuch as Barnes did not depart Washington until
Saturday 8 April -- the day he briefed Stevenson --
there is no way that Barnes could have been ignorant
of the decision to make the D-2 air strike and follow
on with the D-Day air attack.4*
* Lt. Col. Gaines and the other members of the brief-
ing team for the D-2 and D-Day strikes began their
briefings at TIDE at 1300 hours (local time) on 10 April.
They probably departed the Headquarters area at 0800
hours (local time) pn 9 April. The target folders and
briefing aids would have been completed at least by
1 April in all probability. 84a/
** On 8 April 1961, Barnes departed Washington on North-
east Airlines Flight 106 at 0745; and he returned on a
Northeast flight departing New York at 2215 on that
same day. 85/
The only explanation that can be offered for
Barnes's failure to clearly recall whether he had or
had not briefed on D-2, may be attributed to a person-
ality problem. In discussing the nature of the mission
to the USUN in New York, the following comments were
made by the then COPS/WH/4 with respect to what Barnes
was supposed to tell Stevenson:
Knowing Tracy, I've always had severe
doubt that Tracy made it very clear to
the Ambassador. Now he was sent up
there to make clear to him ... the whole
works ... I think Tracy, dealing with
Adlai -- in a way, they were two of a
type -- dealt with him, probably the
way Tracy just intuitively dealt with
everybody -- very pleasantly, kind of
elliptically, lots of smiling and gracious-
ness, interjection of completely non-
connected events, shook hands, laughed,
and said what a great time he'd had; and
came back and announced that he briefed
the Ambassador. I wasn't there, but that
was the form that Tracy would customarily
employ. What Adlai Stevenson needed, not
that it would necessarily have done any
good, was the worst case presentation of
what was going to happen. Even then,
he may have wet his pants, as he did;
and I have no confidence that Adlai
Stevenson heard from Tracy what Tracy
himself probably felt that he had told
him. But Tracy just wasn't clear in
that kind of a way ... I'm sure that
he and Tracy had long, fruity chats
with each other because, for some
N\s,Fs\N
- 246 -
TOP SRT
TOP ECRET
reason, Tracy had great faith in
him. 86/*
The same source, when asked if he had seen a
memorandum from Barnes on the subject of his meeting
with Adlai Stevenson, responded as follows:
No, no, but I remember hearing at a
... staff meeting at this time ... hear-
ing from Jake, as he ticked off the events
of the previous 24 hours, that Tracy Barnes
had been up in New York and had briefed
Stevenson. So Tracy undoubtedly came back
and told Bissell, and Bissell told Ester-
line, or Esterline was there when Tracy
was debriefing himself to Bissell, but I
* Jake Esterline, Chief, WH/4 had an almost identical
reaction to Barnes's briefing of Stevenson. Jake said:
Well, I think when you talk to Dick
Drain, you will find out between his
records and mine that we were very un-
happy when Dick [Bissell] sent Tracy up
to brief ... We understood the Ivy League
ties involved in this thing, or what not,
but we didn't really feel that Tracy
understood it well enough himself to
brief anybody. I guess it was Hawkins
and Dick [Drain] and I who were quite
disturbed about this because it was so
important at that time -- that this guy
knew exactly what the hell we were talking
about. We just didn't think that Tracy
really understood it that well, or if
Tracy did, he couldn't articulate ... he
wouldn't articulate it that well. Tracy
was one of the sweetest guys that ever
lived, but he couldn't ever draw a straight
line between two points, and with a brief-
ing of that sort ... 87/
- 247 -
TOPS RET
never saw any memorandum for the record
... Well, I'll tell you, even Tracy Barnes,
who was not all that meticulous and punc-
tual would have been very well advised to
have written a memorandum on this subject.
After all, Allen W. Dulles would want to
know -- and more than just a telephone
call -- what the hell had gone on. It's
customary in the DDP when you have a meet-
ing of this sort -- that is, to say with
somebody as important as the Ambassador to
the United Nations, and on a fleeting, tran-
sitory problem -- to do a memorandum of
conversation for the Director, at least;
because he might be asked, at the next
meeting of the 5412 Group, or something:
"By the way," says Under-Secretary of
State, "you had a man who saw Adlai
Stevenson?" I mean, you can count on
Adlai Stevenson doing a memorandum; and
we had better goddamn well have ours, too.
Now, that would not necessarily be the
kind of a memorandum that I would neces-
sarily see, and all I needed to know, if
I even needed that, was to hear it, and
I know I heard from Jake ... "Oh, by the
way, one of those things that happened
yesterday, was Tracy got his ass up to
New York and briefed Stevenson." 88/
Examination of the cable traffic between the USUN
Mission and the Secretary of State clearly indicates
that Stevenson accepted the deception story at face
value, and that he was completely in the dark about
the fact that the D-2 strike at Castro's airfields had
been the work of the Agency sponsored Brigade -- either
that, or Stevenson was the world's best and greatest
liar. In his statement on 15 April 1961 in response
248 -
TOP SE
to the Cuban complaint, Stevenson was well aware of
the fact that Roberto Verdaguer and his brother
Guillermo, both officers in FAR, had defected on
14 April in a Cubana airlines cargo airplane and had
landed at Jacksonville, Florida. This was on the day
prior to the air strike. 89/
The actual defection of two Cuban airmen, may
in fact, have caused problems in the subsequent deci-
sions which were made regarding the planned air strike
for D-Day. After cabling the Secretary of State about
Jose Miro Cardona's statement for the Cuban Revolution-
ary Council -- which was addressed to the members of
the United Nations and which repeated the deception
story -- the US Mission to the UN then cabled the
Secretary of State as follows:
Miro Cardona statement (US/UN Tele-
gram 2877) given to only a few UN dele-
gates, according to Garvia [sic] Amador.
Cuban Revolutionary Council depending
on press to give ample publicity so that
all UN delegates will have been informed
of statement before resumption debates
Monday. Recommend USIA give full pub-
licity. 90/*
* Garcia Amador seems to have contributed additionally
to the confusion which would grow out of the D-2 air
strike. USUN cabled the Secretary of State as follows: .
.Garcia Amador states that reported
bombing of Habana known in advance to
(footnote continued on following page)
- 249 -
TOP CRET
If Stevenson had believed that he was playing
with the hot potato of a deception operation, it seems
highly unlikely that a message such as this would have
been forwarded to the Secretary of State, nor would
Stevenson have followed that cable up with another one
also dated early in the morning of 16 April reading as
follows:
Confirming TELECON request to ARA for
use in Cuban debate, desire urgently on
Sunday: 1) Revolutionary background of
Verdaguer brothers. 2) Detailed info on
Cuban acquisition and possession of de-
fecting FAR B-26's which will serve to
discredit Roa's statement that it is
easy to paint up aircraft to look like
FAR plane. 92/
It was not until shortly after 7:30 p.m. on 16 April
1961 that Stevenson's Priority/Top Secret/Eyes Only cable
to Washington for the Secretary of State and Allen Dulles
was received revealing the Ambassador's second thoughts
Miro Cardona. He states plan called for
four Cuban FAR (rpt FAR) planes to carry
out attack from within Cuba. Three of
aircraft reportedly followed through with
plan, while fourth apparently at last
minute did not take part. He claims
two of aircraft are accounted for in
Florida. Third aircraft has not shown
up and believed to be one reported shot
down. 91/
- 250 -
TO ECR ET
about the upcoming discussion in the UN over the Cuban
question. The cable stated:
1. Greatly disturbed by clear indica-
tions received during day in process devel-
oping rebuttal material that bombing inci-
dents in Cuba on Saturday [15 April 611
were launched, in part at least, from out-
side Cuba.
2. I had definite impression from Barnes
when he was here [8 April 61] that no action
would be taken which could give US political
difficulty during current UN debate.* This
raid, if such it was, if exposed will gravely
alter whole atmosphere in GA [General Assem-
bly]. If Cuba now proves any of planes and
pilots came from outside, we will face in-
creasingly hostile atmosphere. No one will
believe that bombing attacks on Cuba from
outside could have been organized without
our complicity.
3. I do not understand how we could let
such attack take place two days before de-
bate on Cuban issue in GA. Nor can I under-
stand if we could not prevent such outside
attack from taking place at this time why
I could not have been warned and provided
pre-prepared material with which to defend
US. Answers I made ta Roa's statements
about incident on Saturday were hastily
concocted in Department, and revised by
me at last minute on assumption this was
a clear case of attacks by defectors in-
side Cuba.
4. There is gravest risk of another
U-2 disaster in such uncoordinated action. 93/
* Emphasis by author.
- 251 -
TOP ET
About this same time, the Department received
another Priority cable from Stevenson for the Presi-
dent and the Secretary of State asking for guidance to
meet the Soviet charge that armed attacks against Cuba
were being launched from the United States territory.
He requested authority to go on record as favoring
the motivations of the Cuban refugees in the US who
were anti-Castro, but "I wish to make clear, however,
that we would be opposed to any use of our territory
for mounting an offensive against any foreign govern-
ment." An advance copy of this message went to the
Secretary of State at 9:15 p.m. on 16 April. 94/
That Stevenson was in the dark regarding details
of the planned anti-Castro operations being sponsored
by the Agency is clearly evident from the reports of
the various USUN and Department of State officials who
were present at the Tracy Barnes briefing and/or who
worked with Stevenson during the crisis that evolved
following the D-2 air strike. Correspondence with
these individuals reveals that Barnes did not, in any
way, provide details about the anticipated tactical
air operations -- neither its objectives nor its
dates -- or about the deception activity. He
- 252 -
TOP CR ET
apparently did indicate that there was an upcoming
invasion, but none of those in attendance at the
briefing recall any mention of numbers of troops or
the anticipated D-Day date.
The only discrepancy that has been found in the
comments of any of the participants who were queried
concerns Arthur Schlesinger's remark in his book, One
Thousand Days, where his statement that "our brief-
ing, which was probably unduly vague" differs from his
response to the author's question.* Schlesinger's
letter stated:
I have checked my journal with the
following result. I had an appointment
with Dean Rusk on the morning of April 8,
1961 (in a vain effort to get him to
oppose the Cuban adventure), and for that
reason was late in setting off for New
York. I now quote the journal: "I then
took a plane to New York. I went imme-
diately-to the office of the US Delegation
to the UN. Tracy Barnes (CIA) and Bill
Bowdler (State) had preceded me and were
already deep in discussion with AES about
a proposed response to Roa. We discussed
aspects of this most of the morning. Then,
AES, Harlan Cleveland, Clayton Fritchey
and I went to the Century for luncheon.
AES made it clear that he wholly disap-
proves of the project, objects to the
fact that he was given no opportunity to
* See page 238 for complete text of Schlesinger's
paragraph.
- 253 -
TOP CRET
comment on it, and believes that it will
cause infinite trouble. However, he is
substantially the good soldier about it,
and is prepared to try and make the best
possible US case."
As I recall it, Tracy Barnes was to
provide the detailed tactical briefing
and this presumably had been accomplished
by the time of my arrival. Perhaps Bill
Bowdler may recall what Tracy in fact told
Stevenson. Looking at your four points,
I would say that Stevenson certainly under-
stood No. 2, [that there would be a D-Day
invasion by anti-Castro troops] ... but I
assume[d] that Tracy had said something to
him about your points 1 [that there would
be a D-2 air strike] and 3 [that there
would be a D-Day air strike]; and that we
did not make point 4 [the specific date of
either D-Day or D-2] clear to Stevenson,
leaving him under the impression, as I wrote
in A Thousand Days, that the invasion would
not take place while the Cuban item was
under discussion at the UN. I do not know
why Stevenson was not informed more precisely
about the date. It was probably because
the date had not been finally set in Wash-
ington, and we supposed that that question
could be faced farther down the road. 95/
Obviously there is some reason for speculation
about the accuracy of the comments in A Thousand Days
since Schlesinger was not in attendance during the
full course of Barnes's presentation (he was delayed
in Washington for his meeting with Rusk), and he assumed
that there was probably mention of the upcoming D-2
and D-Day tactical air operations. If D-2 was
- 254 -
TOP CRET
TO ECRET
mentioned, it is hard to imagine that it could have
been in any context other than that it was to be
carried out by the CIA trained, anti-Castro Cubans.
Thus, presumably, any references that Stevenson picked
up about the 15 April 1961 air strike against Castro
should have alerted him to the probability that this
was what he had, in fact, been briefed about. More-
over, as previously discussed, the D-2 date had been
firmly set at the time that Barnes and Schlesinger
were in New York to do the Stevenson briefing.*
There are other witnesses, however, who were
closer than Schlesinger to Stevenson during the course
of the activity beginning on 8 April and continuing
through the D-2 strike. One of them in particular
seems to have recalled, in precise detail, the course
of events and actions taken by Ambassador Stevenson
during this period. Richard F. Pedersen, then Chief
of the Political Section of USUN operation, has re-
ported the following details:
I was present with Amb. Stevenson and
Amb. [Francis T. P.] Plimpton in the brief-
ings by Tracy Baines [sic] (and Arthur
* See page 245.
- 255 -
SECRET
Schlesinger) in 1961. The answers to your
specific questions are explicitly "no" in
each case.*
In fact, the briefing totally misled
Amb. Stevenson, Amb. Plimpton, and me as
to the scope and timing of what was under-
way.
The effect of the briefing was this:
(1) that the CIA was involved in
plans for an internal uprising on the
island. (This had to have included
mention of outside Cuban assistance
though I do not now remember this as
a fact.)
(2) That nothing would happen from
US territory.
(3) That no US forces or personnel
would be involved.
(4) That whatever happened, would
have the appearance of an internal
Cuban event.
(5) That nothing would happen dur-
ing the session of the General Assembly,
then underway. (I asked this question
myself.)
* The questions were to determine if Stevenson was
told that: 1) there would be an air strike against
Castro's airfields on D-2 (15 April 61); 2) there
would be an invasion of Cuba by a force of some 1,200
anti-Castro Cubans; 3) there would be an air strike
(or a series of air strikes) on D-Day (or on D-Day
and subsequently as necessary) against a series of
tactical targets; 4) the actual date of the D-2 air
strike was 15 April or that the upcoming invasion was
set for 17 April.
- 256 -
TOP CRET
There was no mention of dates; no
mention of an "invasion" by a force of
Cubans; no mention whatsoever of anything
like a "D-DAY"; no mention of US air
strikes; and no mention of a date. (I
do not recall any mention of air strikes
by non-US forces either, and am fairly
sure there was none.)
The three key factors for us were:
appearance of an internal uprising, no
U.S. participation, and nothing during
the General Assembly session. I am
very clear about these matters, as I was
responsible for our handling of the Cuban
item then before the General Assembly.
Foreign Minister Roa kept delaying de-
bate in order to have the item available,
when and if something happened. Confident
that nothing would happen during the
General Assembly, and having no idea of
the degree of U.S. involvement, we coop-
erated in this tactic. Our negotiating
position on the substance of draft reso-
lutions pending on the subject, based on
the same assumption, also was wrong.
I was also intimately involved in the
false statements of Gov. Stevenson, which
he made about the two aircraft in Florida
just before the invasion. It was obvious
at tha4,: point that something was accelerat-
ing (though we were completely uninformed
about an invasion). Nevertheless, we were
fully assured from Washington that the two
planes in Florida were legitimate Cuban
aircraft which had defected.
I wrote the first draft to this effect
myself. This was then rewritten in Wash-
ington, where it was cleared by Secretary
Rusk himself and, I was told, by the re-
sponsible person in CIA. When Mr. Sisco
telephoned the redraft back on Saturday
morning [15 April], I conintented about half
- 257 -
TOP SE
way through that the draft was not a denial.
Mr. Sisco said that it was and that the
rest of the text would show that. It did,
although it may well be that we strengthen-
ed the words on the phone.*
I then took the text to Governor Steven-
son, telling him that the Department had
verified that, whatever else was happening,
the two planes concerned were legitimate
defecting planes of the Cuban Air Force.
As we by then had pictures of these planes
in New York, as well as the statements of
the pilots, both of which were also legit-
imate if the Washington text was true, we
added those elements to the statement he
later made to the Committee.
As we were obviously dealing with a
delicate matter on which it was important
to be right, I suggested to Gov. Stevenson
he verify the statement again directly with
Secretary Rusk. He asked his secretary to
make the call, but just at that point Mr.
Sisco called him. Gov. Stevenson then
verified the statement with Mr. Sisco in-
stead, and we shortly went into the Commit-
tee where he made it. (All of the above
took place in a small working office we
then had in the UN building itself.)
Foreign Minister Roa attacked our state-
ment in the Committee so robustly that I
began to get concerned again. Saturday
afternoon I asked one of our staff members
to get corroborating details on the planes
-- engine numbers and other data -- that
we could read into the record during the
next debate to prove that these two planes
were from the Cuban Air Force.
* Joseph Sisco was Deputy Director of the Office of
UN Political and Security Affairs located in the De-
partment of State in Washington, D. C.
- 258 -
TOP CRET
TOP SECRET
On Sunday morning, I was to that
Washington had finally said that ur-
suant (sic] of that line of inquiry
would not be fruitful. It was then
clear that our Saturday statement had
been false. I prepared a Top Secret
telegram of complaint from Stevenson to
the Secretary (or the President) and,
accompanied by Wm. Bowdler, now Ambassador
to Pretoria, took it to Gov. Stevenson at
the Waldorf. I told him the Saturday
statements had been false and showed him
the telegram, which he signed -- probably,
though I do not remember for sure, with
changes of his own. He was understand-
ably very disturbed.*
After we left, he must have called the
President or the Secretary, or both. In
any case, McGeorge Bundy then came to New
York. As I recall, they had breakfast
Monday morning, which I believe was when
the invasion was taking place. My impres-
sion is that the timing was determined so
that he (Stevenson] would only be told
after the invasion was already underway.
I do not know what Stevenson was then told,
or what he said about possible air strikes.
But as both the President and he by then
had said that nothing would take place
from U.S. territory, and that no U.S.
forces would be involved, he certainly
must have been opposed and must at that
point have been consulted about the strike.
* Stevenson's protest apparently had little or no
impact on the Department for a cable was sent to him
on Monday, 17 April 1961 at 1213 hours, providing him
with some "language for contingency use if Cubans make
show with bomb and rocket fragments [from attack on
D-2]." 95a/
- 259 -
TOP CRET
As I recall, the nature of the Presi-
dent's statement on non-involvement of U.S.
Forces and territory was worked out with
Mr. Schlesinger on the day of the briefing
by Amb. Barnes. But you may want to check
with him on that. 96/*
* Others queried in addition to Mr. Pedersen, on the
subject of the Barnes briefing were Francis T. P.
Plimpton, Charles W. Yost, and Charles P. Noyes. Among
other things, Mr. Plimpton said: "I do not recall any
mention of an air strike against Castro's airfields,
either before or on D-Day"; and, in addition, Plimpton
stated that he was "in complete accord with everything"
that Mr. Pedersen had written to the author. 97/
Charles W. Yost was present at part of the brief-
ing which Barnes gave to Stevenson, but having taken no
notes, he did not recall any of the specifics. 98/
Charles P. Noyes, too, was vague on being briefe-a on
the operational plan, noting that: "As I recall it,
we were trying to prepare ourselves to conduct a de-
fense in the UN against what we assumed would be a
violent attack on Cuba." 99/
The author also sent inquiries to both Harlan
Cleveland and William Bowdler, but neither had responded
as of this writing. Mr. Cleveland, however, sent a
memorandum to the Secretary of State on 12 April 1961
requesting guidance -- as Stevenson himself did in the
cable cited above for 16 April 1961 -- for the UN Ambas-
sador in an upcoming speech on Cuba. Cleveland's memo-
randum raised the question of the validity of comments
in the planned speech which denied that the US was sup-
porting and promoting the anti-Castro efforts which
were being so widely publicized. Cleveland closed his
memorandum with the following:
If I may add a general comment, I con-
fess to some concern as to whether the
Cuban matter has not been held so tightly,
no doubt for good and sufficient reasons
of security, as to make impossible a really
adequate review of its foreign policy impli-
cations. Certainly neither Ambassador
(footnote continued on following page)
- 260 -
TO CRET
\\TOP ECRET
(footnote continued)
Stevenson nor I have been in it enough to
make a professional judgment on the U.N.
aspects. Compared to the full staff proc-
ess that I think has been going on for
months on the Congo, I wonder whether a
fuller discussion on Cuba might not produce
a better policy with which we could live
longer. 100/
In transmitting a copy of his memorandum to Stevenson
on the same date that it was prepared for the SecState,
Cleveland called Stevenson's attention to the paragraph
cited above. 101/
Mr. Cleveland also has offered a somewhat different
version of who told what to Stevenson concerning the
D-2 strike than that specified above in Mr. Pedersen's
letter. In an address to a CIA audience in the Spring
of 1977, Cleveland stated, among other things that:
At the UN General Assembly, Ambassador
Adlai Stevenson was defending U.S. non-
involvement in the refugee raids on Cuba,
as they were being called. He asked Wash-
ington for the true story [of the D-2 raid],
as many of you will recall, and the CIA pro-
vided the State Department with a false
cover story, which Stevenson used his
global credibility to trumpet as the truth.
The cover blew off in less than 24 hours.
Stevenson was a kindly and mild-mannered
man. I've never seen anybody so sore in
my life. And it is to his eternal credit,
as far as I am concerned, that he didn't
get sore at me even though I was the person
who handed him the paper with instructions
to trumpet it. 102/
The writer has not been able to resolve the ques-
tion of whether the "cover story" re the D-2 strike went
to Stevenson via the Sisco-Pedersen, Sisco-Stevenson
route or whether it went from Cleveland to Stevenson
as noted above. T. Walter Johnson, Stevenson's official
(footnote continued on following page)
- 261 -
Keeping the various aircraft that entered the
scene in Florida properly identified -- Zuniga's B-26
at Miami, which was part of the D-2 deception story,
the Brigade B-26 which had been shot up during the
D-2 strike and was forced to make an emergency land-
ing in Key West at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station,
and the aircraft which the defecting Verdaguer brothers
had landed at Jacksonville on 14 April -- has added
further confusion to the Bay of Pigs story. Accord-
ing to Schlesinger, Secretary Rusk:
Seems for a while to have confused the
phony defector at Key West, with the
authentic defector at Jacksonville. Ap-
parently it was not until late Saturday
afternoon that he understood that the Key
West plane was part of the CIA plot. 105/
As just indicated, the B-26 that landed at Key West
was not a part of any intended "CIA plot," and the
deception effort concerned Zuniga's landing at Miami
not the Verdaguers% landing at Jacksonville.
Schlesinger then made a most unwarranted charge
against the Agency stating:
biographer, says Cleveland told him (Johnson) that he
had given the story to Stevenson. 103/
The author did not contact Clayton Fritchey, the
only other person who might be knowledgeable about the
Barnes-Stevenson meeting on 8 April 1961 because of
Fritchey's journalistic interests. 104/
- 262 -
TOP CRET
\NT? ECRET
Why CIA should have misled State has
never been clear. Possibly the Agency
having worked out its deception plan,
felt obliged to deceive even the rest
of its own government; or possibly the
CIA source, if in the Intelligence Branch,
was himself "unwitting." 106/
If Schlesinger's sequence is correct in saying
that on Saturday, 15 April 1961, following the air
strike, that Harlan Cleveland contacted State's
Bureau of "Interamerican Affairs" (actually the
Bureau of American Republic Affairs) which, in turn,
called the CIA and if these inquiries went to "the
Intelligence Branch" (CIA's Directorate for Intel-
ligence), it was an inexcusable screwup by State.
ARA/State should have known enough to go to either
Secretary Rusk or Adolf Berle in its own house or
to the Western Hemisphere Division in CIA's Direc-
torate for Plans for information on the anti-Castro
project. Rusk's confusion about the aircraft would
seem to imply certain ineptitude on his part or on
the part of his immediate staff rather than by the
Agency. Moreover, considering the comments that had
been made concerning Tracy Barnes's instructions in
contrast to what Barnes apparently said, it would seem
- 263 -
more reasonable to blame Barnes alone, not the CIA,
for Stevenson being confused. Schlesinger's harsh
criticism was unjustified.
Schlesinger also stated as follows:
The collapse of the cover story brought
the question of the second air strike into
new focus. The President and the Secretary
understood this strike as one which would
take place simultaneously with the landings
and have the appearance of coming from the
airstrip on the beach. It had slid by in
the briefings, everyone assuming that it
would be masked by the cover story. But,
there could be no easy attribution to de-
fectors now. Nor, did the fact that the
planes were B-26's flown by Cuban pilots
save the situation; despite the great
to-do about "Cubanizing" the operation,
they would still be United States planes
in the eyes of the UN. 107/
There is an inherent paradox in Schlesinger's
comment about the second strike "sliding by" in the
briefings, because it would be masked by the cover
story. If "everyone" assumed that it would be masked
by the cover story, then apparently everyone was aware
of the plan to hit Cuban targets on 0-Day. In view of
the written record of Mr. Bundy favoring a pre D-Day
attack, it is-difficult to imagine that the principal
White House staffers were not fully aware of what was
intended in the way of air strikes against Cuban soil.
- 264 -
Schlesinger does go on, to pin Rusk down as the one
principally responsible for the cancellation, stating:
Rusk, after his talks with Stevenson,
concluded that a second Nicaraguan strike
would put the United States in an untenable
position internationally, and that no
further strikes should be launched until
the planes could fly (or appear to fly)
from the beachhead. Bundy agreed, and they
called the President at Glen Ora. 108/
Then, according to Schlesinger, when Rusk and
Bundy had the President on the telephone:
Rusk said that the projected strike was
one which could only appear to come from
Nicaragua, Kennedy said, "I'm not signed
on to this"; the strike he knew about was
the one coming ostensibly from the beach-
head. After a long conversation, the
President directed that the strike be
canceled." 109/
What Schlesinger conveniently overlooked in the
above comments regarding the cancellation of the
second strike was the fact that the prohibition was
not only that the strikes must appear to come from
the beachhead, but there was no provision in the new
directions for strikes against any tactical air tar-
gets. The B-26's were to support and protect the
troops coming into the beachhead, and strikes against
the airfields -- the key to the success of the entire
invasion operation -- were automatically ruled out.
- 265 -
TO SECRET
Stewart Alsop, who also wrote about this period,
has a significantly different version of the events
which resulted in the cancellation of the second
strike. Alsop has Rusk calling Tracy Barnes early
in the evening of 16 April to come to his (Rusk's)
office in State Department to straighten him out about
the various aircraft. At the time that Barnes was
doing this, McGeorge Bundy also arrived at the Secre-
tary's office and supported Barnes's version about
each of the three aircraft. At this point, according
to Alsop:
Rusk shook his head, and remarked, "I
guess I got mixed up." Rusk evidently
realized that he had unintentionally mis-
led Stevenson. Briefly, he discussed with
Bundy whether he, Rusk, ought to join
Stevenson at the UN to give him support
in the furious debate which was certain
to break out on Monday. It was decided
instead, that Bundy should go to New York
to backstop Stevenson. Rusk asked Barnes
to go down to the floor below, where
Stevenson's speech for the next day was
being drafted, and to make sure that the
speech contained no errors of fact.
Barnes did so, and went back up to
Rusk's seventh floor office at about
eight o'clock. By this time, Bundy had
left to fly to New York, and Rusk was
alone. He remarked casually to Barnes
that the second air strike had been called
off. Bundy, it transpired, had telephoned
- 266 -
TOP SE.RET
the President, briefed him on the course
of events, and explained that he was go-
ing to New York to backstop Stevenson in
the UN, and to help him deal with the
inevitable furor over the second air
strike.
"What second air strike?" asked the
President. He had been well briefed, but
apparently he had forgotten this part of
the plan. In any case, the evidence of
American duplicity produced by the Cubans
in the UN and Adlai Stevenson's anger at
being misled had both deeply worried the
President. So, he told Bundy to order
Rusk to cancel the second air strike. 110/
There is a difference of opinion reflected be-
tween the Schlesinger book and the Alsop book, also
in terms of how the word of the cancellation was passed
on to CIA. According to Schlesinger, Bundy, upon hear-
ing from the President "promptly passed on the word to
General C. P. Cabell." 111/
According to Alsop, when Barnes, who was still
in the State Department reading Stevenson's speech
presented himself back to Rusk's office, Rusk told
Barnes that there would be no second air strike, and
at that point, according to Alsop:
With Rusk's assent, Barnes called his
superior, Bissell, and asked him to come
right over. He told Bissell of the Presi-
dent's order, but told him not to worry
- 267 -
TOP CR ET
too much -- the order made no sense, and
was sure to be reversed. 112/*
Which version of the story is more precise is
impossible to determine, but one can look at the re-
action which the news, once received by Gen. Cabell
and Mr. Bissell, precipitated at that level. It was
not until the close out of the Bay of Pigs activity
that Gen. Cabell and Mr. Bissell went on record with
their version of the events which transpired among
themselves, Secretary Rusk, and President Kennedy.
In a memorandum of 9 May 1961 for General Maxwell
Taylor, Gen. Cabell and Mr. Bissell forwarded a three
page memorandum which is reproduced here in full.
1. At about 9:30 p.m. on 16 April
(D-1) I was called in the CIA headquarters
for the Cuban operation by the Special
Assistant to the President, Mr. McGeorge
* Schlesinger's book appeared in 1964, Alsop's book
appeared in 1968. In a memorandum prepared for the
DCI on the Alsop book, it was reported that:
Mr. Barnes confirms his conversation
with Secretary Rusk and that Mr. Bundy,
who had arrived during the conversation,
backed him up on the details, as reported
by Alsop. Thus, the cancellation of the
second air strike by President Kennedy was
apparently based on a misunderstanding of
which CIA was unaware until too late to
correct. Mr. Barnes also confirms his sub-
sequent conversation with Secretary Rusk
in which Alsop reports Barnes's learning
of the cancellation and calling Mr. Bissell. 113/
- 268 -
TO ECRET
Bundy. He notified me that we would not
be permitted to launch air strikes the
next morning until they could be conducted
from a strip within the beachhead. Any
further consultation regarding this
matter should be with the Secretary of
State.
2. I called the Secretary and asked
him if I could come immediately to his
office and discuss this decision. Mr.
Bissell joined me at the Secretary's
office where we both arrived at about 10:15
p.m.
3. The Secretary informed us that there
were political considerations preventing
the planned air strikes before the beach-
head airfield was in our hands and usable.
The air strikes on D-2 had been allowed
because of military considerations. Polit-
ical requirements at the present time were
overriding. The main consideration involved
the situation at the United Nations. The
Secretary described Ambassador Stevenson's
attitude in some detail. Ambassador Steven-
son had insisted essentially that the air
strikes would make it absolutely impossible
for the U. S. position to be sustained.
The Secretary stated that such a result was
unacceptable.
4. In the light of this he asked that
we describe the implications of the deci-
sion. We told him that the time was such
(now almost 11:00 p.m.) that it was now
physically impossible to stop the over-all
landing operation as the convoy was at that
time just about beginning to put the first
boat ashore, and that failure to make air
strikes in the immediate beachhead area
the first thing in the morning (D-Day)
would clearly be disastrous. I informed
him that there would be four effects of
- 269 -
TO ECRET
the cancellation order as it plied to
strikes against Cuban airfields.
a. There would be a great risk
of loss of one or more of the ships
as they withdrew from the beach. This
would be serious but not catastrophic
provided that the unloading had proceed-
ed as scheduled and all planned unload-
ing had occurred by daylight. In view
of the fact that this was a night land-
ing and close timing was required, it
was pointed out that the probability of
smooth performance here was doubtful.
(As it turned out, the unloading was
not accomplished in the time planned.)
b. The disembarked forces in the
beachhead would be subjected to a
heavier scale of air attack than would
otherwise have been the case. In view
of the fact that the Cuban Air Force
was inadequate for massive air attacks,
the attacks to be expected under the
new circumstances would be damaging to
these forces but not decisive.
c. Failure essentially to neutralize
the Cuban Air Force very early on D-Day
would have its most serious effect on
the use of the Expeditionary Air Force's
B-26s to isolate the battlefield. The
B-26s were being counted upon to attack
approaching Cuban ground and Naval ele-
ments and close-in Artillery and tanks.
No fighter cover was being provided for
the B-26s and they would thus face the
prospect of serious attrition during
these battlefield operations. The beach-
head could then be overwhelmed by the
superior surface attack which could be
brought against it.
d. Loss of efficiency would result
from this late change of orders.
5. After considering the foregoing, the
Secretary of State agreed that strikes
could be made in the immediate beachhead
area but confirmed that the planned air
strikes against Cuban airfields, a harbor,
and a radio broadcasting station, could -
not be permitted and the decision to cancel
would stand. He asked if I should like to
speak to the President. Mr. Bissell and
I were impressed with the extremely deli-
cate situation with Ambassador Stevenson
and the United Nations and the risk to
the entire political position of the
United States, and the firm position of the
Secretary. We saw no point in my speaking
personally to the President and so informed
the Secretary.
6. Our immediate problem then was
quickly to dispatch the necessary order
to the Air Base in Puerto Cabezas carry-
ing out the instructions to stop the
planned air strike and to require re-
planning and re-briefing of crews. (This
was barely accomplished as the order to
cancel caught the crews in their cockpits.)
7. Our next task was to try and com-
pensate for the loss of effective air
strikes. In order to protect the ship-
ping as it withdrew from the beachhead, I
arranged with the Navy to stand by pending
authority to give fighter cover. At 4:30
a.m., 17 April (D-Day), I called on the
SeCretary of State at his home and reiter-
ated the need to protect the shipping.
The Secretary telephoned the President and
put me on the phone. After I made the
request the President asked that the
Secretary be put back on. After conversa-
tion with the President, the Secretary
informed me that the request for air
cover was disapproved. 114/
- 271 -
TOP RET
The memorandum was initially signed by C. P.
Cabell, General, USAF, Deputy Director (of CIA).
Typed beneath Cabell's signature was the following:
"the foregoing conforms to my recollection" and this
was signed by Richard M. Bissell, Jr., Deputy Director,
Plans.* Clearly, according to Cabell and Bissell,
political considerations negated the military importance
of the D-Day strike. Paradoxically, however, the
Secretary of State did agree that the B-26's could be
used to fly beach cover for the invading forces. How
it was expected that this limitation would be less of
a risk to the US in the UN is inexplicable.
* Conspicuous by his absence at this critical time
was Allen W. Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence.
Dulles was in Puerto Rico fulfilling a previous com-
mitment to address the Young President's Organization.
The author was told by Mr. Dulles's former Special
Assistant, Walter Elder that it was decided that
plausible deniability could best be supported if
Dulles made his planned speech. Cancellation, it was
feared, either would be a tip-off to the upcoming
attack or would lead to charges that CIA was behind
the invasion -- charges which were made in any event.
However, since Dulles did not depart Headquarters un-
til Saturday, 15 April 1961, arriving in Puerto Rico
that evening, this would seem to have been a rather
weak rationale -- Dulles was actually in Washington
as the D-2 air strike was in progress. Dulles de-
parted Puerto Rico on 17 April, arriving at Friend-
ship Airport around midnight. 114a/
- 272 -
The memorandum was initially signed by C. P.
Cabell, General, USAF, Deputy Director (of CIA).
Typed beneath Cabell's signature was the following:
"the foregoing conforms to my recollection" and this
was signed by Richard M. Bissell, Jr., Deputy Director,
Plans.* Clearly, according to Cabell and Bissell,
political considerations negated the military importance
of the D-Day strike. Paradoxically, however, the
Secretary of State did agree that the B-26's could be
used to fly beach cover for the invading forces. How
it was expected that this limitation would be less of
a risk to the US in the UN is inexplicable.
* Conspicuous by his absence at this critical time
was Allen W. Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence.
Dulles was in Puerto Rico fulfilling a previous com-
mitment to address the zBoung President's Organization.
The author was told by Mr. Dulles's former Special
Assistant, Walter Elder that it was decided that
plausible deniability could best be supported if
Dulles made his planned speech. Cancellation, it was
feared, either would be a tip-off to the upcoming
attack or would lead to charges that CIA was behind
the invasion -- charges which were made in any event.
However, since Dulles did not depart Headquarters un-
til Saturday, 15 April 1961, arriving in Puerto Rico
that evening, this would seem to have been a rather
weak rationale -- Dulles was actually in Washington
as the D-2 air strike was in progress. Dulles de-
parted Puerto Rico on 17 April, arriving at Friend-
ship Airport around midnight. 114a/
A ufft,_4,W
- 272 -
TOP CRET
The memorandum was initially signed by C.
Cabell, General, USAF, Deputy Director (of CIA).
Typed beneath Cabell's signature was the following:
"the foregoing conforms to my recollection" and this
was signed by Richard M. Bissell, Jr., Deputy Director,
Plans.* Clearly, according to Cabell and Bissell,
political considerations negated the military importance
of the D-Day strike. Paradoxically, however, the
Secretary of State did agree that the B-26's could be
used to fly beach cover for the invading forces. How
it was expected that this limitation would be less of
a risk to the US in the UN is inexplicable.
* Conspicuous by his absenc% at this critical time
was Allen W. Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence.
Dulles was in Puerto Rico fulfilling a previous com-
mitment to address the Young President's Organization.
The author was told by Mr. Dulles's former Special
Assistant, Walter. Elder that it was decided that
plausible deniab?
Dulles made his
feared, either w
attack or would
the invasion --
However, since r
til Saturday, 15
that evening, th
weak rationale -
as the D-2 air s
parted Puerto Ri
ship Airport arc
ap:i.?.4
g Z;E-4,4
5(1-to-tv-z_ 6/,r)-,2,/ A-7
&,,t) (fl,/d4-6:;f az, 4-i,
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hg c-ape
11A4. e,z-a
enii, /5- 4A-ype ctl't tt`frbz4-4"/
ti
1C-)4C2i' rd.] j-6-(k.o,L7 /".L47/
Several years after his resignation from the
Agency, Mr. Bissell offered some additional significant
thoughts concerning the cancellation episode. During
an Oral History interview for the John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library, Bissell surfaced the following
information which for the first time openly revealed
that the JCS may have had serious reservations about
the essentiality of the air strikes.
In a meeting that General Cabell and
I had with Dean Rusk early Sunday even-
ing, which has been described in various
books, he offered us the chance to speak
to the President on the telephone in his
presence and seek a reversal of that de-
cision. We did not take that opportunity,
feeling, frankly, that the cause was hope-
less. Rusk had called the President; Rusk
had laid this matter before the President;
Rusk had told the President that we felt
very strong that this strike was a mili-
tary necessity. Rusk had then stated his
own reasons why, given developments in the
U.N., another air strike would be politi-
cally disastrous and the Presideht, to
Rusk, had reaffirmed his decision. Cabell
and I felt that there really was a negli-
gible chance that we could induce the
President to change his mind.
Moreover, I think it has to be repeated
that in some quarters, at least, there was
a doubt as to whether the air attack was
such an absolute necessity. Dean Rusk
himself had been a participant in World
War II operations in Burma of an irregular
warfare type, and he had said on a number
of occasions that operations of this sort
- 273 -
did not depend nearly so heavily on air
cover as did conventional amphibious op-
erations by organized troops.
More than that, a fact that is very
little known is that the Joint Chiefs,
more than once in their discussions of
the operation, had expressed some doubt
about the absolute essentiality of these
air strikes. I don't want this remark
to be subject in any way to the interpre-
tation that the Joint Chiefs did not favor
these air strikes, or did not believe that
they improved the military chances. But
they attached less critical importance to
them than did, for instance, the Marine
colonel, who was really in direct charge
of the planning of the operation. I
think that knowledge of this attitude on
the part of the Joint Chiefs may have
had a little influence on General Cabell's
and my decision that we won't pursue the
matter further with the President that
Sunday night. I think knowledge of this
attitude by the Joint Chiefs may well have
been reported to the President, although
it never was in my hearing. And if so,
I'm sure it would have influenced him very
significantly.
Later that night General Cabell went
and made another appeal, first to Rusk and
then, from Rusk's apartment, on the tele-
phone to the President. This was an appeal
for the authority to use U.S. Naval air --
I think it was in as far as the three mile
limit. This was a much milder request
than the request for another strategic
strike by the Cuban aircraft. And yet it
was turned down by the President. I must
admit I have always taken that as an in-
dication, as has Cabell, that our original
judgment was correct, that the President
would not have been moved by our appeal
- 274 -
to him. I still think it was a mistake on
our part not to make the appeal. 115/
As told to the Taylor Committee, Rusk's version
of the meeting with Cabell and Bissell showed signifi-
cant differences from that just quoted. After stating
that neither he nor the President realized that there
was going to be anything other than the D-Day air
strike, Rusk said the President:
Didn't think there should be second
strikes in the area unless there were
overriding considerations ... [Bissell
and General Cabell] indicated that the
air strikes would be important, but not
critical. I offered to let them call
the President, but they indicated they
didn't think the matter was that impor-
tant. They said that they preferred not
to call the President ... Since Mr. Bissell
and General Cabell didn't want to talk
to the President on the matter, I felt
there was no overriding consideration to
advise him of. I didn't think they be-
lieved the dawn air strikes were too
important. 116/*
If, indeed, the Cabell-Bissell memorandum of the
cancellation is accurate in its statement of the ef-
fects of the cancellation, it is difficult to under-
stand how Secretary Rusk concluded that the CIA duo
* Emphasis by author.
regarded the second strike as of marginal importance.*
Without it, they had indicated probable loss of vessels
and defeat of the invasion force -- hardly minor con-
siderations.
McGeorge Bundy, President Kennedy's National
Security Adviser, too, submitted some interesting com-
ments to the Taylor Committee concerning the cancella-
tion of the D-Day strike.** After initially emphasizing
that "it was clearly understood that the air battle
should be won," Bundy subsequently commented that:
* Apparently Rusk was out of communication with
Thomas Mann, one of State's principals throughout the
Bay of Pigs planning. While often at odds with Agency
personnel on details of the operation, Mann has claimed
to have been a strong proponent of control of the air
over Cuba:
[The Zapata plan] was based on the
assumption that we would be able to con-
trol the air. We would have complete
control of the air ... It was clear that
control of the ai_r was of the essence.
In fact, the plan called for a standby of
our own [US] planes in case anything went
wrong ... 116a/
** Bundy was apparently more perceptive about the
accuracy or completeness of the official record than
other of the witnesses before the Committee because
he forwarded a memorandum with his own version of
what he had told the Committee on 1 May 1961 in lieu
of the non-verbatim record being made by the Committee
secretary.
- 276 -
TO ECRET
One startling omission, in retrospect
is the failure of any of the President's
advisers to warn of the danger of the
T-33's. I suspect that one reason for
the [President's] later decision not to
launch an air strike on the morning of
D-Day was that this capability of the
Castro Air Force was never put forward
as significant. 117/
The question seems obvious. How could the National
Security Adviser contemplate winning "the air battle"
unless the T-33's -- which were positively identified
as available and armed well prior to D minus 2
were destroyed? If Bundy expected to give the Com-
mittee a valid case for poor military judgment by
JMATE and the Joint Chiefs, Rusk's testimony on the
political nature of the cancellation left him high
and dry.
When Cabell and Bissell returned to the operations
center shortly before midnight on 16 April, they passed
the word on as to what had transpired at the White
HQuse; and despite the efforts of Col. Hawkins, Jake
Esterline, and Dick Drain, who pointed out that the
cancellation of the D-Day strike against the airfields
would probably mean the failure of the whole operation,
Gen. Cabell reportedly replied that "the Agency had
been given its marching orders" and would comply. 118/
- 277 -
TOPS RET
TO
ECRET
Shortly after 0100 hours Washington time on
17 April 1961, Stan Beerli sent a cable to TIDE, which
read in part as follows:
Complete plan amended to place all
B-26 aircraft at disposal of Brigade
Commander, and Task Force protection.
Targets outlined in Ops Plan 200-1,
Attachment #1, Appendix 2 to Annex B.
are cancelled. 119/
The TIDE acknowledgment of the receipt of Beerli's
cable clearly reflected discouragement on the part of
Thorsrud, the Chief of Air Operations at the strike
base. It read in part:
1. Refs received and reluctantly com-
plied with. Complete plan amendment per
refs received 170715Z [0115 hours local
time; 0215 hours Washington, D.C. time]
with all pilots in cockpit ready for start
engines. Needless to say this less than
desirable operating procedure when 12
aircraft timed for take off between 0730Z
and 0800Z.
2. Realize it desired to give maximum
protection to Brigade, however, believe
per [sic] change will not afford as much
protection as original strike plan. The
only real offensive danger to the Brigade
is enemy fighters and bombers which are
better hit on their home field -- not
(repeat not) over the beachhead. 120/
In this same cable, Thorsrud went on to request
authorization to launch an airfield strike five minutes .
before sunset on D-Day; and he also requested permission
- 278 -
TOPS ET
TOP CRET
to launch strikes on the afternoon of D-Day on the
basis of debriefings of pilots who had been flying
operations over the beach. 121/
To suggest that Thorsrud was unset by the can-
cellation of the D-Day strike understates the case.
That it was an extremely emotional experience for
him comes through quite clearly in his description
of the events as they had occurred 16 years prior to
the time that the author talked to him:
There were only two people in that
commo shack, the sergeant who was my
comma officer and myself. This message
came in FLASH PRECEDENCE! I couldn't
believe it, neither could he ... A lot
of things that went through my mind
right at that point were: "What do they
know that I don't?" "There must be a
reason for this." "They said to divert
a couple of aircraft to cover the ships
in the Isle of Pines area." "God, maybe
there is something happening politically
that I don't know about." "Maybe there
is some reason to this."
When I thought about it -- maybe five
minutes, because I had to stop the air-
craft -- I finally said, well, I don't
have any choice. I've got to take the
order, but I thought of .every way that
it could have been a mistake. I thought
of every way that there must be other
reasons behind it, because in my own
mind, I knew it was over. I knew it was
over right then -- the minute that I
read that message. I went out -- and
- 279 -
TO CRET
TOPS
RET
you've got to picture this situation --
the PBY had already taken off. It had
to take off at midnight to get there by
daylight. The 46's were lined up to go
-- they were the next slowest, so they
were launched next. We had firepots and
lights. We had all kinds -- three quar-
ters of them didn't speak English, so
we couldn't cancel it by an English order.
We were launching the 26's by the distance
that they had to go -- to Santiago and
to Havana and all the other places by
their elements. All the aircraft were
started. They were all taxied in posi-
tion. It was almost like a World War II
movie of a strike -- there were over 30[?]
aircraft on that one strip, getting ready
for takeoff when that message came in.
The lead aircraft -- the lead B-26's --
were loaded with napalm for that line up
of tanks that we had; and the guys had
photos of those tanks there. Fresh, a
few hours before. They would have wiped
out that tank force. Do you know what it
means to de-arm an armed aircraft of
napalm -- the problems and all? Unbeliev-
able. When it was called off, it was bad
enough. There was enough gloom around
that place when someone came up with that
assinine defector's operation. But that
morning ... In fact, we said ... that's
in the cable traffic too ... I forget my
exact words ... but it was either a ... I
think ... I sent one personally to the
Director, and I think the Cubans came in
and asked to send one personally to John F.
Kennedy ... Villafana and his group ... and
I said, "Of course you can. I will send it
to Headquarters, and I am sure that it will
be relayed to him."
Everyone knew that the operation didn't
have a prayer. So, we launched those six
guys in the morning, and I think four of
- 280 -
TOP ECRET
T"\P CRET
them were shot down -- or three of them
were shot down. They were just sending
guys as fodder into the cannon. It was
just unbelievable! And how that decision
was made, I don't know ... I remember
going over to the operations room, and I
remember going back over to the commo
shack ... at the teletype ... at the hard
copy that matched mine, and ... Well, I'll
never forget that few hours; and then it
got worse ... each day ... and that was
the end. Each day it got worse -- you
could end your story right there. In
fact, you could almost end your story
with the defection part, because'air was
the key to that operation. 122/
Being on the scene with the pilots who were going
to conduct the air strike, Thorsrud was most directly
affected. However, other of the principals in Project
JMATE obviously reflected at some length about the
cancellation of the second strike. Mr. Bissell, one
of the principal actors in the scene in Dean Rusk's
office the night of 16 April 1961, offered the follow-
ing comments which, if correct, help to explain Rusk's
position:
[Adolf Berle] was quite an activist.
Now Rusk himself was not. Rusk was always
afraid of this operation ... Rusk was all
for a powerful guerrilla effort -- anything
that could be done along that line. But,
he consistently argued for reducing the
sound level, and, as you know, had every-
thing to do with abandoning the TRINIDAD
site ... Rusk's influence always was to
avoid the noisy actions. Do everything
- 281 -
you can not to make this look like an
invasion. Make it look like a guerrilla
landing. Make it look more like Castro's
original operation in Oriente. And I
think it is a matter of record that his
opposition or his recommendation was what
led to the cancellation of the second air
strike. I am sure that his opposition
contributed to the cancellation of the
original plan's second of three air strikes.
I want to say also, though, that Rusk,
after the fact, was always generous. He
never said, "I told you so," at least to
my knowledge or in any report that has
ever reached me. 123/
Recognizing that it was in hindsight, Mr. Bissell
has expressed regret that he did not take the opportun-
ity to speak to President Kennedy at the time that
Rusk offered him the chance on 16 April. 124/ While
Bissell wondered whether he acted properly at the time
that the second strike was being called off, both Jake
Esterline, Chief, JMATE and George Gaines, who ran the
JMATE operation for DPD, had different retrospective
views concerning not only Bissell, but particularly
General Cabell.
Jake Esterline, in fact, holds Cabell principally
responsible for the failure of the Bay of Pigs opera-
tion, and he has stated as follows:
[Cabell] was the guy ... he was the
Air Force General. He was the fellow
- 282 -
TOP CRET
CRET
that the people would have listened to,
and ... he was the equivocator that let
the thing get away from him that night.
He came in ... I'll never forget him
coming in with a cigar, and he said
"Well, we are going to have to ration-
alize a little bit here." ... Hawkins
and I looked at each other, and I said,
"General are you saying that we are not
going to get that airstrike," and he said
"Yes." Hawkins said, "Well, we've lost.
We are going to lose every ship." Cabell
said, "Colonel," he said, "I don't know
that that's right, I don't think I agree
with that." ... That's when I wrote out
a resignation to the Agency. That was
before the first shot had ever been
fired ...
Cabell said ... there was not going
to be an airstrike. Well, he equivocated,
he didn't speak in forthright terms to
whomever of Kennedy's group he was talk-
ing to. He didn't tell them that "it is
going to be a disaster if this doesn't
happen." If he'd said that, and they had
said, "well, you are not going to get the
airstrike. Call it off," at least we might
have still had a few hours to try and call
it off. Now, whether they would have come
back or not, is something else ...
What I am really saying by this is if
we were running this operation at this
point -- Hawkins and I -- Cabell, who was
not very deeply informed on it, shouldn't
have been the one that was up there giv-
ing the facts in cold terms of what wodld
happen if any further diminishment of the
capability took place. Now, I would like
to think that the reason that he failed
so miserably was that he wasn't adequately
informed and didn't know ... As I had
said at that time, he had clay feet ...
- 283 -
TOP RET
TNFN?P CRET
He never spent enough time around, in
my judgment, to be informed to the point
that he should have been. I don't think
the right person was going up to talk is
what I am saying. We [Hawkins and Ester-
line] were the only ones that really knew,
at that point, the total details of the
operation and knew what the risks were in
detail and what further diminishment of
capability would be. When the equity be-
came so great, I don't think just because
a person was a GS-18, or because he had
four stars on his shoulder that he should
have gone himself ... He should have at
least had one of the principal lieutenants
charged with the operation -- and that
would have been Hawkins or myself. I
have never understood why they would pre-
sume to go up when things were so critical
and not have one or the other -- it didn't
have to be me if I was too thorny for them.
It could have been Hawkins, but somebody
who knew intimately what, how soon, or
how easily disaster could come should
have been there. 125/*
* Esterline and Hawkins apparently tried -- unsuccess-
fully to resign from Project JMATE when the switch was
made from TRINIDAD. The above referenced attempt is
supported by Esterline's testimony on 22-23 May 1961
to the Taylor Committee when in discussing cancellation
of the D-Day strike he said: "I decided the operation
was lost at midnight on the 16th [of April 1961]. The
next day I told Mr. [J.C.] king [Chief, WH/D] that I
couldn't continue because we were lost." 126/
In a very emotional phone conversation with
William D. Pawley on 21 April 1961, Jake stated that
he had resigned "last Sunday [16 April]" and that "I
have quit the Agency." Esterline also indicated that
the resignation hadn't been accepted because he was
being sent to Florida for R&R. 127/ Dave Phillips has
a more colorful description of the scene with Jake sit-
ting "at a typewriter, a bottle of skey at his elbow,
and wrote out his resignation several times. Bill
tore them up as sporlas they were typed." 128/
In addition to Cabell, Esterline also faults
Bissell, having pointed out:
It was a continual plea to Bissell
that we had to destroy all of those
planes on the ground. Those air strikes
had to go, and it might even have to be
ones beyond the programmed points if we
didn't get all the aircraft. ... I really
feel from my own recollection that if we
(Hawkins and Esterline] had known that
we were going to be cancelled out on that
very critical air strike, we would have
tried to stop the operation, because we
knew ... we expected to lose every ship
... not just two. 129/
In his recollections of the situation at the time
of the cancellation of the D-Day air strike, George
Gaines reported that he had just returned from the
Puerto Cabezas briefings, and walked into the office
in time to be told that the President had cancelled?
the D-Day strike. Gaines stated:
At that time I told Stan Beerli, and
later on, Bissell, that "this thing is
doomed. It cannot go if we don't get
those airplanes." 130/
When asked if he himself had recommended that the
whofe operation be called off at that stage, Gaines
said:
No, ...
celled it
everybody.
erational
the President -- when he can-
-- did not arbitrarily override
He said unless there are "op-
reasons" dictating otherwise,
- 285 -
'l.c.,TOPS ET
we'll cancel tomorrow morning's strike.
Well nobody had told him that there were
"operational reasons."
At the moment he made that decision,
he thought that there was a chance -- a
good chance -- of success without that
air strike. He should have been informed,
right at that moment, that operational
reasons do dictate that we continue ...
that we go ahead ... because if we don't,
we can't land those troops, Mr. President. 131/
Concerning Cabell's responsibility and degree
of familiarity with the operational implications of
the cancellation, Gaines pointed out that Cabell was
not too well aware of the air plan:
He had been briefed. We had our
regular briefings to keep him up to
date, but he had been apart from the
military community for such a period
of time that his operational expertise
had been eroded by time., This was my
whole argument ... that the President
deserves some operational information
because he has killed the entire project
if we cannot make that strike. 132/
Making this point to both Beerli and later to
Bissell, Gaines stated further:
I got the impression that there were
so many political considerations involved
that they did not want to go back and
beard the President in his office, or
ask for a special audience, when it would
have been much better had we done so ...
I really believe that Beerli should have
been more forceful in this -- and I don't
- 286 -
TOP ECRET
mean to be critical of Stan, because Stan
was trying to do the right thing. But,
Stan was military, and I was telling Stan
-- military to military -- this cannot
succeed; and I believe if he had been
forceful in his presentation to Bissell,
Bissell might have done it. Bissell was
the type who would do something if he
believed in it. But, Cabell is the one
on whom the ultimate responsibility must
lie, he was the man that Bissell -- and
Dulles and the President -- was looking
to for professional operational advice;
and he didn't get it. That's my personal
opinion. 133/
Beerli was far less harsh on Cabell than either
Esterline or Gaines and pointed out that:
He [Cabell] made a very special effort
to see it [air operations plans] all. He
was very concerned. We made visits to his
office frequently to show him what plans
we had. He told me, being an air officer,
he said, "I feel that I should be informed
at this point just what is going on." 134/
Beerli apparently was less concerned about who
did what -- or should have done what -- than he was
about the impact that cancellation of the second strike
had on operational planning. As with the other air
operations planners and JMATE principals, he, too,
believed that if the two attacks had gone forward as
planned, Castro's Air Force would have been destroyed
on the ground. But in his retrospective view of the
D-Day cancellation, Col. Beerli offered another
- 287 -
TOP CRET
T\P CRET
consideration which the others involved in the opera-
tion -- particularly Thorsrud -- recognized, but failed
to articulate so clearly. Beerli's comments do much
to explain to the layman some of the critical problems
that began to surface at TIDE even before the close
of D-Day:
This is something again that probably
hasn't been emphasized. If we plan an
attack on D-2 aid another on 0-Day, you
get everybody cranked up. You get the
schedule and everything else going. So
you go to 0-2, when everything is going
well, and then you've got everybody ready
to go on the 0-Day. They've all worked,
they've all been rested, and then you
cancel it. Then you start it again, but
you get everybody out of cycle. There-
fore, you've got yourself in a hole,
because your maintenance people and
everybody else are working up to a point,
and then you delay it. Then you want to
start again. Well, then you're wearing
your people down. In other words, by the
cancellation of that mission, you have
compounded the problem back at the base
on rest schedules, mess schedules, and
everything else. You might be able to
do it as an exception, but in the long run,
if you are going to do it for four or five
days ... again ... on again, off again ...
you know what that does. It is like any
schedule that you would set up -- you
start wearing people down and you get
nothing to show for it. 135/
Subsequent to Gen. Cabell's death (25 May 1971),
a 15 page hand written note surfaced among the General's
- 288 -
TOP ECR ET
TO ECR ET
effects. Attached to the handwritten memorandum was
a cover comment which read:
These notes very valuable, because
they were made when memory was fresh.
C.P.C.
On the foolscap itself, at the top of the first page,
appears the comment:
Written soon after my appearance.
The first sentence of the notes then explains:
That these notes are further to the
statement submitted by me and Mr. Richard
Bissell to the Taylor-Kennedy-Dulles-Burke
Board on [9 May 1961].
As it adds to what has already been discussed
about Cabell's reaction to the news that the second
strike was to be cancelled -- and because he is accused
of serious shortcomings on the cancellation of the D-Day
air strike -- it is believed worth repeating the
verbatim text of that note:
When Mr. McGeorge Bundy, Assistant to
the President, called me at Project Head-
quarters the night of f16] April [1961],
he made it quite clear to me that the
decision had already been made by the
President cancelling the air strike on
Cuban airfields planned for the morning of
[17 April 1961]. (This decision was made
without consulting in advance with me as
Acting D.C.I. or anyone else in CIA.)
- 239 -
NTO ECRET
Mr. Bundy further made it quite clear
that the President had left for Glen Ora
and that the Secretary of State would act
for him in the event that I wanted to dis-
cuss the matter, and in fact the Secretary
of State had the President's "proxy" in the
case. He, Mr. Bundy, was leaving immediately
for New York to "hold Ambassador Stevenson's
hand."
I immediately contacted Mr. Bissell,
Project Chief [Bissell was DD/P; Ester-
line was "Project Chief"), and made an
appointment for the two of us to call on
the Secretary of State in his office at
the earliest feasible moment.
When we reported to the Secretary, he
gave Us a long explanation of the politi-
cal impact of the now cancelled air strike.
He made it quite clear that a new criterion
or policy for the conduct of the overall
operation was now in effect. Whereas in
the preceding weeks and days I had formed
the clear impression that the policy was
that once launched, the operation must
not be allowed to fail, the new policy
was to accept the possibility of failure
of the operation, but not accept the
political implications of U.S. involvement
which flowed from the air strike. This
was so even though that strike was by
Cuban air crews in aircraft staged from
Central America.
I pointed out the jeopardy to the
success of the military phase of the
operation caused by the cancellation of
the air strike. The landing itself would
be jeopardized unless: (a) it attained
complete surprise; (b) all ship and boat
movements and unloadings (including am-
munition) were completed without hitch
prior to dawn; and (c) paratroop opera-
tions all were accomplished according to
- 290 -
TOP S ET
CRET
plan. I pointed out that it was most
unlikely that all these favorable re-
sults would ensue -- in fact it would be
a miracle if they did. As to holding
the beachhead after an assumed success-
ful landing, this was dependent upon
friendly control of the air over the
beachhead. Air control was necessary
for our B-26 aircraft (slow piston-engined)
to be able to render close battlefield
support in the beachhead. This close
support was particularly necessary by
virtue of the fact that there was only a
small amount of artillery and armor in
the landing force and the B-26's had to
substitute for them. The B-26's also had
to interdict the movement of enemy rein-
forcements and weapons to the beachhead
by land. The B-26's had as well to hold
off enemy reinforcements coming by sea,
and prevent enemy sea bombardment, in
view of the fact that there was no friendly
naval combat support.
I pointed out that, in view of the
fact that we had no friendly fighter air-
craft to cover the beachhead (none could
be based within range), the only way we
could get air superiority over the beach-
head was to catch the enemy fighters on the
ground by the strike just cancelled.
All my arguments were directed at the
implications of the air strike cancella-
tion to the success of the military
phases of the operation. These arguments
were to no avail, however, because actions
required for' the success of the military
operation, that is the establishment and
holding of the beachhead, were no longer
the issue.
The only issue now was the fact that
the air strike was judged to be politically
- 291 -
SECRET
unacceptable and therefore it had to be
cancelled. The only person there quali-
fied to address himself to the political
implications of the air strike, was the
Secretary of State, the man holding the
President's proxy for action.
The Secretary then suddenly called the
President on the telephone, reported our
discussion, which he did with accuracy,
including the gist of my analysis of the
military implications of the cancellation.
He reiterated the political unacceptability
of the air strike and recommended that the
cancellation stand. He then turned to me
to see if I had anything else to say to
the President, I said, "No", as I believed
that all had been said. The Secretary had
given all my military arguments, but (these
were] overbalanced by the political implica-
tions. There was now a great urgency for
action if I were to be able to carry out
the orders of my Commander-in-Chief. This
was no time for repetition of arguments.
Rather it was time -- perhaps already past
time -- to transmit to the Central American
air base the command to cancel the strikes.
As it turned out, our cancellation order
caught the crews in their cockpits pre-
paring to take off in a very short while.
I knew of the difficulties facing me
of getting across the order, first to our
Staff. The order hit them like a bolt
from the blue. We had tried to think of
all the things that could go wrong with
the operation and to be prepared with
corrective actions. This development was
completely unexpected and caused great
consternation in the Staff. However there
was no time here either for argument about
the President's order. We had first to
get out the stop order in a manner that
would be understood and accepted by those
- 292 -
TO ECR ET
emotional Cubans, already under the great
tension which precedes immediate entry
into battle. Then we had to do some fast
work to pick up the pieces and thus do
what we could to salvage the operation and
mitigate the terrible difficulties facing
it.
When we first got word of the cancel-
lation, Mr. Bissell and I had agreed that
the time had passed to turn back the land-
ing force and so cancel the entire opera-
tion. The landing force was already enter-
ing the area of expected enemy observation
and its U.S. Naval escort was dropping back.
An order at this time to turn back, might
not have been received, and if it had
been, there would have been questions at
least and possibly refusals to obey, in
either case, with resulting serious con-
fusion -- all in the face of the enemy.
(This too I explained to the Secretary of
State.) Whereas, had the decision to
cancel the air strike been received a few
hours before we would have had the option
of cancelling the whole operation. At this
late hour we had no such option. 136/
In contrast to the memorandum which he and Mr.
Bissell signed jointly on 9 May 1961 explaining the
cancellation of the second strike, in this undated
version CabeZZ emphasized that Kennedy's mind had
been made up at the time that CIA was informed that
the strike was off; and it was a decision which had
been reached without consulting anyone in the Agency.
The handwritten notes also emphasized the obvious,
that military success was no longer the principal
- 293 -
TOP CRET
criterion for action -- the criterion now was that the
air operation be politically acceptable. Recognizing
these difficulties, however, Cabell proceeded to play
the "good soldier" in saying that the time for discussion
was past and that it was imperative to follow the orders
of the Commander-in-Chief. According to this version
of the cancellation of the strike, Cabell and Bissell
together agreed that it was too late to turn the fleet
about "in the face of the enemy"; but Cabell noted
that had the cancellation been ordered some hours
earlier, there would have been no problem about
scrubbing the whole operation. Considering the actual
status of the fleet at the time the decision was made
final -- little or none of the unloading had actually
started -- and considering that the first firefight
had not yet taken place and alerted Castro's troops,
it is difficult to understand why the attempt was not
made to halt the operation, -tn recall everything that
was in motion and, if need be, to use the B-26's to
try to provide short-time cover for the withdrawing
ships.
The expressions of concern that orders to turn
about might have led the Cubans to seize the vessels
- 294 -
TOP CRET
TOP ECRET
and proceed with the invasion seem highly exaggerated
in light of the subsequent performance of the invading
Brigade. The action of the troops aboard the Houston,
the long runs made by the Atlantico and the Caribe on
D-Day also would indicate that if it had been clearly
specified that there would be absolutely no air cover --
or that Castro troops were ready and waiting -- there
would have beer t little, if any, resistance to a recall
order.
Following the collapse of the invasion, the
issue of the cancellation of the air strike scheduled
for D-Day became highly political, particularly follow-
ing Castro's release of the Brigade prisoners in Decem-
ber 1962. One of the most demonstrably partisan per-
formers was President Kennedy's brother, the Attorney
General, Robert Kennedy. In the course of his partici-
pation as a member of the Taylor Committee to investi-
gate the Bay of Pigs, it was apparent that, whatever
else, he intended to protect the gobd name of the
President.* Concerning the cancellation of the second
* Interestingly enough, the sessions of the Taylor
Committee were not recorded verbatim; and the researcher
usually must speculate on the identity of a given ques-
tioner. On many questions which have obvious political
overtones, it is apparent that Mr. Kennedy is speaking.
- 295 -
TO CR ET
NNTOP CRET
strike, Robert Kennedy, in an interview session with
U.S. News and World Report (28 January 1963) added
some new fillips to further confuse the story. Kennedy
charged (correctly) that U.S. News and World Report
had claimed on various occasions that President Kennedy
had "withdrawn US air cover" and that as a result of
that withdrawal the invasion had failed. The Attorney
General stated that no US air cover had actually been
promised -- and had he stopped with this comment there
would have been no problem. In a question and answer
session with the reporters, however, he went on to
deny that any consideration had ever been given to the
possibility of providing US air cover -- but as pointed
out earlier in this volume, this subject had been
extensively debated throughout the course of Project
JMATE. More controversial and inaccurate was Kennedy's
subsequent version of the "truth" concerning the
planned air strikes.
Robert Kennedy also said that the President under-
stood that, after the D-2 air raid, there was to be
another attack on Castro's airfields on the morning
of D-Day.* The excitement at the UN, however, caused
* The plan called for both reattack and the addition
of military and communication targets. See pp. 233-234.
- 296 -
SECRET
TOP ECRET
the President to have second thoughts and call off
the planned air strike on Monday morning, unless
those who had the responsibility felt that it was so
important that it had to take place, in which case,
they were supposed to call him and discuss it further.
Kennedy seemed to imply that the President would have
changed his mind. However, this overlooks the call
General Cabell made early on the morning of 17 April
to request USN air cover. Moreover, Robert Kennedy
went on to say that the attack on the airfields took
place later that day -- that is, later on Monday,
17 April. No such strike was authorized, even though
Thorsrud had requested it. It was not until near
midnight Monday and before dawn on Tuesday morning
(18 April) that the abortive reattacks were launched.
More disturbing was Kennedy's response to the
question "Wasn't there to be air cover of the beaches
from Central America?" Kennedy's answer was as follows:
That is correct -- and that was not
disturbed. All of the planes that were
supposed to be utilized were utilized --
all in the planning. I might say they
proved to be inadequate. The air cover
at the beaches was definitely inadequate
-- but not because of some last minute
decision by the President or anyone else. 137/
SECRET
That simplistic statement totally ignored the
basic concept of the planned D-Day air strike which
was to kill off the remainder of Castro's aircraft,
interdict a major portion of his armor, and disrupt
his communications. If the air cover for the Brigade
on the beach was inadequate -- although on D-Day it
appears to have been successful, but at heavy cost --
it was because B-26's were no match for Sea Furies
and T-33's. Moreover, the cancellation of the strike
made it impossible for the Brigade B-26's to operate
off the airstrip at Playa Giron, and hence, coverage
of the beach areas -- even without the losses to FAR
-- would have been spotty. In response to the ques-
tion of who did the planning, Kennedy responded:
The plan that finally went into effect
was approved by our military -- the Penta-
gon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as
the Central Intelligence Agency. This wasn't
something that was planned by a few fellows
over at the White House and then put in op-
eration. However, the President had to
give approval to the plan, and he quite
properly has accepted the responsibility. 138/
The point most conveniently ignored by the Attor-
ney General was the fact that the White House did inter-
fere with the air plan (a) by changing the initial
site for the landing from TRINIDAD to ZAPATA, and
- 298 -
T SECRET
(b) completely revising the planned air operation
against Castro's Air Force and military targets.*
* The critical issues mentioned above were lost in
the flurry of political reaction to other statements
which Kennedy made about air cover -- principally, that
JFK had made it quite clear that there would not be any
US air support for the planned invasion nor would there
be any additional US support for the invasion effort in
the way of troop advisors or cadre leaders. When Kennedy's
remarks -- many of which first appeared in the Miami
Herald on 21 January 1963 -- hit the press, there was
an immediate uproar. Richard Helms, who was then Deputy
Director for Plans, prepared a memorandum for the Coor-
dinator of Cuban Affairs in the Department of State
pointing out that the comments of the Attorney General
were of great concern to the Cuban community and threat-
ened to blow Jose Miro Cardona out of the leadership
of the Cuban Revolutionary Council; and they also were
causing extensive criticism of the Brigade's military
leaders, Manuel Artime and Jose Perez San Roman. If
these Cuban leaders knew that neither US air support
nor other US assistance had been promised, then the
invasion should not have been permitted to take place.
On the other hand, Tony Varona, who had frequently
opposed the FRD and the CRC for their extreme depend-
ence on the US prior to the invasion, was coming more
to the fore as the leader of the exiles. 139/
The Attorney General's 28 January 1963 session
with U.S. News and World Report was his second attempt
to deflect criticism from the Administration following
release of the Brigade prisoners by Castro. On 11 Jan-
uary 1963, Jose Perez ("Pepe") San Roman, when inter-
viewed while paying a "courtesy call" to Robert Kennedy's
offices, denied that he "had called unsuccessfully
during the invasion for cover by jet airplanes." San
Roman also said that he had not been told that the US
would provide air cover for the operation. 139a/ His
latter statement was true insofar as can be determined,
but he was less than candid about events on the beach.
The cable traffic between TIDE and Headquarters for
(footnote continued on following page)
- 299 -
President Kennedy himself suffered semantic
aphasia over the question of US air cover, defending
his brother's position that no US air cover had been
promised the Cubans and saying that the Attorney
General's interview by U.S. News and World Report
describing the cancellation of the strike on the
morning of 17 April 1961 was correct. The President,
too, claimed that the strike was postponed until
Monday afternoon; but again, this was less than the
truth. The restrike was authorized for just before
dawn on Tuesday morning when two separate flights of
three B-26's each tried unsuccessfully to find the
airfields -- the other military and commo targets
which had been scheduled for the D-Day air strike
weren't even considered.
17-19 April 1961 reflects the increasing calls from
the Brigade for jet support over the beach. 139b/
In the fall of 1964 in a Reader's Digest article
Richard Nixon also attempted to make some political
points concerning the White House's action at the
time of the invasion. Nixon stated:
He [JFK in talking to Nixon on 20 April
1961, at the White House], did not mention
the fatal advice -- given him by some of
his liberal State Department and White _
House advisers -- to cancel the two air
strikes -- and, in effect, destroy the
plan. 140/
- 300 -
TOPS ET
Perhaps the most serious charge leveled by
Robert Kennedy in the course of his 21 January 1963
interview with the Miami Herald was his reference to
Castro's T-33's. According to the President's brother,
"We underestimated what a T-33 carrying rockets could
do. ... It wasn't given sufficient thought. They
caused us a great deal of trouble." 141/ As has al-
ready been demonstrated and'as evidenced by the cable
exchanges between the field and Headquarters, there
was little question in the minds of the JMATE/DPD
principals (Esterline, Hawkins, Thorsrud, Gaines, among
others) that the T-33's could make or break the inva-
sion.* Similarly former JMATE personnel found little
to commend in Robert Kennedy's additional comments
when he stated:
* Hawkins did appear to waffle a bit during the Taylor
Committee hearings on the question of the T-33. During
an undated conversation with an unidentified committee
member -- or members -- Hawkins was asked if the im-
portance of getting the T-33's was appreciated. He
replied:
I think so, but I think the T-33 turned
out to be a more effective aircraft than
we had anticipated. I don't believe we
thought they would be as dangerous to us
as the B-26's. 141a/
This was an unjustified comment by a non-airman
and it was never supported by the principal air opera-
tions officers.
- 301 -
TOP CRET
TOP CRET
The President inherited people with
major reputations and he accepted their
advice. There was not sufficient air
cover at the beach. This was a mistake.
There were not enough men and equipment.
That was a mistake. Underestimating the
T-33's -- that was a serious mistake.
The planning was inadequate, just inade-
quate. 142/
CIA History Staff