◆ SpookStack

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 evolved thE3 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;