◆ SpookStack

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- stripf 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