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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 o~ 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 -