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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 Cosme 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 -