◆ SpookStack

In his opening statement, General Lemnitzer indicated that the role of the Department of Defense in the course of the Cuban operation had been to provide support for the Central Intelligence Agency which was in charge of the operation. In General Lemnitzer's words: "The thing I would like to say at the very beginning is that I consider the JCS role as one of appraisal, evaluation, offering of constructive criticism, and assisting CIA in looking at the training and detailed plans. 126/ Defense participated in the role of support." --- General Lemnitzer was questioned extensively about plans for the Cuban operation, and he noted that in late January 1961, following the first briefing that the Agency had given for President Kennedy's major cabinet appointees--inc1uding Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense MacNamara, and the Attorney Gene.ra1, among others--that the JCS independently prepared a plan of action for Cuba and forwarded it to the Secretary of Defense. The paper to which General Lemnitzer referred was JCSM-44-61 which recommended that an inter- departmental planning group be established and charged with defining the overall plan of action for the overthrow of the Castro Government.* Although the Chairman of the JCS apparently never got to discuss this memorandum with the Secretary of Defense, he * MEmorandum for the Secretary of Defense from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 27 Jan 1961, sub: "US Plan of Action in Cuba." 134