190. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to the Joint Chiefs of Staff0
SUBJ
- Cuban Contingency Plans
On Saturday, 29 April, Admiral Burke and I reviewed with the President Contingency Plan 11 for the invasion of Cuba by U.S. troops. As you will recall, the Plan was designed to minimize U.S. and Cuban casualties, minimize the time required for subjugation of Cuba, and maximize the assurance of a successful operation. The Plan provided for the use of approximately 60,000 troops, excluding naval and air units, and required 25 days between the date of decision and D-Day. It was estimated that complete control of the island could be obtained within 8 days, although it was recognized that guerrilla forces would continue to operate beyond the 8th day in the Escambray Mountains and Oriente Province. The land, sea, and air forces required for the invasion were to be secured from existing forces—no additions to existing forces, with the possible exception of a few merchant ships, would be required prior to D-Day.
The President concurred in the general outline of the Plan.
Please assign to the Joint Staff and CINCLANT the responsibility for preparing the detailed instructions necessary to implement the Plan. [Page 406] These instructions should be designed to minimize the lead time required, and maximize security during the period between the decision and the invasion.
I want to repeat again that work on these plans should not be interpreted as an indication that U.S. military action against Cuba is probable.
- Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OASD (C) Files: FRC 71 A 2896, Cuba 381 (Sensitive). Top Secret; Sensitive.↩
- Not found. This was an apparent revision of the Outline Plan sent by the Joint Chiefs to McNamara in JCSM-278-61, Document 178.↩
- Printed from a copy that indicates that McNamara signed the original.↩