The Secret Sentry (55 page)

19. Memorandum, Tidwell to Deputy Director (Intelligence) and Deputy Director (Plans),
Intelligence
Support on Cuba
, March 6, 1962, p. 2, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, Document No. 0001161975, http:// www.foia.cia.gov; Draft: vol. 4,
chap. 2: The Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK Assassination Records, CIA Miscellaneous Files, box 7, Document No. 104-10302-10026,
NA, CP; Director of Central Intelligence,
Report to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on
Intelligence Community Activities Relating to the Cuban Arms Build-Up: 14 April Through 14 October
1962
, December 1962, p. 8, National Security Files: Countries: Cuba, box 61, JFKL, Boston, MA.

20. Memorandum, Lansdale to Distribution List,
Program Review by the Chief of Operations, Operation
Mongoose
, January 18, 1962, RG-59, Central Decimal File, 737.00/1-2062, NA, CP.

21. ASA,
Annual Historical Summary, U.S. Army Security Agency: Fiscal Year 1962
, p. 3, INSCOM FOIA.

22. Dr. Thomas R. Johnson,
American Cryptology During the Cold War, 1945–1989
, bk. 3,
Retrenchment
and Reform, 1972–1980
(Fort Meade: Center for Cryptologic History, 1995), p. 84, NSA FOIA; U.S. Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations,
Final Report of the Select Committee
to Study Government Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Supplementary Detailed Staff
Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans
, bk. 2, 94th Congress, 2nd session 1976, pp. 744–45, 773; U.S. House of Representatives, Government Operations Committee,
Interception of Nonverbal Communications by Federal Intelligence Agencies
, 94th Congress, 1st and 2nd sessions, 1976, pp. 104, 110–11.

23. Memorandum, Lansdale to Special Group (Augmented),
Progress OPERATION MONGOOSE
, July 11, 1962, pp. 3–4, Church Committee Files, RG-233, NA, CP; Director of Central Intelligence,
Report to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on Intelligence Community Activities
Relating to the Cuban Arms Build-Up: 14 April Through 14 October 1962
, December 1962, pp. 16, 33, National Security Files: Countries: Cuba, box 61, JFKL, Boston, MA; SC No. 12160/62-KH, untitled
CIA report on the agency’s intelligence collection effort against Cuba, December 1962, p. 4, CREST Collection, Document No.
CIA-RDP66B00560R000100100176-0, NA, CP; Chang and Kornbluh,
Cuban Missile Crisis
, p. 42. Details of the USS
Oxford
’s background and mission from Julie Alger,
A Review of the Technical Research Ship Program: 1961–1969
, undated, pp. 7, 16, 88, NSA FOIA;
USS Oxford (AG-159) Technical Research Ship History
, undated, p. 1, Ships Histories Division, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC. For Castro’s negative reaction to the
presence of the USS
Oxford
off Cuba, see “Castro Says a U.S. Ship Violated Cuban Waters,” Associated Press, February 23, 1962. A copy of this AP dispatch,
carried in the February 23, 1962, edition of the
Buffalo Eve ning News
, can be found at http://members.tripod.com/~USS _OXFORD/seastories.html.

24. Director of Central Intelligence,
Report to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on Intelligence
Community Activities Relating to the Cuban Arms Build-Up: 14 April Through 14 October
1962
, December 1962, p. 19, National Security Files: Countries: Cuba, box 61, JFKL, Boston, MA.

25. Headquarters United States Air Force, Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence,
Revisions and Additions
to S-25-62, Aerospace Forces Based in Cuba
, supplement to annex 1, sec. 1, November 1, 1962, pp. 44–48, National Security Archive, Washington, DC; Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency, SC No. 08088/63-KH,
The 1962 Soviet Arms Build-Up in Cuba
, 1963, p. 1, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP78T05439A000300130013-4, NA, CP; CIA, SC 03387/64, DD/I staff study,
Cuba 1962: Khrushchev’s Miscalculated Risk
, February 13, 1964, pp. 24–25, RG-263, entry 82, box 35, MORI DocID: 120333, NA, CP; Johnson,
American Cryptology
, bk. 2, p. 323.

26. Memorandum, Lansdale to Special Group (Augmented),
Operation Mongoose Progress
, July 11, 1962, pp. 3–4, JFK Assassination Rec ords, HSCA (RG-233), NA, CP; memorandum, OP-922Y to Secretary of the Navy,
Navy Participation in Increased SIGINT Program for Cuba
, July 19, 1962, in
NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Document Archive of Declassified Files from the Cuban
Missile Crisis
, http://www.nsa.gov/ cuba.

27. CIA, Office of Research and Reports, CIA/RR EP 60-73-S4,
Electronics Facilities in Cuba
, November 1960, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP79T01049A002100090001-8, NA, CP; CIA, Office of Research and Reports,
CIA/RR CB 62-65,
Current Support Brief: Possible Use of Military
Microwave Network in Cuba for Command-Control Purposes
, November 2, 1962, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP79T01003A001300200001-4, NA, CP; Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,
SC No. 08088/63-KH,
The 1962 Soviet Arms Build-Up in Cuba
, 1963, p. 78, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP78T05439A000300130013-4, NA, CP; CIA/ORR, SC 03387/64, DD/I staff study,
Cuba 1962: Khrushchev’s Miscalculated Risk
, February 13, 1964, map following p. 24, RG-263, entry 82, box 35, MORI DocID: 120333, NA, CP; CIA, Office of Research and
Reports, CIA/RR CB 65-8,
Intelligence Brief: Cuba Plans New Nationwide
High-Capacity Microwave System
, January 1965, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, http://www.foia.cia.gov.

28. Thomas N. Thompson,
USAFSS Per formance During the Cuban Crisis,
vol. 1,
Airborne Operations,
April–December 1962
(San Antonio, TX: USAFSS Historians Office, no date), pp. 4–6, AIA FOIA; Victor Marchetti and John D. Marks,
The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence
(New York: Laurel, 1980), p. 262.

29. Message, 191653Z, DIRNSA to CNO, July 19, 1962, and memorandum, OP-922Y to Secretary of the Navy,
Navy Participation in Increased SIGINT Program for Cuba
, July 19, 1962, both in
NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Document Archive of Declassified Files from the Cuban Missile
Crisis
, http://www.nsa.gov/cuba; memorandum, Harris to Chief of Operations,
Operation Mongoose,
End of Phase I,
July 23, 1962, p. 5, JFK Assassination Rec ords, JFK Library Files, box 23, file Special Group (Augmented) Meetings, Record
No. 176-10011-10063, NA, CP.

30. The USS
Oxford
’s operations area (OPAREA) was very small, consisting of a one-hundred-mile-long “racecourse track” along the northern coast
of Cuba between 82 degrees west longitude and 83 degrees west longitude and running roughly along latitude 23.11 degrees north
to 23.20 degrees north. The OPAREA was subdivided into five zones, numbered one through five, each twenty miles in length,
that ran from just east of Havana to just west of the port of Mariel. Message, 191653Z DIRNSA to CNO, July 19, 1962, and memorandum,
OP-922Y to Secretary of the Navy,
Navy Participation in Increased SIGINT Program for Cuba
, July 19, 1962, both in
NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Document Archive of Declassified Files from the Cuban
Missile Crisis
, http:// www.nsa.gov/ cuba;
Ship’s History: USS Oxford (AG-159) for CY 1962
, January 25, 1963, Ships Histories Division, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC;
Deck Log: USS Oxford
(AG-159)
, entries for period July 16, 1962, through July 31, 1962, Ships Histories Division, Naval Historical Center, Washington,
DC; Thomas N. Thompson,
USAFSS Performance During
the Cuban Crisis
, vol. 2,
Ground Based Operations, October–December 1962
(San Antonio, TX: USAFSS Historians Office, no date), p. 38, AIA FOIA. For monitoring the Cuban microwave radio-relay system,
see Bill Baer, “USNS Joseph E. Muller, TAG-171,” undated, http://www.asa.npoint.net/baer01.htm.

31.
USS Oxford Deck Log
, entry for July 31, 1962, Ships Histories Division, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC. For the Cuban perception of
the
Oxford
’s mission off Havana, see Fabián Es-calante,
The Secret War: CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba: 1959–62
(Melbourne: Ocean Press, 1995), pp. 138, 185.

32. Johnson,
American Cryptology
, bk. 2, p. 341; “Lieutenant General Gordon A. Blake, USAF, Is Appointed Director, NSA,”
NSA Newsletter
, August 1, 1962, p. 2; “Lt. General Gordon A. Blake to Retire on May 31,”
NSA Newsletter
, May 1965, p. 5; “In Memoriam: Lt. Gen. Gordon A. Blake, Former Director,”
NSA Newsletter
, November 1997, p. 2, all NSA FOIA.

33. NSA OH-1984-7, oral history,
Interview with Lt. General Gordon A. Blake
, April 19, 1984, p. 49, NSA FOIA.

34. Johnson,
American Cryptology
, bk. 2, p. 341; memorandum for the record,
Luncheon Meeting
with Assistant Secretary of Defense John H. Rubel
, April 9, 1963, p. 2, RG-263, CIA Reference Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP80B01676R003000020015-3, NA, CP; NSA OH-1984-7,
oral history,
Interview with Lt. General Gordon A. Blake
, April 19, 1984, p. 98–99, NSA FOIA; “Lt. General Gordon A. Blake to Retire on May 31,”
NSA Newsletter
, May 1965, p. 5, NSA FOIA.

35. SC No. 11649/62, memorandum, [deleted] to [deleted] (O/IG),
Ballistic Missile Shipments to Cuba
, November 16, 1962, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP70T00666R000100140006-4, NA, CP; SC No. 11655/62, memorandum, [deleted]
to Inspector General,
Total Cargo Tonnage
Moved to Cuba by Soviet Ships, 26 July–30 September
, November 16, 1962, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP70T00666R000100140007-3, NA, CP; SC No. 11664/62, memorandum, [deleted]
to [deleted] (O/IG),
DIA and NSA Reporting on the Cuban Arms Build-Up
, November 16, 1962, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP70T00666R000100140005-5, NA, CP. Quote from director of Central
Intelligence,
Report to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on
Intelligence Community Activities Relating to the Cuban Arms Build-Up: 14 April Through 14 October
1962
, December 1962, p. 40, National Security Files: Countries: Cuba, box 61, JFKL, Boston, MA.

36. National Indications Center,
The Soviet Bloc Armed Forces and the Cuban Crisis: A Chronology: July–
November 1962
, June 18, 1963, p. 1, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, Document No. 0001161985, http://www.foia.cia.gov; Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency, SC No. 08088/63-KH,
The 1962 Soviet Arms Build-Up in Cuba
, 1963, p. 8, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP78T05439A000300130013-4, NA, CP.

37. For SIGINT reporting on the surge in Soviet shipping traffic to Cuba, see the following NSA reports: message, “Unusual
Number of Soviet Passenger Ships en Route to Cuba,” July 24, 1962; message, “Possible Reflections of Soviet/Cuban Trade Adjustments
Noted in Merchant Shipping,” July 31, 1962; message, “Further Unusual Soviet/Cuban Trade Relations Recently Noted,” August
7, 1962; message, “Status of Soviet Merchant Shipping to Cuba,” August 23, 1962; message, “Further Information on Soviet/Cuban
Trade,” August 31, 1962, all in
NSA and
the Cuban Missile Crisis: Document Archive of Declassified Files from the Cuban Missile Crisis
, http://www.nsa.gov/cuba. For CIA analysis of the SIGINT reporting on Soviet shipping to Cuba, see memorandum, Assistant
Director, Research and Reports, to Deputy Director (Intelligence),
Further Analysis of Bloc and Western Shipping Calling at Cuban Ports
, September 11, 1962, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, Document No. 0000307720, http://www.foia.cia.gov; appendix 1, enclosure
to OP-922N memo to SECDEF Ser SSO/00323 of 26 Oct 1962, in Chief of Naval Operations,
The Naval Quarantine of Cuba, 1962
, Post ’46 Command File, box 10, Operational Archives, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC; National Indications Center,
The Soviet
Bloc Armed Forces and the Cuban Crisis: A Discussion of Readiness Measures
, July 15, 1963, p. 4, RG-263, entry 82, box 28, MORI DocID: 107300, NA, CP.

38. Steven Zaloga, “The Missiles of October: Soviet Ballistic Missile Forces During the Cuban Missile Crisis,”
Journal of Soviet Military Studies
, vol. 3, no. 2 (June 1990): p. 315.

39. SC No. 11664/62, memorandum, [deleted] to [deleted] (O/IG),
DIA and NSA Reporting on the
Cuban Arms Build-Up
, November 16, 1962, p. 1, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP70T00666R000100140005-5, NA, CP; CIA, Inspector General,
Inspector General’s Survey of
Handling of Intelligence Information During the Cuban Arms Build-Up
, November 20, 1962, pp. 8– 9, CREST Collection, Document No. CIA-RDP80B01676R001800060005-4, NA, CP.

40. John A. McCone,
Memorandum on Cuba
, August 20, 1962, p. 1, RG-263, entry 25, box 1, folder 5, NA, CP.

41. Memorandum for the file,
Discussion in Secretary Rusk’s Office at 12 o’Clock, 21 August 1962
, August 21, 1962, RG-263, entry 25, box 1, NA, CP;
Memorandum of the Meeting with the President
, August 22, 1962, RG-263, entry 25, box 1, NA, CP; memorandum,
Soviet MRBMs in Cuba
, October 31, 1962, p. 1, RG-263, entry 25, box 1, NA, CP.

42. NSA, COMINT report,
Status of Soviet Merchant Shipping to Cuba
, August 23, 1962, in
NSA and
the Cuban Missile Crisis: Document Archive of Declassified Files from the Cuban Missile Crisis
, http://www.nsa.gov/cuba. See also CIA, TDCS-3/520,583, information report,
Arrival of Soviet
Ships and Prefabricated Concrete Forms
, August 23, 1962, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, Document No. 0001264810, http:// www.foia.cia.gov.

43. CIA, TDCS-3/651,139, information report,
Arrival of Men and Equipment at the Ports of Trinidad
and Casilda
, August 24, 1962, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, Document No. 0001264817, http://www.foia.cia.gov.