Joint Operational Problems in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Abstract
Historians and political scientists continue to study the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 as a pivotal example of crisis diplomacy and national decisionmaking. The conventional version of that crisis may be summarized as follows: although there were unconfirmed reports of Soviet offensive weapons in Cuba, the Kennedy Administration was surprised and shocked when a U-2 reconnaissance flight photographed medium-range ballistic missile sites in Cuba on 14 October 1962. After a week of secret deliberations in the White House, the President announced on the evening of 23 October both the existence of the Soviet threat and the imposition of a naval quarantine. Finally, after a further week of tension and several moments at the brink of war, Nikita Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in return for a US promise not to invade Cuba and (according to some accounts) an additional promise to remove missiles from Turkey. More recently, revisionists such as James G. Hershberg have suggested that long before the missiles were discovered, the Kennedy Administration was supporting a renewed effort by Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro's regime. Unlike the 1961 disaster at the Bay of Pigs, this 1962 plan, code-named "Mongoose," allegedly was to be accompanied by conventional American air and ground attacks on Cuba. Quite apart from the alleged Mongoose Plan, the crisis began much earlier for the Defense Department, and continued for at least a month after Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles. These prolonged and serious military preparations tend to support both Hershberg and the Soviet interpretation of a "Caribbean Crisis" that began with the Bay of Pigs invasion. More important, however, the American contingency operation in connection with the Cuban missile crisis was the largest of the Cold War. As such, this incident illuminates continuing questions of joint operations and contingency planning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA527985
Entities
People
- Jonathan M. House
Organizations
- United States Army War College