1/30/1961

“JAN 30, 1961: …Jake Esterline [CIA specialist] attends a briefing given by Colonel Jack Hawkins [US Marine Corps] and members of the [deleted] PM Section to Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, Admiral Wright, General Bull, and General Barnes in preparation for the January 32 briefing of designees of the Chairman of the JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff]. The briefing, presented in a special CIA Bay of Pigs task force ‘war room,’ emphasizes that ‘the proposed strike could be conducted with no overt U.S. military support other than the provision of one LSD (landing ship dock).’ It was also emphasized that the ‘estimate of the likelihood of success was very high in terms of staying in the initial objective area long enough and in sufficient control to permit introduction of a ‘Provisional Government’ and provide a rationale for the subsequent employment of overt military force, if desired.’”

“The Bay of Pigs Invasion/Playa Giron: A Chronology of Events,” The National Security Archive, NSArchive2.gwu.edu