Carl Jenkins at the Bay of Pigs

 CARL JENKINS AT THE BAY OF PIGS

"In September, 1963 Jenkins wrote a general memo describing Artime's operational philosophy and concepts. This summarized his views about commando teams, infiltration teams, and guerrilla actions. The memo addresses military operations as Artime conceives them to be organized and conducted under a single organization (AM/WORLD) in which the Cubans can have faith. In a section on Commandos, there is discussion of the use of abductions and assassinations targeted against Cuban G-2 intelligence informants, agents, officers, and foreign Communists to raise the morale of people inside Cuba.'"

[Jenkins AMWORLD Memo-  RIF104-10308-10080.pdf - billkelly3@gmail.com - Gmail]

"In December, 1964, Jenkins prepared a summary report of Quintero's visit to Europe for a dialogue with Rolando Cubela [AMLASH] in preparation for further meetings with Artime. The goal of this meeting was to develop contacts with a group inside Cuba which was capable of "eliminating Fidel Castro and of seizing and holding Havana, at least for an appreciable time that would be sufficient to justify recognition."'

"There seems to be no doubt that Jenkins was indeed involved in a very special project in 1963-64 just as the CV Wheaton provided to the ARRB indicates. It should be noted that these AM/ WORLD activities were completely segmented from JM/WAVE and communications from Jenkins and Hecksher were not run through JM/WAVE. In fact the AM/ WORLD group operated its own facility in Miami (cryptonym 'LORK')..."

"There seems some reason to at least speculate that both Quintero (who became second in command to Artime) and Rodriguez (who also joined Artime's offshore autonomous effort in 1963) may have been associated with CIA paramilitary officer Carl Jenkins before the Bay of Pigs. It also seems possible that Rodriguez may have been involved with the assassination project described in the NPIC memo and that the project was overseen by Carl Jenkins - this being the operation described by the NPIC personnel."

[ NPIC Memo on Jenkins - https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=104139&relPageId=14 ]

"It appears that Carl Jenkins' paramilitary activities in support of Cuban operations were exactly as described to Gene Wheaton and exactly as summarized in the Jenkins CV submitted to the ARRB. There is also no doubt that Jenkins was very closely associated with Quintero in this period, as described by Wheaton. There are two books in print that also confirm these descriptions of Jenkins."

"In The Death Merchant: The Rise and Fall of Edwin P. Wilson, author Joseph Goulden presents information from the CIA officer whom Quintero went to when he became suspicious of an assassination assignment being promoted to Quintero and other exiles by Ed Wilson. The officer (given the pseudonym "Brad Rockford") talks about entering the CIA on detached duty from the Marines, being career paramilitary, and running CIA paramilitaries out of JM/WAVE. It seems clear that Rockford was in fact Carl Jenkins."

[BK Notes: Now we know Joe Goulden from his work as Philadelphia Inquirer Washington correspondent covering the assassination of President Kennedy, egging on Asst. Dallas DA William Alexander to indict Oswald as being part of a communist conspiracy, as detailed in Vincent Bugliosi's Reclaiming History, and with Hugh Aynesworth and Lonne Hudkins, making up the false story that Oswald was an FBI informant. Goulden was also a media asset of David Atlee Phillips and is currently responsible for Phillips papers.]

"In his book Manhunt: The Incredible Pursuit of a CIA Agent Turned Terrorist, Peter Maas mentions Carl Jenkins by name as the case officer for Quintero prior to the Bay of Pigs. Quintero was part of an advance team sent in before the invasion by Jenkins. After the landing failed, he hid out in Cuba for six weeks before making his way back to Florida. Afterwards Clines would assume a case officer role for Quintero, who would go on make to a number of sabotage and assassination missions into Cuba."

"It seems worth pointing out that Jenkins' name has never been mentioned in any of the numerous works on the Bay of Pigs, the Miami station, or the secret war against Castro. Prior to this investigation of Wheaton's ARRB communications, Carl Jenkins had a far lower profile than even David Morales."

"Interestingly, Gene Wheaton recommended that William Law read these books in a 2005 interview. Wheaton suggested that they would describe the individuals he had been associating with or had source information on……" 

[BK Notes: I believe the above was written by Larry Hancock, but as far as I can tell it is 100% accurate, other than Jenkins name "has never been mentioned in any of the numerous works on the Bay of Pigs," as demonstrated below.]

From Peter Wyden: Bay of Pigs - The Untold Story (Simon & Schuster, 1979)

It has been reported above that Carl Jenkins is not mentioned in any of the published text on the Bay of Pigs, but in fact, he is mentioned in Peter Wyden’s Bay of Pigs- The Untold Story, if only by his first name, but there is no doubt that it is a reference to Carl Jenkins.

(p. 35) Assembling the Cuban Exile Fighters

Jose Basulto was assigned identification number 2522in the Cuban force. It made him proud and very happy. The CIA wanted Castro’s intelligence to think that the force was much larger than it was, so the numbers began with 2500. Even years afterward, the men with low numbers were the elite among patriots; the lower your number, the more honored was your badge of courage.

Basulto was impatient for important action. A devout Catholic, he had left Boston College to return to his native Havana so he could join the Federation Catholica, the Catholic underground organization. He found only great confusion in the underground and no action. Basulto wanted to be part of something big. He was twenty, wavy-haired, handsome, with a sense of humor that appreciated the ridiculous. He had style, even something of a swagger. He knew that his brains made him special, and he liked being special.

Now it was May 21, and a power boat with a crew of American civilians was taking him from Fort Myers, Florida, to tiny Useppa Island, a resort off the southwest coast. He was one of twenty men who were going to be trained as radio operators to be infiltrated into Cuba. He did not trust the other men, because some were known Batista supporters…..Besides they were going to be infiltrators, a dangerous and important mission. If caught, they would be shot as spies. And if infiltrators were special, the radio men were particularly special. They carried code books, and, unlike the ordinary infiltrators, they were not considered expendable. They were the lifeline between the resistance and the Americans. Basulto loved the role.

Nobody mentioned the CIA. The deserted island, where Jose and the other infiltrators were comfortably settled into a rustic golf club, was supposed to have been leased by a “wealthy” Cuban from Miami, Freddie Gordie….

“Carl,” who was in charge, had a military bearing and walked with a limp. He was a retired Marine and knew all about guerrilla warfare.

“Max,” the psychiatrist, gave Basulto a live detector test,….

The radio training was run by a businesslike American instructors. Baulto was initiated into the intricacies of cryptography and worked with two types of radios. They were more complicated and lower powered than modern units and supposedly more difficult to detect. The Cuban operators were told that when they went into action, each man’s call sings would be unique and would be changed every hour. Jose’s training would continue for more than nine months. It wasn’t something exciting, but it was clearly leading to something important….

….Shortly after midnight on July 21 a cable went to Havana: “Possible removal of top three leaders is receiving serious consideration at HQs.” …..

(p. 75) Infiltrators Move In

On February 5, the young ex-collegian Jose Basulito and fourteen other infiltrators who had completed special training in Panama were assembled for a “mission briefing.”

The instructions were disappointingly vague. The men were told they would be spirited into Cuba to gather intelligence and train saboteurs.

Their personal instructions were even less specific. One of Basulito’s friends was simply ordered to “raise hell in Havana.” Jose was to proceed to Oriente province. He gathered that “they wanted to have an agent in Oriente.” As his base he picked the main city, Santiago de Cuba, where he had friends and relatives.

The security precautions were formidable. Escorted by “Carl,” the men were flown by chartered DC-3 to Virginia. They landed in what appeared to be a Navy base and were issued civilian clothes with all the labels removed. A twin-engine Aero Commander took them to Baltimore, where Basulto met his case officer “Tom,” in a downtown hotel. Together the two men flew to Boston on a commercial flight. The idea was to build a cover story for Jose: he was to be able to document that he was kicked out of Boston College. Tom visited school officials, who said they would cooperate, and then instructed Jose to fly to New Orleans, where he had relatives. The Mardi Gras was on, and Jose had a marvelous time.

Eventually he flew to Miami and boarded a Cubana Airlines flight to Havana. His story was that he was going home to continue his studies because he was fed up with American priests in Boston. Nobody even questioned him.

Maybe “Carl” had been too pessimistic after all. Jose kept thinking about how the CIA operative had shanken his head gloomily in Baltimore and said, “If this goddamned operation comes off, it’ll be a goddamned miracle.” So far, though, the CIA had been meticulous and clever. If Jose had been picked up and tourtured, he could of revealed little of value to the enemy. ….