0 - The Black Vault

E
THE BOM CORPORAT!ON
=oDiiizaLi'un of reserve components to meet other US global military commitmtnts.,
To meet such a contingency the Army Staff held thaLt
it would be necessary to call up the Army
Reserves and National Guard, In short we [the Army
Staff] feit that the operation should not be attempted
unless the country was put on virtually a war footing.5/
V
in October of 1961 contingency plans calling for the use of SEATO
fo-ces to secure South Vietnamese borders were developed. Planning emphasized
tactical responses to localized and situational requirements. The
plans called for the deployment of approximately one SEATO ground force
division to South Vietnam as well as command and control communications -
electronics support.6/ In the event that North Vietnamese forces intervened,
the plan called for an increase of SEATO forces to 12 divisions,
seven Regimental Combat Teams and five battalions,
the enlarged SEATC force wp
The US contribution to
to have consisted of two Army divisions, cie
Marine division/wing team and five USAF tzctical squadrons.
Activation of
this plan would have necessitated the use of a CONUS Army division, Imp'ementation
would have necessitated the mobilization of one reserve division
plus other appropriate forces to mainta 4 n the active strategic reserve. 7/
Contingency planning is discussed in greater detail in Chapter l
of this volume.
3. The Bay of Pigs Fiasco and the Berlin Crisis: Reason to
Mobilize
In
the closing days of the Eisenhower administration the US
severed diplomatic relations with Cuba,
but the presence of a communist
satellite ninety miles from the Florida coast was a source of constant
irritation. In April 1961, a band of CIA-asqisted exiles launched a poorly
conceived invasion at the Bay of Pigs with limited air but no naval gurfire
support. When the Cuban people failed to rise up and join the invaders,
the operatiun collapsed and a large number of the invading force was taken
prisoner., The failure of this ill-fated US-sponsored operation did much to
damage US prestige, and, conversely enhanced Fidel Castro's stature. The
4-6
4