In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

Disaster [223]
Number Monthly Salary
Rank of men in U.S. Dollars
Private 198 $ 500
Sargeant 80 650
Second Lieutenant 15 800
First Lieutenant 3 IOOO
Captain 3 1400
Major 2500
The gross monthly salary would be s172,700, or s863,500 for five
months.
An additional monthly separation allowance would be paid at the
rate of s100 per wife and s50 for each child, grossing s6o,ooo per
month, or s300,ooo for five months.
Travel was estimated at s200,ooo; medical costs, s50,ooo; bonuses,
sroo,ooo; and subsistence, s75,ooo.
Colonel Castro himself would receive a commission of s25,ooo
(plus whatever other benefits he squeezed out of the rest of the
budget).
The recruiting began slowly, too slowly it seemed to CIA officers
who were watching the FNLA fleeing in northern Angola. We had
believed Castro's early claims that he had six hundred men waiting
for his call. As weeks went by he explained with some embarrassment
that it was difficult to work effectively over the Christmas
holidays. And he had to develop the infrastructure to put together
the small army.
When Castro wanted additional funds we balked, demanding to
see a list of names of the recruits and an accounting of how the
sno,ooo had been expended. Castro argued that he had been promised
a free hand and was obligated by the contract only to deliver
three-hundred men to Kinshasa. We backed down about the accounting,
and Castro eventually provided the names of a few dozen
recruits. The first man, a sergeant, arrived in Kinshasa January 1,
1976, followed by twelve others on January 28. By then the FNLA
was collapsing across the border and Castro was told to suspend the
recruiting. The thirteen men were returned to Europe without seeing
Angola.
Simultaneously a third mercenary force of about 150 British and
Americans was being assembled by Roberto himself. No memos
were written about this program at CIA headquarters and no cables