Editing JM/WAVE (section)

==Key Operations==
JM/WAVE’s activities were multifaceted, encompassing some of the CIA’s most ambitious and controversial covert operations during the Cold War.
===Bay of Pigs Invasion (April 1961):===
JM/WAVE’s first major operation was the Bay of Pigs invasion, a failed attempt to overthrow Castro using 1,400 Cuban exiles (Brigade 2506) trained by the CIA in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Launched on April 17, 1961, the invasion at Playa Girón was poorly planned, lacking adequate air support and U.S. military backing, as President Kennedy withheld direct intervention.

The operation, coordinated by JM/WAVE under station chief [[Theodore Shackley]] (1962–1965), though earlier led by others like William K. Harvey, was a humiliating defeat, with 114 exiles killed and 1,189 captured. The failure damaged the CIA’s reputation and strained U.S.-Cuba relations.
	◦	[[Thomas G. Clines]], a key JM/WAVE operative, was involved in training exiles and logistics, working along side Shackley and David Atlee Phillips, the station’s propaganda chief.
===Operation Mongoose (1961–1963):===
Following the Bay of Pigs, the Kennedy administration launched Operation Mongoose, a covert program to destabilize Castro through sabotage, economic disruption, and assassination plots. JM/WAVE was the operational hub, executing raids on Cuban infrastructure, infiltrating agents, and spreading anti-Castro propaganda.

The operation, ov0erseen by Robert F. Kennedy and CIA officer [[Edward Lansdale]], involved over 400 CIA officers and 2,000 Cuban exiles at JM/WAVE, with a budget of $50 million annually. Notable actions included blowing up Cuban factories, sinking ships, and plotting to assassinate Castro using methods like poisoned cigars and exploding seashells.

[[Edwin P. Wilson]], though not a core JM/WAVE figure, supplied arms and equipment through his front companies (e.g., Maritime Consulting Associates) to support such operations, reflecting his broader CIA logistics role.
===Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962):===
JM/WAVE played a critical role during the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing intelligence on Soviet missile installations in Cuba through U-2 spy plane data and agent reports. The crisis, resolved through U.S.-Soviet negotiations, curtailed JM/WAVE’s aggressive operations, as Kennedy shifted toward diplomacy.

The station’s intelligence-gathering, led by Shackley and Clines, informed U.S. strategy, though its paramilitary plans were paused during the standoff.
===Post-Mongoose Activities (1963–1968):===
After Mongoose was scaled back following Kennedy’s assassination (1963), JM/WAVE continued smaller-scale operations, including infiltration missions, radio propaganda via Radio Swan, and support for exile groups like Alpha 66 and Comandos Mambises. These efforts aimed to harass Castro’s regime but achieved limited success.

The station also monitored Cuban support for Latin American guerrilla movements, providing SIGINT and HUMINT to counter Soviet influence in the region.