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JMWAVE was the codename for a major, secret United States covert operations and intelligence gathering station operated by the CIA from 1961 until 1968. It was headquartered in Building 25 on the South Campus of the University of Miami in Miami, Florida (formerly the site of Richmond Naval Air Station). It was sometimes referred to as the CIA's "Miami Station".[1][2][3][4] JMWAVE underwent its first major development when it was established as the operations center for Task Force W, the CIA's unit dedicated to "Operation Mongoose" [2][5][6] - a US effort to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro's Communist regime.
JMWAVE also appears to have been operative in some form during the failed US-sponsored "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba in April 1961[7].
At its peak in late 1962 and early 1963 - the period of the Cuban Missile Crisis - JMWAVE was the largest CIA station in the world outside of the organization's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, with around 400 professional operatives (possibly including about 100 based in Cuba) as well as up to 15,000 Cuban exiles on its payroll or otherwise connected to the station. Exiles were trained in commando tactics, espionage and seamanship and the station supported numerous exile raids on Cuba.[1][2]
The main front company for JMWAVE was "Zenith Technical Enterprises, Inc." In addition, about 300-400 other front companies were created throughout South Florida, with a variety of "safe houses", cover businesses and other properties. With an annual budget of approx. US$50 million (in 1960s dollars; approx. US$330-40 million in 2006 dollars[8]), the station had a major impact on the economy of South Florida, creating a local economic boom - particularly in the real estate, banking and certain manufacturing sectors. It also operated a fleet of aircraft and boats - what has been described as the third largest navy in the Caribbean after the main US and Cuban navies. JMWAVE's activities were so large that its existence became widely-known open secret amongst local Florida government and law enforcement agencies.[1][2]
By 1968, JMWAVE was increasingly regarded as obsolete. There was also concern that the station would become a public embarrassment to the leaser, the University of Miami. Consequently, it was deactivated and replaced with a substantially smaller station at Miami Beach. [1]
As of 2004, the facilities on the Richmond Naval Air Station site were still used by several US government agencies, including the CIA’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service, the United States Air Force and the United States Army. Several original JMWAVE buildings were still standing.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations in Cuba, 1959-1965, Don Bohning, Potomac Books, 2005, ISBN 1574886754
- ^ a b c d e Cold War in South Florida: Historical Resource Study, Steven Hach (ed. Jennifer Dickey), National Park Service Southeast Regional Office, U.S. Department of the Interior, October 2004
- ^ "Twilight of the Assassins", Ann Louise Bardach, November 2006, The Atlantic Monthly
- ^ South Campus history page, University of Miami Libraries
- ^ Spymaster: My Life in the CIA, Theodore G. Shackley, 2005, Brassey's, ISBN 157488915X
- ^ National Security Archives interview with Samuel Halpern, George Washington University, first broadcast Nov. 29 1998 on CNN
- ^ CABLE FROM JMWAVE RE FORCED LANDING OF B-26 NBR 933, April 18th 1961, released in 1997/98 under CIA Historical Review Program, CIA Freedom of Information Act database
- ^ MeasuringWorth.com historical currency converter