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Cuba - USSR Brigade
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Cuba - USSR Brigade
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Office of the Chief of Staff Files
Hamilton Jordan's Confidential Files
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Cuba
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Cuba-USSR Brigade
Folder Citation: Collection: Office of the Chief of Staff Files; Series:
Hamilton Jordan's Confidential Files; Folder: Cuba-USSR Brigade;
Container 34a
To See Complete Finding Aid:
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/findingaids/Chief_of St
aff.pdf
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE
WITHDRAWAL SHEET (PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES)
FORM OF
DOCUMENT
CORRESPONDENTS OR TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
report
Cuba--USSR brigade
9/18/79
A
Sanitized sersion and a/8/94
FILE LOCATION
Chief of Staff/Jordan/Confidential File/Cuba--USSR Brigade
RESTRICTION CODES
(A) Closed by Executive Order 12356 governing access to national security information.
(B) Closed by statute or by the agency which originated the document.
(C) Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in the donor's deed of gift.
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
GSA FORM 7122 (REV. 5-82)
entral
intelligence
SANITIZED
8/29/94 C/A HRE MR-NLC-94-25
E.O. 12356, Sec. 3.4
PER BY & NARS. DATE 9/22/94
Updated Reoor from
Cround F.
Brigadeln Cuba
Interagency/Intelligence Memo Andum
Memorandum to Holders
Tob Secret:
UPDATED REPORT ON
SOVIET GROUND FORCES BRIGADE IN CUBA*
PREFACE
This memorandum is a followup to the Interagency Intelligence
Memorandum, "Possible Presence of Soviet Ground Forces in Cuba,"
that was published on 19 July 1979. This memorandum is based on
data, some of which
has been reexamined or collected since then. It is not a definitive
study of the origins and evolution of the Soviet ground forces bri-
gade in Cuba. Further collection and analyses are continuing.
This memorandum to holders of the 19 July 1979 IIM, "Possible Pres-
ence of Soviet Ground Forces in Cuba," was prepared under the aus-
pices of the National Intelligence Officer for USSR and Eastern
Europe, National Foreign Assessment Center. It was coordinated
within the Central Intelligence Agency; with the Bureau of Intelli-
gence and Research, Department of State; with the Defense Intelli-
gence Agency; with the National Security Agency; and with the in-
telligence organizations of the Departments of the Army, the Navy,
and the Air Force. Information available as of 1700 EDT on 18
September 1979 was used in the preparation of this memorandum.
Review On
18 Sep 1999
Derived From Multiple
i
TopiSecre
Too Secret
SUMMARY
A Soviet ground forces combat unit--called a brigade by the
Soviets--has been in Cuba since at least the mid-1970s. It is pos-
sible that the unit or its precursors have been there since the
early 1960s as a residual of the 1962 Soviet troop presence. The
brigade consists of motorized rifle, tank, and artillery battalions,
plus various other combat support and service support elements.
The brigade probably has a strength of some 2,600 men, although the
unit might have additional support elements that could raise its
strength to 3,000 or even somewhat higher. We have insufficient
information to determine the brigade's mission. We believe the
most likely mission is to provide a small but concrete Soviet
commitment to Castro, implying a readiness to defend Cuba and
his regime. Another mission, particularly for the elements of the
brigade stationed at Lourdes, may be to provide security for Soviet
facilities. There is no evidence indicating that the Soviet unit
has participated in training Cuban personnel or units. While it
cannot be excluded that the Soviet unit has been used for demon-
strations of Soviet military tactics and techniques to Cuban ob-
servers, there is no evidence from
that this is the case.
1
Top Secre
Top Secret
DISCUSSION
Introduction
This IIM sets forth what we now know about the presence of
Soviet combat troops in Cuba based on recently acquired information
and on older data reinterpreted in light of current analytical
judgments.
A 19 July IIM, "Possible Presence of Soviet Ground Forces in
Cuba," concluded, after a review of
data gathered
over several years, that a Soviet ground forces brigade was possibly
stationed in Cuba, but that its size, location(s) and mission
were uncertain. Since then, the Intelligence Community has sub-
stantially increased its attention to the Soviet military in Cuba.
intelligence collection efforts
against Cuba have been augmented. Various intelligence agencies
have established working groups to assemble and examine data on
Soviet activities there.
The heightened intelligence collection and analysis effort
has confirmed that a Soviet military unit, called a brigade by the
Soviets (and, on one occasion, by the Cubans
), is in Cuba. The collection effort has provided data on
the organization, strength, and locations of the unit, as well as
some information on its history. Thus far, however, we have not
been able to determine what its current mission may be, or exactly
how long the brigade or elements of it have been in Cuba. It is
possible that the brigade or its precursors may date as far back
as 1962.
Recent Evidence
In April and July 1979, in support of the production of an
IIM assessing the overall Cuban-Soviet military relationship, the
National Security Agency published several summary reports on Soviet
ground forces organization and activities in Cuba. In addition to
ambiguous references to a "brigade"
reported instances of small-
scale Soviet tactical training that took place over a three-year
period beginning in July 1976. Taken together, in July 1979,
to the
presence or Soviet ground forces units in Cupa, subordinated to a
Soviet brigade command, and consisting of one tank battalion, one,
and probably two, motorized rifle battalions, a multiple rocket
launcher battalion, as well as other combat and service support
elements.
2
Top
Secret
Top
Secret
during the first two weeks of August.
resulted in evidence of
small-scale Soviet tactical training.
enabled us to conclude for the first time with a high
degree of confidence that it was actually Soviet, and not Cuban,
units
There was enough equipment for one tank battalion, a motorized
rifle company, two howitzer batteries, two multiple rocket launcher
batteries, three antitank missile batteries, and elements of a mortar
battery. In addition, there were enough tents in the bivouac to
accommodate a full complement of personnel for these units.
Most of the
equipment
was at Santiago de
las Vegas, a garrison facility of sufficient size to accommodate
most of the units subordinate to the brigade.
3
Ton Secret*
STATEMENTS
EXP
Top-Secret:
wore uniforms that had no insignia and were distinctly different
from Cuban uniforms--were frequently in Santiago de las Vegas or
Managua in civilian clothes either shopping or having a night on the
town.
a Soviet ground
forces brigade has been in Cuba since at least 1964. The unit was
reportedly well equipped with tanks, armored personnel carriers,
and other equipment, and the equipment was kept in sheds, presumably
to prevent it from being identified. The soldiers assigned to the
brigade received six months' training before being sent to Cuba,
spent one year there, and served their final six months' duty in the
USSR.
the mission of the unit is not to train Cubans. Subsequently,
corroborating the existence
since at least 1967 or such a Soviet ground forces combat unit in
Cuba.
Earlier Intelligence
On the basis of a review of archival material, we believe that
the Soviets may have maintained ground forces units in some form in
Cuba since 1962, although we cannot confirm this as yet. Soviet
ground forces units--numbering between 4,000 and 7,500 men organized
in highly mobile armored combat groups--were deployed primarily at
four locations in Cuba between August and October 1962. In October
1963, we estimated that by then most Soviet ground forces personnel
had been withdrawn from these four main camps. The Soviets remain-
ing were then judged to be no longer organized as combat groups but
were believed to be involved in training Cuban units. A recently
initiated, but still incomplete, review of photography suggests,
however, that elements of a Soviet ground forces unit may have re-
mained at the Santiago garrison since the fall of 1962.
In light of
recent evidence and retrospective analysis, these units were prob-
ably elements of the Soviet brigade or its precursors. The force
consisted of a headquarters, a tank battalion, and two infantry
battalions. The formation's headquarters were indicated to be at
the approximate location of the Santiago de las Vegas garrison.
4
Tob Secret
Top Secret:
to Soviet ground forces involved in exercises and training activity,
and since October 1975, periodically to a "brigade." These were
regarded in the Community at the time as consistent with the known
Soviet military training and advisory presence in Cuba. (TS U)
The Brigade's Organization and Strength
A synthesis of the
intelligence confirms that a Soviet ground forces brigade 1S 111
Cuba, and suggests that its headquarters is located near Santiago de
las Vegas. Available information indicates the brigade consists
of four maneuver battalions one tank and three motorized rifle-
plus combat support elements, including one multiple rocket launcher
battalion and a field artillery battalion, and service support
elements. If the brigade were fully manned, it would have some
2,600 men. The brigade could include more small combat support
or combat service support units that could push its strength to
3,000 men or even somewhat higher.
We believe that the Soviet brigade is at or near its full
personnel strength.
Mission
the most likely mission is to
provide a small but concrete Soviet commitment to Castro,
thus implying a readiness to defend Cuba and his regime. *
Another mission--particularly for the elements of the
brigade stationed at Lourdes--may be to provide security
for Soviet facilities.
*
The Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Department of
the Army, believes the most likely mission to be security for
present and future Soviet facilities. If a Soviet commitment
to defend Cuba were the principal mission, the Soviets would
more likely have advertised this unit's presence, rather than
deliberately conceal it.
5
Top Secret
Top Secret
-- The Soviet brigade lacks the air and sea lift capability
required to give it a power projection role. In any case,
we believe it is highly unlikely that the Soviets view
such a mission as militarily and politically plausible.
-- While the brigade or its precursor elements may have had
some role in training Cubans in the 1960s, there is no
evidence that this has been the case in recent years. The
apparent lack of communications between elements of the
brigade while on exercises and Cuban army elements, and
evidence that Soviet and Cuban elements make separate
use of the San Pedro training area, strongly suggest that
the Soviet unit does not train Cuban personnel or units.
also indicates that the unit does not conduct training
operations with Cubans. Moreover, known Soviet training
units elsewhere- that is, MAAG missions--usually consist
largely of officers, and it is unlikely that such
an officer-heavy group would train as an integral Soviet
unit or that it would, or could, exercise in the way that
we have observed the Soviets exercise at San Pedro. While
it cannot be excluded that Cuban military personnel have
observed Soviet exercises as a demonstration of militarv
tactics and techniques,
-- We believe that direct collaboration with Cuban personnel
in training efforts today is primarily the function of
the personnel of the Soviet military advisory mission,
which appears to us to be an entity separate from the
brigade.
6
Too
Secret