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Recruitment of Cuban aircrews was the responsi- bility of the FRD in the Miami area. Candidates given first consideration were those refugees who had been members of the Air Force, Cubana Air Lines personnel, private pilots, and former armed services personnel. Some pilots had exited Cuba without any problem; but others, such as Eduardo (Eddy) Ferrer who commandeered a Cubana DC-3 at gun point and landed it in Miami, had corne out the hard way. 12/ Once the contact was made through FRO channels, then the Agency's represen- tatives got into the act of selecting those who would go into the air training program. In discussing the recruitment business, Billy B. Campbell, who initiated the air training program at JMADD, stated that as early as May 1960: I was assigned another name (Billy \ Carpenter) and was asked to go down to Miami and recruit the initial Cubans for the air training effort. Our goal then was to recruit pilots, mechanics, or any personnel that we thought were needed in association with setting up the airbase and initiating training. I met a Navy Lt. Commander and we set up in a motel in Coral Gables and inter- . viewed and recruited the first 75 or 76 pilots, engineers, and mechanics We were told where to go, and people would be fed to us .•. We almost blew - 104 -