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wouldn't open, the missions flown from October through the end of December 1960 -- principally propaganda drops -- were successful, averaging about one a week during that period. Marine Col. Jack Hawkins, Chief of WH/4/PM, however, was very dissatisfied with the air operations. On 4 January 1961, Hawkins claimed that for the ten B-26's which were available to JMADD, there were only five Cuban pilots of "high technical competence" and six others were nof questionable pro- ficiency." For the seven C-54's available to MADD and for the four C-46's, Hawkins claimed that there was "one qualified [Cuban] C-54 crew on hand at this time and three C-46 crews." On the basis of these estimates Hawkins made a strong appeal for the employ- ment of US contract pilots in his memorandum to Jake Esterline, Chief, WH/4. 68/ From the first of the year until the middle of March 1961 there was a significant increase in the number of air drop operations that were launched out of JMADD. All three types of aircraft available to the Brigade were employed -- B-26's, C-46's, and C-54's. As the number of overflights increased, so did the ground opposition in terms of small arms and - 143 -