Cuban Missile Crisis in Florida, warned on the Senate floor that the Soviet Union may be constructing a missile base in Cuba. He charged the Kennedy administration of covering up a major threat to the US, thereby starting the crisis. Air Force General Curtis LeMay presented a pre-invasion bombing plan to Kennedy in September, and spy flights and minor military harassment from US forces at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base were the subject of continual Cuban diplomatic complaints to the US government. The first consignment of R-12 missiles arrived on the night of September 8, followed by a second on September 16. The R-12
577th Strategic Missile Squadron dispersed launch sites comprised the missile squadron. In August 1962, the squadron was the first to place an Atlas F missile on alert status. In October, all 12 missiles were put on alert status as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Atlas F was the final and most advanced version of the Atlas ICBM and was stored in a vertical position inside underground concrete and steel silos. When stored, the Atlas F sat atop an elevator. If a missile was placed on alert, it was fueled with RP-1 (kerosene) liquid fuel, which could be stored inside the missile