Douglas A-26 Invader the Cuban government. On 15 April 1961, crewed by Cuban exiles, eight B-26s of the FAL ("Fuerza Aérea de Liberación") attacked three Cuban airfields, in an attempt to destroy FAR combat aircraft on the ground. On 17 April 1961, FAL B-26s supported the seaborne Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. The conflict ended on 19 April, after the loss of nine FAL B-26s, 10 Cuban exiles and 4 American aircrew in combat. The FAR flew B-26Cs in the conflict, one of which was shot down by a CIA 'command ship' with the loss of 4 Cuban aircrew. The CIA contracted
Special Activities Division Girón" in Cuba), was an unsuccessful attempt by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba and overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy assumed the presidency of the United States. The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the exile-combatants in three days. The sea-borne invasion force landed on April 17, and fighting lasted until April 19, 1961. CIA Paramilitary Operations Officers Grayston Lynch and William "Rip" Robertson led the first assault on the beaches, and supervised