The Executive Administrative Assistant answered it and then whispered to the Director, "Colonel Felter is outside, Sir."

"Shit," the Director said, then, "OK, OK."

"Ask Colonel Felter to come in, please," the Executive Administrative Assistant said.

Felter, in a baggy gray suit, came into the room.

"Good morning, Sandy," the Director said. "Glad you could make it. Pull up a chair." He gestured to one of the empty leather-upholstered chairs at the table.

"Good morning, Sir," Felter said, sat down, pulled one of the stainless steel thermos jugs to him, and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"You just sitting in, Sandy? Or is there something particular on your mind?" the Director asked. "You want some cream for that coffee?"

"No, thank you," Felter said. "Did you get to the Congo yet?"

"Haven't got to anything yet," the Director said. "So we'll start with the Congo." His Executive Administrative Assistant leaned forward in her chair and went through the stack of folders so she could pull out the Congo file for him.

One of the men sitting in the chairs along the wall stood up, went to the chair at the end of the conference table, took a thick sheath of papers from his briefcase, laid them on the table, and then put the briefcase on the floor beside him. He was the African Desk Officer.

"You know Tommy, of course, Sandy?" the Director asked.

"Sure do," Felter said.

"You want me to go directly to the Congo, Mr. Director?" Spottswood J. Thomas II, the African Desk Officer asked. His area of responsibility was the entire African continent.

The Director nodded. He was searching through the African folder for the material dealing with the Congo.

"I would guess that Colonel Felter is interested in the activity in Central Africa, around Lake Tanganyika-" Spottswood J. Thomas II began.

"Particularly interested, Tommy," the Director interrupted.

"We all have learned that Colonel Felter is interested in everything."

Felter smiled. He admired the Director, and by and large had a good relationship with him. But the Director was human, and he did not like Felter's presidential authority to know whatever the CIA knew, nor his responsibility to tell the President when and how he disagreed with a CIA assessment of a situation and its proposal to deal with it.

"To sum up," Spottswood began, "on the night of 14-15 June, a rather motley force of Africans, the majority of them members of the Maniema tribe and numbering between two and three hundred, took over the Force Publique police station in Albertville. . . the seat of municipal government, as it were. The only Americans in the area, aside from missionaries in the countryside, were employees of Unit Rig, who were there for the purpose of assembling mining trucks. They heard about what was happening somehow and managed to get out by air.

"The best information we have is that the leader of this force is a man named Nicholas Olenga, a self-appointed lieutenant colonel of something he calls the People's Liberation Army.

"Efforts by the Congolese Army, called the ANC, for Armee Nationale Congolaise, have so far been unable to suppress the minor rebellion. I say minor because there is no, repeat no, information that they have been armed by the Chinese communists in Bujumbura or anywhere else. The ANC is having a hard time getting its act together, primarily, I believe, because of the distances involved and the very bad, practically nonexistent transportation network. The rebellion, if it can be described by that word, pending the arrival of the ANC to put it down, has spread. They have moved into Kasongo and Kindu.

"A thumbnail assessment would be that there's nothing that can be done for the moment until the ANC gets in gear, but that until that happens the situation is by no means desperate. The worst possible scenario is that the Chinese communists may decide to arm this Olenga. I consider that unlikely, and every day that doesn't happen is a day closer to the time when, inevitably, the ANC will resume control." Spottswood J. Thomas II looked at the Director and then at Felter.

"How does that fit in with what you have, Sandy?" the Director asked.

"'Two companies of the ANC met Olenga's force on the Kasongo Road," Felter said, "and broke and ran, leaving their weapons-mostly FN 7mm assault rifles-behind. So they have, four hundred automatic rifles. When they got to Kasongo, they rounded up and executed a little over two hundred Congolese who had either worked in some capacity for the government and/or who had some education and could read and write. By beating them to death with clubs and rifle butts."

"Where did you hear that?" Spotts wood J. Thomas II asked incredulously.

Felter ignored him.

"Then, on vehicles he requisitioned in Kasongo," Felter went on, "Lieutenant Colonel Olenga moved on Kindu. His column ran over another ANC unit-this one a more or less reinforced company-and took Kindu with no opposition. There he repeated his rounding up of the educated and/or of the local bureaucrats, another two hundred of them, and beat them to death. In Kindu, having acquired the uniform of a Belgian lieutenant general somewhere-including a Sam Browne belt and dress saber - he promoted himself to lieutenant general and announced his intention to march on both Bukavu and Stanleyville, where it is his announced intention to kill all the Americans he finds and establish a people's democracy."

"Where, may I ask, are you getting all this, Colonel?" Spottswood J.Thomas II asked.

"I don't think he's going to answer that, Tommy," the Director said. "But maybe he'll tell me how he would rate his source?"

"Sources," Felter said, holding up his index finger, signifying 1. Intelligence sources are rated one through five, with one indicating the most reliable.

"Ouch," the Director said. "What do you thinks going to happen?"

"I think they are going to take Stanleyville unless something stops them," Felter said. "And who knows after Stanleyville?"

"I can't accept that, Colonel," Spotts wood J.Thomas II said.

Felter shrugged.

"They are not being supplied by the Chinese communists," Thomas argued. "I therefore rate their chances of moving as far as Stanleyville as not very likely. And if they did, deferring to Colonel Felter's expertise, manage to take Stanleyville, what would they have?"

"A United States consulate for one thing," the Deputy Director for Covert Operations said.

"And the airfield," Felter said. "Capable of night operation. Capable of handling practically any aircraft."

"Why would the Chinese communists wait until then to supply them? Why wait?" Thomas asked.

"If he manages to take Stanleyville," Felter said, "I think the Chinese-or for that matter any number of other people-would then be able to reason that he was worthy of their support. Until now, until he does something significant, supplying him would be too risky."

"How would you stop this fellow, Felter?" the Director asked.

"That's not my area. I collect and furnish information. That's all."

"Just for the hell of it, Sandy, if this were a sandtable problem at Leavenworth, what would be your recommendation?"

"In a hypothetical situation like this, and speaking as an infantry officer, I would ask the Air Force to interdict General Olenga's columns on the march."

"You know damned well we can't send the Air Force into the Congo!" Spottswood J. Thomas II snapped.

"We were talking hypothetically," Felter said. "This was a sandtable exercise at Fort Leavenworth."

"And if that caused the Chinese communists to take the gloves off and start supplying Olenga now?" Thomas countered.

"I don't have any assets to speak of over there, Felter," the Deputy Director for Covert Operations said. "A handful of i-28s." T-28s were single-engine (Wright Cyclone 1425hp piston) two-seater aircraft built by North American originally as trainers, which were often utilized as a ground-support aircraft. They had six underwing hardpoints to which gunpods, rockets, and bombs could be attached.

"Hypothetically speaking, B-26s would be better," Felter said.

"I repeat," Spotts wood J. Thomas II said, his voice now a tight, "what if, hypothetically speaking, T-28s or B-26s, and they would know came from us, caused the Chicoms to take the gloves off?"

--what about B-26s?" the Director asked the Deputy Director Covert Operations.

The B-26 series were twin-engine medium bombers built by Douglas and first flown in 1942. They saw service in World War II and in Korea and Vietnam as well, most often in a low-altitude use.

"I don't know," he replied. "I'd have to ask Fulbright."

"Baloney," the Director said to his Executive Administrative Lieutenant, "see if you can reach Fulbright." The African Desk Officer started to say something but changed his mind when he saw the look in the Director's eyes.

"Hypothetically, Sandy," the Director said, "how many B-26s would you guess would be needed?"

"Hypothetically," Felter said, "a friend of mine in Florida said half a dozen would probably do it."

"I have Colonel Fulbright," the Executive Administrative Assistant said.

"Tell him to get on a scrambler phone," the Director ordered.

That took a very long thirty seconds, but finally a light on one of the other phones began to blink. The Director picked it up and then pushed a button which caused the conversation to be amplified through a speaker so that everyone in the room could hear it.

"Dick," the Director said, "apropos of nothing whatever: If there was a requirement for half a dozen B-26s to be washed and given away halfway around the world, how long would it take from' go' to get them there?"

"If I was really pushed, I could have a dozen of the new K models-"

"What's that?"

"That's the counterinsurgency version," Fulbright said. "An outfit named O-Mark took some old ones and replaced everything but the windshield. It has two 2500-horse engines, wing tanks, good avionics-"

"I get the picture," the Director said. "How soon did you say?"

"I'd have to run some kind of quickie school at Hurlburt," Fulbright said, "but I could have them washed and delivered in a month from 'go.'" Fulbright said.

"I must say, Dick," the Director said, "that I am really impressed that this information was right at your fingertips."

"Well, Mr. Director," Colonel Fulbright said, unabashed, "I was a Boy Scout, and as you know, our motto is Be Prepared."

"Don't get too far from a phone, please, Dick," the Director said. "I think someone may want to talk to you in about an hour."

"We are at your service, Mr. Director," Fulbright said.

"Those aircraft were supposed to go to Vietnam," the Deputy Director for Overt Operations said. "They were rebuilt using military-assistance funds. If Fulbright grabs them, we're going to have to pay for them."

"Perhaps we could get the President to pay for them out of his discretionary funds," the Director said. "How much is involved?"

"A quarter of a million a plane. A million and a half," the Deputy Director for Overt Operations said.

"Do you think the President is going to share your concern about what's happening on Lake Tanganyika to the extent of say, two million, Sandy?" the Director asked.

"All I could do would be to ask him, Mr. Director. I'm supposed to see him in an hour. I could ask him then if you'd like."

"Why don't you do that? And get back to me?"

"I'd be happy to, Mr. Director," Felter said. He stood up.

"Thank you for the coffee."

"Anytime, Sandy. The welcome mat is always out." Felter left the room.

"If anybody in here does not believe," the African Desk Officer fumed quietly, "that that little bastard didn't have the whole thing set up with Strike Command and with Fulbright before he walked in here, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona that I would like to offer for sale to him."

"It isn't really nice of you, Tommy, to refer to the Counselor to the President as that little bastard," the Director said.

"Sorry," the African, Desk Officer said.

"What really burns me up," the Director said, looking right at the African Desk Officer, "is that the little bastard walks in with better, more up to date, and more comprehensive intelligence than my people have been able to provide. I find that really humiliating ." The Director let the African Desk Officer squirm for a full fifteen seconds and then got on with the staff conference.

Four) MacDill Air Force Base, Florida 1130 Hours 10 July 1964 Colonel Sanford T. Felter called General Matthew J. Evans, the Commander-in-Chief, on a scrambler phone to tell him he had just heard from Colonel Dick Fulbright that the first of the B-26Ks for the Congo would be ferried to Hurlburt Field, Florida, almost immediately. A second would arrive no later than Monday, the third and fourth on Wednesday, and the final two no later than Friday.

Almost as soon as Felter's voice came over the line, General Evans had signaled his senior aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis V. Crumpette, to listen in on the conversation.

""The Air Force will make sure that the Eagle pilots are conversant in the aircraft before they go over there," Felter explained. So far he's come up with eleven people, six Americans and five Cubans, all with 8-26 experience, and he promises that he'll have all we need, which means enough of them so there will be a flight engineer for each airplane by Wednesday or Thursday. In the meantime he's arranging to borrow from the Israelis both spare parts and mechanics and ground-handling equipment until we can get our own over there. They'll be at Kamina by the time the first two B-26Ks get there."

"Kamina is the ex-Belgian air base in the Congo?" General Evans asked.

"Yes, Sir," Felter said. "In the Katanga province."

"How long will the washing and training take?" General Evans asked.

"I told him to make it as quick as he could. No more than seven days, I would say, so the last plane should be able to clear Hurlburt for Nicaragua eleven days from Monday."

"Add two days to the Congo?"

"Three to be safe," Felter said. "So the first B-26K should arrive at Kamina ten days from Monday-in other words on 24 July-with the others following on 26 and 28 July. We may be able to shave a couple of days off that. With a little luck we might be able to have all of them there by say the twenty-sixth." General Evans grunted.

"I was thinking that Portet might be useful if he was at Hurlburt," Felter said. "He's ferried aircraft to the Congo before. And I don't know what kind of pilots Dick can come up with on such short notice. Could you send him up there?"

"Sure," General Evans said.

The conversation turned to other things. When Felter was off the line, General Evans looked at Lieutenant Colonel Crumpette thoughtfully.

"I can't think of a thing we have to do, Dennis," he said, "except letting Lowell in on that conversation and getting the Portet boy up to Hurlburt. Can I still send him VOCG"-Verbal Order of the Commanding General-"or has the AGC"-the Adjutant General's Corps-"usurped that commander's prerogative in the name of efficiency, too?"

"With your permission, Sir, I'll go see Lowell right now. I'm sure we can arrange to have Portet up there by the time the first B-26 gets there," Crumpette said.

Lieutenant Colonel Crumpette was not surprised when Lieutenant Colonel Lowell was not in his office but on the flight line.

Neither was he surprised when he'd reported the substance of Felter's telephone call to General Evans and the requirement to get PFC Portet to Hurlburt that Lowell volunteered to take him himself.

"Consider it done. Send him over. I've been looking for an excuse to get some cross-country time in a T-37. He got his orders and everything?" The T-37 was a side-by-side, two-seat jet trainer manufactured by Cessna.

"He's going VOCG," Crumpette said. "I'll call headquarters company and tell them to get him over to the field as soon as they can."

All the First Sergeant of Headquarters Company, who fetched PFC Portet from a mandatory lecture, "This Is What We Are defending," knew was what he had been told. That had been relayed to him by the Headquarters Company Commander. The Strike Commander-in-Chief had personally ordered the immediate transfer of PFC Portet to Hurlburt Field. He had not been told why, but it was obviously of great importance. A jet, to be flown by the STRICOM Army Aviation officer himself, was at that very moment waiting for him at Base Operations.