Our plan for invading Cuba: The 82nd Airborne and the Marines take Havana, and the whole op is done in three months

Over the weekend I was looking through some handwritten
notes in the papers of Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, placed on-line by the National
Defense University. The document is undated and unsigned. The NDU catalog lists
it as created by Lemnitzer, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff early
in the JFK era, until Kennedy dumped him in favor of Maxwell Taylor. It looks
to me like General Lemnitzer wrote it or perhaps dictated it as he stewed in
retirement -- but perhaps not, because on the last page there is a reference to
"General Lemnitzer."

Anyway, on pages 43-44 (as handmarked; PDF lists it as pp.
45-46) of that document, I was surprised to see a summary of "CINCLANT's
operational plan for Cuba," which seems to have been ordered up after the
failure of the Bay of Pigs operation in April 1961. In summary, the American
invasion of Castro's Cuba would begin with an "Assault on the Havana [sic] by
the 82nd Airborne Division and one Marine regiment." The next day, the 3rd Armored
Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Infantry Brigade would land. (Grasshoppers, what
is "the 2nd Infantry Brigade"? Doesn't ring a specific bell. Maybe the writer
mean "division"?) These units would be given 18 days to isolate and capture the
capital. Meanwhile, on D+14, the 2nd Marine Division would move toward
Santiago. (I don't understand the delay -- why wait two weeks? Surely not to
wait for available shipping and air cover.) Between the 24th and 34th
days, the two forces would link up.

And then, of course, there is that dose of sunny optimism
that ends all U.S. war plans, as if by law: "D+60 to D+90: withdrawal of U.S.
forces." Oh, sure.

If the American invasion had happened back then, more people
would know who Ted
Conway was -- he commanded the 82nd Airborne in 1961-62, and to my
knowledge is the only soldier in American history to rise from the lowest rank
in the Army to the highest and then
in retirement to get a doctorate from Duke.

When Castro buys the collective farm, which should happen
pretty soon, if Cuba descends into turmoil, I wonder if these plans will be
dusted off...