On April 20, 2023, in Washington, D.C., it was revealed that sixty years ago, in April 1963, the U.S. Air Force was instructed by the Defense Department and Joint Chiefs of Staff to remove and render "unidentifiable" the Jupiter missiles that had been deployed in Italy and Turkey as part of a secret U.S.-Soviet deal to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Air Force's declassified "Plan for the Withdrawal and Disposition" of the Jupiter system, published for the first time by the National Security Archive, revealed that the operations to dismantle the Jupiters were code-named Pot Pie I (Italy) and Pot Pie II (Turkey).

However, the dismantling operation was not without its challenges, as negotiations with Turkish Chiefs of Staff were difficult, and U.S. officials worried that a potential crisis of confidence could lead to delays or stall parliamentary approval of the operation.

Secret talks between U.S. and Turkish military officials in March 1963, during which the U.S. promised higher levels of military aid, ultimately improved the situation, and within weeks, a dismantling agreement was signed between the U.S. and Ankara.

The removal of the Jupiter missiles was crucial to fulfilling the secret U.S.-Soviet deal that helped resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis, but policymakers did not want to draw attention to the matter.

In a State Department memorandum dated March 30, 1963, U.S. embassies in Ankara and Rome were reminded of the need to avoid drawing a comparison between the dismantling of the Jupiter missiles and the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba.

To minimize this risk, the U.S., Italy, and Turkey were advised not to facilitate any press or photo coverage of missile dismantling. However, to avoid too much mystery over the dismantling, the State Department advised against any Italian or Turkish efforts to block photography of trucks carrying missiles away from military bases.

Today's posting by the National Security Archive and the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project is the second of a two-part series on the role of the Jupiter missiles in the execution of the secret deal that helped settle the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The deal made by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin stipulated that, in exchange for the Soviet withdrawal of missiles from Cuba, the U.S. would reciprocate with a non-invasion pledge and the withdrawal of the Jupiter missiles from Turkey in "four or five months."

The Dobrynin-Kennedy discussion did not mention the Italian Jupiters, but the U.S. had to remove them to make the Turkish deal less conspicuous. As both Part One and Part Two of this posting indicate, the process of removing the missiles from Italy and Turkey was not easy, automatic, or effortless.

Both countries had seen the missile deployments as symbols of a U.S. security commitment, making it necessary for the Kennedy administration to persuade Italian and Turkish leaders that what they would receive in place of the Jupiters would be beneficial to their security.

The posting discusses the difficulties faced by the US in removing Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey as part of a secret deal that helped settle the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The US had to remove the missiles to make the Turkish deal less conspicuous.

However, both countries had seen the missile deployments as symbols of a US security commitment. Therefore, the Kennedy administration had to persuade Italian and Turkish leaders that what they would receive in place of the Jupiters would be beneficial to their security.

In Part I of the posting, Italian and Turkish reactions to US proposals for removal of the Jupiters were discussed. While Rome and Washington reached a high-level understanding relatively quickly, it was still necessary to convince the Turkish military.

Part II of the posting covers the last phases of US action to remove the missiles, including official agreements with Italy and Turkey, notifications to the North Atlantic Council, and tricky negotiations with the Turkish military. The posting includes declassified documents that have not been published before, with material from Italian archives and the records of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Maxwell Taylor.

The new documents include the final agreement between the US and Italy on the Jupiter dismantling, notifications to NATO on the Jupiter/Polaris "modernization" arrangements, strategic retargeting requirements dictated by the removal of the Jupiters, and a memorandum from JCS Chairman Taylor to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara citing General Lauris Norstad's opposition to the Jupiter withdrawal as "weakening our nuclear capability." Other documents detail the plans for Polaris submarines patrols in the Mediterranean, including a submarine visit to Turkey's port of Izmir.

Part II of the posting focuses on the final phases of U.S. actions to remove the Jupiters from Italy and Turkey. The U.S. reached an agreement with Italy relatively quickly, and expedited by the meeting between President Kennedy and Prime Minister Fanfani in January 1963, Italy agreed to replace the Jupiters with up-to-date Sergeant missiles. Similarly, Turkey's Foreign Minister announced in January 1963 that Turkey accepted the withdrawal of the Jupiters and their replacement with Polaris patrols, but the U.S. still needed to convince the Turkish military.

The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Raymond Hare, played a central role in negotiating with the Turkish government. However, unlike the Italian case, there had been no direct interaction between heads of state. While Hare could reach an agreement in principle with Turkey's Foreign Minister, the military had the final say on the matter. To encourage the Turkish General Staff to accept the dismantling of the missiles, Secretary of Defense McNamara tasked General Robert J. Wood to negotiate with them, which he did during March 10-13, 1963.

The posting includes declassified documents from Italian archives and the records of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Maxwell Taylor. The documents detail the plans for Polaris submarines patrols in the Mediterranean, including a submarine visit to Turkey's port of Izmir. The visit was seen as a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to Turkish security, especially to address concerns that the Polaris system had a "remoteness which lessens its appeal."

Additionally, the posting includes translated excerpts from a history of the Jupiters in Italy, detailing the role of the Italian Air Force in the missile dismantling process and the emotional reactions of personnel who had been closely involved in the Jupiter deployment.

The available archival records do not provide the full story of General Wood's negotiations with the Turkish military. Some information, such as the memoranda of conversations with the Turkish General Staff, is classified as top secret at the U.S. National Archives, but a declassification request by the National Security Archive may eventually lead to their release.

It is possible that Gen. Wood and Turkish military officials discussed delays in the availability of nuclear weapons to Turkey since President Kennedy had required the installation of Permissive Action Links (PALs) to prevent unauthorized use.

The declassified record also indicates that Turkish officers or sailors would not have a role in the operations of the Polaris submarines patrolling the Mediterranean, but a Polaris submarine would visit a Turkish harbor, and Turkish and Italian officers at SACEUR headquarters would play a role in selecting targets for Polaris missiles.

As a confidence building measure, the White House decided to reverse scheduled cuts in the Military Assistance Program (MAP) and provide the Turkish armed forces with higher levels of aid. This, along with the early delivery of F-104 nuclear-capable fighter-bombers to Turkey, was seen as a "carrot" to expedite Turkish cooperation.

Ambassador Hare believed that the Wood mission provided "reassurance" to the Turkish military, thereby playing a "large role in obtaining [their] cooperation" in the details of the "missile substitution." Wood also accepted a Turkish proposal of a Polaris submarine visit to the port of Izmir, which the U.S. Navy objected to for technical reasons, but the State Department and General Wood believed was suitable enough.

In the weeks after General Wood's talks, the Jupiter dismantling operation began to fall into place. In late March, the U.S. and Italy exchanged notes on the Jupiter-Polaris arrangement, while John McNaughton reported to McGeorge Bundy that the dismantling in Italy would begin on April 1 and in Turkey on April 15.

On April 15, dismantling began in Turkey, and the day before, as part of the arrangements, the Polaris submarine U.S.S. Sam Houston stopped at Izmir for a multi-day visit that provided positive media coverage. On April 25, 1963, Secretary of Defense McNamara sent a brief note to President Kennedy that the last Jupiter in Turkey "came down yesterday."

For the U.S. Defense Department, General Counsel John McNaughton played a directing role in the implementation of the Jupiter removals. He was given overall responsibility for removal of the Jupiters and their replacement with Polaris patrols. However, he asserted that the Jupiter/Polaris operation had nothing to do with the missile crisis settlement. Robert McNamara, who gave McNaughton his assignment, did not enlighten him on that point

The passage describes the significance and historical context of a secret agreement made during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The agreement involved the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba and American Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey.

Historian Philip Nash argues that this agreement was the first arms reduction agreement of the Cold War, as both sides dismantled a portion of their operational nuclear delivery systems. The passage also describes how the secrecy surrounding the agreement began to erode in the following years, with former Turkish president and prime minister İsmet İnönü making a statement in 1970 about a deal between the US and USSR.

Further information became available through declassified materials and confessions by officials, including Robert F. Kennedy's memoir and Theodore Sorensen's confession that he altered the memoir to conceal the fact that removing the Jupiter missiles had been part of the agreement.

The release of Ambassador Dobrynin's telegraphic report provided essential confirmation of the secret quid pro quo.