On No Name Key

Anti-Castro Cubans are training in jungle warfare tactics again on No Name Key.

The last time the little island was a training site was before the Bay of Pigs invasion, No Name Key can only be reached by boat. It lies about a half mile off Big Pine Key in Florida Bay.

The number of men on the key at any given time varies.

"This is a preliminary training site," said Steve Wilson, a former U. S. Marine from Mansfield, Ohio, who heads the camp. "We weed out the men from the boys here. The ones who make the grade go on to other camps in the Everglades."

About 30 men were on the island when Richard K. Agnew, a free-lance photographer of Marathon, made these photos for The Miami News.

Rifles used by the trainees include several different types--even a Russian made gun. The others are the M-1 and old .30-06 Springfields.

Other weapons are knives, bayonets, .45caliber automatics and demolition charges.

"We have automatic weapons," Wilson said, "but we don't display them. It's illegal to possess an automatic weapon and someone would confiscate them if we made a show of them."

The trainees live in old homes on No Name Key. The homes were built years ago when No Name was connected by bridge with Big Pine Key but that bridge has long since vanished.

Much of their food is surplus supplies such as the Cubans in Miami receive from the federal government. An old bottled-gas refrigerator the trainees repaired serves to keep fresh meat, eggs and vegetables--when such foods are available.