History
Intelligence personnel were a part of the Continental Army from its founding in 1775.
In January 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker established the Bureau of Military Information for the Union Army during the Civil War, headed by George H. Sharpe. Allan Pinkerton and Lafayette C. Baker handled similar operations for their respective regional commanders. All of those operations were shut down at the end of the Civil War in 1865.
In 1885, the Army established the Military Information Division (MID). In 1903, the MID was placed under the new general staff in an elevated position.
In March 1942, the Military Intelligence Division was reorganized as the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). Originally consisting of just 26 people, 16 of them officers, it was quickly expanded to include 342 officers and 1,000 enlisted personnel and civilians. It was tasked with collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence. Initially it included:
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- an Administrative Group
- an Intelligence Group
- a Counter-intelligence Group
- an Operations Group
In May 1942, Alfred McCormack established the Special Branch of MIS, which specialized in COMINT.
In 1945, the Special Branch became the Army Security Agency. In 1946, the Counter-Intelligence Group became the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps.
It was in July 1967, that a number of intelligence and security organizations were combined to form the military intelligence branch. In 1977 they eventually recombined with the Army Intelligence Agency and Army Security Agency to become the US Army Intelligence and Security Command.
Read more about this topic: Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)