World War I and the Origins of U.S. Military Intelligence provides the most authoritative overview of the birth of the Army's modern use of intelligence services processes, starting with World War I.

This book is part of the Army historical community's commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of World War II. American victory in that conflict was brought about not only by the valor of our fighting men and the immensity of our productive capacity, but also by the availability of superb military intelligence. Much of this intelligence came from the ability of our armed forces to intercept and decipher the most secret communications of their adversaries. For many years security considerations prevented any public mention of these successes in the official histories. Now much of the story can be told. To preserve the memory of the Army's role in this intelligence war, the U. S. Army Center of Military History has joined with the History Office, U. S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), to publish this collection of documents on Army signals intelligence in World War II. INSCOM carries on the heritage of the Army's World War II Signal Security Agency, which by breaking the Japanese diplomatic ciphers and military codes helped speed the way of our forces to victory. The book is intended both for an Army audience and for the general public - including those World War II veterans who participated in the signals intelligence war and who for so many years were constrained to keep their contributions secret. The security barriers have now been lifted, and the Army is proud to acknowledge those contributions. Harold W. NelsonCharles F. Scanlon Brigadier General, US ArmyMajor General, US Army Chief of Military HistoryCommanding General, US Army Intelligence and Security Command

Ask an American intelligence officer to tell you when the country started doing modern intelligence and you will probably hear something about the Office of Strategic Services in World War II or the National Security Act of 1947 and the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency. What you almost certainly will not hear is anything about World War I. In World War I and the Foundations of American Intelligence, Mark Stout establishes that, in fact, World War I led to the realization that intelligence was indispensable in both wartime and peacetime. After a lengthy gestation that started in the late nineteenth century, modern American intelligence emerged during World War I, laying the foundations for the establishment of a self-conscious profession of intelligence. Virtually everything that followed was maturation, reorganization, reinvigoration, or reinvention. World War I ushered in a period of rapid changes. Never again would the War Department be without an intelligence component. Never again would a senior American commander lead a force to war without intelligence personnel on their staff. Never again would the United States government be without a signals intelligence agency or aerial reconnaissance capability. Stout examines the breadth of American intelligence in the war, not just in France, not just at home, but around the world and across the army, navy, and State Department, and demonstrates how these far-flung efforts endured after the Armistice in 1918. For the first time, there came to be a group of intelligence practitioners who viewed themselves as different from other soldiers, sailors, and diplomats. Upon entering World War II, the United States had a solid foundation from which to expand to meet the needs of another global hot war and the Cold War that followed.

This book is part of the Army historical community's commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of World War II. American victory in that conflict was brought about not only by the valor of our fighting men and the immensity of our productive capacity, but also by the availability of superb military intelligence. Much of this intelligence came from the ability of our armed forces to intercept and decipher the most secret communications of their adversaries. For many years security considerations prevented any public mention of these successes in the office histories. Now much of the story can be told. To preserve the memory of the Army's role in this intelligence war, a collection of documents on Army signals intelligence in World War II Signal II were published. This book is intended both for an Army audience and for the general public - including those World War II veterans who participated in the signals intelligence war and who for so many years were constrained to keep their contributions secret. The security barriers have now been lifted, and the Army is proud to acknowledge those contributions.

"This book tells the story of an unusual group of American soldiers in World War II, second-generation Japanese Americans (Nisei) who served as interpreters and translators in the Military Intelligence Service."--Preface.