The Corps of Intelligence Police (CIP) was founded by
Ralph Van Deman
Ralph Henry Van Deman (1865–1952) was a United States Army officer, sometimes described as "the father of Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army), American military intelligence." He is in the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
Earl ...
in 1917 as an intelligence agency within the
United States Army, and the War Department. In
World War I, many of the intelligence disciplines still in use today were deployed for the first time:
aerial photography,
signals intercept, interrogation teams, and
counterintelligence agents.
Army Intelligence within the continental United States and intelligence in support of the forces overseas developed along two separate tracks. On the home front, COL Ralph Van Deman, Chief of the
Military Intelligence Division
The Military Intelligence Division was the military intelligence branch of the United States Army and United States Department of War from May 1917 (as the Military Intelligence Section, then Military Intelligence Branch in February 1918, then Mil ...
of the
War Department General Staff, directed much of his attention to the new field of negative intelligence, or counterintelligence. The Army was concerned about a possible threat from German spies and saboteurs. Van Deman used the newly created Corps of Intelligence Police to conduct undercover investigations of individuals and organizations. He was equally concerned about the loyalty of recent immigrants being drafted into service. Van Deman feared that the newly forming
National Guard and National Army divisions might become “infested” with German agents and sympathizers. To protect the force, two soldiers within each company were appointed to secretly report on any suspicious activity, using the guidelines contained in a confidential pamphlet, “Provisional Counter-Espionage Instructions”.
Following the First World War the CIP was downsized and its budget cut until, by 1941, it had a staff of only 16. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor a decision was made to reorganize and enlarge the CIP, which was renamed the
Counter Intelligence Corps.
[Gilbert, James L., John P. Finnegan and Ann Bray. ]
In the Shadow of the Sphynx: A History of Army Counterintelligence
', History Office, Office of Strategic Management and Information, US Army Intelligence and Security Command, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Dec 2005; pp. 1-22. (This file might take time to load.)
See also
*
Modern Day U.S. Army Counterintelligence (Special Agents)
*
Historical U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps
* ''
The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps
''The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps'' was a classified 30 volume book prepared in the late 1950s by Major Ann Bray and others at the United States Army Intelligence Center and printed in 1959. The document contains the history of the U ...
''
References
{{reflist
External links
Intelligence & Security Command Online Museum: Corps of Intelligence Police
Branches of the United States Army
Military police units and formations of the United States Army
Defunct United States intelligence agencies
Military units and formations established in 1917
Military units and formations disestablished in 1941