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The Secret Intelligence Branch of the United States'
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
was a wartime foreign intelligence service responsible for the collection of
human intelligence Human intelligence is the intellectual capability of humans, which is marked by complex cognitive feats and high levels of motivation and self-awareness. High intelligence is associated with better outcomes in life. Through intelligence, humans ...
from a network of field stations in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The branch was established in 1942. Its first head was
David K. E. Bruce David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce (February 12, 1898 – December 5, 1977) was an American diplomat, intelligence officer and politician. He served as ambassador to France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United Kingdom, the only American t ...
. He was succeeded in 1943 by the business executive and international relations expert, Whitney Shepardson. With the post-war abolition of the OSS, in October 1945, the Secret Intelligence branch became part of the
Strategic Services Unit The Strategic Services Unit was an intelligence agency of the United States government that existed in the immediate post– World War II period. It was created from the Secret Intelligence and Counter-Espionage branches of the wartime Office o ...
of the
Department of War War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence {{u ...
. The unit was ultimately incorporated into the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, created in 1947.


References

* Office of Strategic Services Human intelligence (information gathering) 1942 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1942 {{US-gov-stub