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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
LT. COL. MORENO BECOMES AEF ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF, G-2
On 6 July 1919, Lt. Col. Aristides Moreno became assistant chief of staff, G-2 for General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). Relatively unknown and often overlooked in favor of his predecessor, Maj. Gen. Dennis E. Nolan, Moreno’s name has been attached to an intelligence mystery dating back to 1899.
Born in New York City, New York, on 6 May 1878, Aristides Moreno attended Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where he graduated in 1899. He served with the Porto Rico [sic] Provisional Infantry Regiment from December 1901 until November 1904, when he entered the Regular Army as a first lieutenant with the 28th Infantry Regiment. In 1912, he was appointed by the secretary of war to serve as a claims agent to investigate damages to American persons and property during the Mexican Revolution.
Moreno was promoted to captain and, in June 1917, traveled to France, where he was again promoted to major. Major Moreno was then assigned to the AEF General Staff in France and served under General Nolan, the assistant chief of staff, G-2 (Intelligence), AEF. Moreno helped oversee the G-2’s Counter-Espionage Service, which created an index of and disseminated information related to suspects and saboteurs in France. In a speech given in January 1920, Moreno remarked: “the problem of those engaged in counter-espionage is not to provide interesting reading matter; it is to prevent the enemy from getting results.”
For his work with the Counter-Espionage Section, Moreno was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1918. The award citation highlighted his “unusual powers of discernment, his tact, and sound judgement” and noted, “Due to his zeal and untired devotion, the Counter-Espionage Service attained exceptional proficiency.” He received further awards from Great Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Panama, and Serbia.
After the war, then-Lieutenant Colonel Moreno continued to serve with the AEF G-2. On 6 July 1919, he assumed the role of assistant chief of staff, G-2, AEF from General Nolan. The promotion suggests his role within the G-2 was highly regarded by General of the Armies John J. Pershing. He remained in this position throughout the demobilization efforts until the AEF was officially dissolved on 15 August 1920.
Colonel Moreno served as the assistant secretary, infantry, at the General Service School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1920 and on the command staff at the Army War College, Washington, D.C., from 1923 to 1924. He retired in June 1926 and was promoted by the War Department to full colonel in 1930. Colonel Moreno was recalled to active duty during World War II with the 2d Service Command, Governor’s Island, from April 1941 until December 1943, when he retired a second time. He passed away on 7 October 1955 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1937, author Richard Rowan detailed the work of spy “Fernandez del Campo” in 1898 during the Spanish American War, whose real identity is unknown. The young spy was described as “a Texan of Spanish ancestry and a graduate of West Point,” who ingratiated himself with Spanish officers for intelligence purposes. Rowan suggested that twenty-year-old Moreno may have been del Campo, a claim repeated in multiple publications thereafter. Although Moreno was of Spanish descent, he was born in New York and did not attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point but was instead attending VMI in 1898. He graduated a year after del Campo was tasked with gaining intelligence from the Spanish, making it unlikely that Moreno was that agent.
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| Date Taken: | 07.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2024 10:59 |
| Story ID: | 475277 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 81 |
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