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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION PUBLISHES COUNTERESPIONAGE INSTRUCTIONS
In May 1918, the War Department’s Military Intelligence Division (MID) published “Principles of Counter Espionage Organization and Control within the Military Establishment.” The publication attempted to define and differentiate the roles of the Army intelligence organization and the Provost Marshal.
The Corps of Intelligence Police (CIP; predecessor of the Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps) was established in August 1917 to safeguard U.S. Armed Forces from internal and external threats of enemy espionage, sabotage, and subversion. Intelligence agents were authorized to investigate criminal cases only when they dealt with suspected enemy activity. However, possibly due to the confusion of the word “police” in the name and the initial tendency to recruit personnel with police experience, the CIP frequently found itself investigating crimes outside the scope of intelligence work. Personnel at the general staff level of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) G-2 were also impelled to investigate criminal cases not related to enemy subversive activity. Col. Aristides Moreno, who commanded the G-2 counterespionage section during World War I, noted AEF officers were frequently called upon to investigate “cases of robbery, murder, rape, graft, etc. among our forces,” due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the primary intelligence mission.
In May 1918, in an effort to properly define the role of Army intelligence, the MID published “Principles of Counter Espionage Organization and Control within the Military Establishment.” It ostensibly provided “commanders and key staff members a sound understanding in regard to various counterintelligence methods,” but according to History of the Counter Intelligence Corps, the document “was almost entirely concerned with procedures to be followed by Intelligence Officers in setting up secret informant networks.” This did little to alleviate confusion about investigative jurisdiction in the Army, and a second publication, “Instructions and Maintenance of the Counter-Espionage Service Within Military Units,” was produced in August 1918 to further expound on the duties of intelligence agents.
The two publications instructed agents to only engage in investigations “when possibly connected with enemy activity” and warned against “[usurping] the functions of provost authorities.” They stressed that the CIP and all other MID intelligence sections were not a police force, and “the tendency to refer to the Intelligence Service matters which should be handled by the Military Police or other office of equivalent duty, is contrary to the best interests of the service.” However, most crimes committed during the war, whether by American military personnel or civilians, came under suspicion of being perpetrated by enemy agents. Thus, the CIP frequently became involved “in running down crimes by Americans committed upon the civil population, in investigating drinking places and low-class hotels,” regardless of a connection to enemy subversive activity.
Likewise, the Army military police service, established in July 1917 to administer the selective service law, was not specifically trained in criminal investigative work. The CIP’s involvement in such investigations was, therefore, largely excused due to the investigative experience and training of intelligence agents and because the MID was “the only staff organization having the personnel and funds required” for criminal investigation at the time, according to MID historian Col. Bruce Bidwell.
The establishment of the Provost Marshal’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in November 1918 provided the necessary organization for a military criminal investigative service. The CID, though established too late to provide the necessary personnel during the war, slowly allowed the CIP and the MID to return to its primary focus on enemy espionage, sabotage, and subversive activities.
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| Date Taken: | 05.16.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2025 15:11 |
| Story ID: | 498214 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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