Military Intelligence --this week in history. 13 Dec 1941

By USAICoE History OfficeDecember 4, 2012

From the beginning, CIC agents played an important role in the search
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Fort Huachuca, AZ. - The Corps of Intelligence Police (CIP) was established in 1917 to provide Counter espionage support to the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The first 50 agents who reported to France performed security and Counter espionage work, as well as investigative work for the Criminal Investigative Division. After the war ended, the organization continued, in a greatly reduced form, with a mission of investigating all individuals who were suspected of operating against the Military Establishment and reporting on radical activities in political and industrial fields. This was a hefty assignment for a group of no more than 30 men by 1922.

By January 1941, Europe was at war again, and the very real possibility of

American involvement was imminent. A CIP Investigators School was

established at the Army War College, and a Technical Manual (30-215) was

published, creating a definite and consistent procedure of training for all

personnel in the Corps.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, launching American forces into the Second

World War, the mission of the CIP changed. A letter from the Adjutant

General dated 13 December 1941 changed the name of the Corps of Intelligence

Police to the Counterintelligence Corps (CIC), to be effective January 1,

1942. The name change signified a shift in mission from primarily a police

function to that of a counterintelligence organization. At the same time,

the CIP Investigators Training School, which had been moved to Chicago from

Fort McNair in November, was renamed the CIC Investigators Training School.

By the end of the war, the CIC's authorized strength was 7,500 agents.

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