Military Intelligence Service (United States)

The Military Intelligence Service (Japanese: アメリカ陸軍情報部) was a World War II U.S. military unit consisting of two branches, the Japanese American Unit described here and the German-Austrian Unit based at Camp Ritchie, described partly in Ritchie Boys. The unit described here was primarily composed of Japanese-American Nisei, who were trained as linguists. Graduates of the MIS language school (MISLS) were attached to other military units to provide translation and interrogation services. Near the end of the war with Japan, the curriculum shifted to focus more on Japanese civil affairs, in order to assist with occupation and rebuilding after the war.

The MISLS (initially known as the Fourth Army Intelligence School), and began operation in November 1941, about a month before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The school initially operated at Crissy Field in San Francisco, but moved to Savage, Minnesota in 1942. There were more than 6000 graduates of MISLS.

The first MISLS students came from the army, but later students were also recruited from Japanese internment camps. MIS members attached to the joint Australian/American Allied Translator and Interpreter Section were instrumental in deciphering and translating the Z plan, an important captured document that described Japanese plans for a counterattack in the central pacific.

In March 1942, the Military Intelligence Division was reorganized as the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). Originally comprising just 26 people, 16 of them officers, it was quickly expanded to include 342 officers and 1,000 enlisted men and civilians. It was tasked with collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence. Initially it included:

• an Administrative Group
• an Intelligence Group
• a Counterintelligence Group
• an Operations Group

In May 1942, Alfred McCormack, established the Special Branch of MIS which specialised in COMINT.

Recognition

In April 2000, more than 50 years after World War II, the Military Intelligence Service became the recipient of the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor given to a U.S. military unit.^[1]

On October 5, 2010, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the 6,000 Japanese Americans who served in the Military Intelligence Service during the war, as well as the Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Military Intelligence Service - Honors and Awards". http://www.njahs.org/misnorcal/honors.htm. Retrieved 20 October 2010. 
2. ^ Steffen, Jordan (October 6, 2010), "White House honors Japanese American WWII veterans", The Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-veterans-medal-20101006,0,7017069.story 

• Military Intelligence Service Research Center