World War II ended in 1945, but America could not rest. “Serious discussion about reorganization began in Congress and the military department in 1944 and aroused much public interest” (Trask 1997). Because the Air Force played such a large role, discussion of separating the Air Force from the Army Air Forces (AAF) began. A proposal was created to establish one department for the United States Armed Forces, combining all the military branches under one department. “On 19 December 1945, President Truman sent a message to Congress recommending a single department of national defense with three coordinate branches – land, sea, and air.” (Trask 1997). Management of Military and foreign policies were needed during peacetime as they were during wartime. The United States need for a national defense department, and a need to prevent any future attacks like Pearl Harbor, led to President Truman signing the National Security Act of 1947.
The National Security Act of 1947 created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). President Truman’s vision of the CIA was a peacetime intelligence agency that provided early warnings in the event of an attack. After President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, a loophole was found. The National Security Act “instructed the CIA to correlate, evaluate, and disseminate intelligence and to perform ‘other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security’ ” (Weiner 2007). The CIA used this wording of ‘other functions’ to conduct secret operations overseas and to practice cloak and dagger methods in obtaining intelligence. Since its establishment over sixty years ago, the CIA’s implementation of cloak and dagger intelligence gathering has evolved to developing a componen...
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...Establishment may have has a name change to the Department of Defense, however the decision to have a civilian secretary over the United States military is still in effect. America could not rest after World War II, and she still has to remain vigilant today. The offices created by the National Security Act of 1947 are still to this day charged with protecting the United States.
Works Cited
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Trask, R., & Goldberg, A., (2001). The Department of Defense 1947-1997: Organization and Leaders. Washington, DC: United States. Department of Defense – History.
Trest, W., (1998). Air Force Roles and Missions: A History. Washington, DC: United States. Air Force – History
Weiner, T., (2007). Legacy of Ashes – The History of the CIA. New York, NY: Doubleday
Guilford, CT: Dushkin/ McGraw-Hill, 1997. Chiatkin, Anton. A. Treason in America. Washington DC: Executive Intelligence. Review, a review of the book, Divine, Breen, Frederickson, and Williams. America Past and Present.
Eliga H. Gould, The Persistence of Empire: British Political Culture in the Age of the American Revolution (North Carolina: Omohundro Institute, 2000),
Prados, John. Safe for Democracy The Secret Wars of the CIA. Chicago, IL: Ivan R Dee, Publisher, 2006.
Franklin D. Roosevelt approved Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 to authorize the Secretary of War and Military Commanders the ability to establish military zones in designated areas. Within the order there were instructions detailing the support that the Secretary of War and Military Commanders would receive by Executive Departments, independent establishments and other national groups. These gro...
Weiner, Tim. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. New York: Doubleday, 2007. Print.
The National Security Strategy (NSS), the National Defense Strategy (NDS), and the National Military Strategy (NMS) directives define the U.S. objectives. In the NSS, the Executive Branch underscored that departments provide assistance and obtain cooperation with the U.S foreign allies. Accordingly, the Secretary of Defense NDS directed the Department of Defense to “strengthen and broaden alliances and partnerships” through training and education opportunities. Ultimately the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff NMS instructed the Military Services to comply with the NSS guidelines.
Nedzi (D-Mich.), Luclen N. “Oversight or Overlook: Congress and the US Intelligence Agency.” A Congressman talk to the CIA senior seminar, November 14, 1979, https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol18no2/pdf/v18i2a02p.pdf (accessed January 7, 2014).
The War Department prior to being referred to as the Department of Defense (DoD) housed in the Pentagon has been existence since 1789. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps were established in 1775 and in 1790 the Coast Guard (part of Homeland Security in peacetime) was established. In addition, the U.S. Air Force was also established in 1947. The mission of the Department of Defense is to utilize the military to deter war and ultimately protect and defend the United States of America. The DoD is America's oldest and largest government agency. It is considered the largest employer in the nation with over 1.3 million active duty service members, 742 thousand
The NSA or the National Security Agency, is “the largest intelligence agency in the US, which is responsible for collecting and analyzing communications and signals intelligence, plus cybersecurity” ( MacAskill, Borger, and Greenwald par. 1-2). Since its inception, “the very existence of the National Security Agency was not revealed more than two decades after its establishment in 1952” ( MacAskill, Borger, and Greenwald par. 1). and since “its structure and activities remain largely unknown. Hence its wry nickname: No Such Agency” ( MacAskill, Borger, and Greenwald par.1). “Once President Harry Truman established the NSA, its purpose was to collect data and information across the country and internationally. The task originally gi...
In the middle of 1946, the Central Intelligence Agency Act laid the foundations and placed strict guidelines on responsibility of the agency’s officials. Until 1955, the CIA did not have a central headquarters, but in August of that year President Eisenhower funded forty-six million dollars for the construction of a headquarters for the CIA (“Key Events” 1). In March of 1991 the
In this week’s assignment we will be looking at a number of significant issues that are or have confronted the intelligence community in a post 9-11 environment. We will quickly touch on the role the Global War on Terrorism has had on changes to the intelligence community’s position, procedures, and policies along with assessing how the intelligence community has directed it efforts when it comes to dealing with traditional military threats from other countries. It is inarguable that for the large majority of times, change is instituted to make a situation better, or to prevent a bad situation from arising. So too can be said about the countless changes in policy and practices that have affected the intelligence community since 9-11. Retrospectively assessing a few of these polices it can become difficult to see in its totality if they have helped the intelligence community or in a way weakened it.
?Espionage.? 2000-2004. The War to End All Wars. Michael Duffy. Original Material. Primary Documents Online.
The United States has involved itself in several covert operations throughout the nation’s short history. Operations, like the Iran-Contra Affair, and the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) role in Afghanistan are just two examples of these types of secret government missions, which have become divulged to the American public. Both of these operations occurred under President Regan, who listed strict executive goals to fight the Soviet social influence, Communism, from spreading across the world. Moreover, other similarities are observed between the two covert missions, like providing armaments and training to foreign rebel forces (National Security Archive 2006, Johnson 2011). Moreover, different agencies were used in the missions for distinct
The history of the Central Intelligence Agency has been shrouded in infamy since it’s introduction in 1947. The Common goal of an organization, such as the CIA, is to protect the people they govern. This may includes collected efforts, publicly acknowledged by the common people as the best way to use a nation’s time and effort towards peace. On the other hand, organizations like these have also worked in complete secrecy and these efforts have more or less molded the foundation of the american way as we see it today.
President Roosevelt wanted to increase the influence and prestige of the United States on the world stage and make the country a global power. Moreover, he had a belief that the exportation of American values and ideals would have an ennobling effort in the world. As a result, he developed a diplomatic maxim that focused on speaking softly and carrying a big stick and maintained that the authority and those in power must be willing to use force while practicing the art of persuasion. To exercise all his ideas, he had to assemble one of the strongest and powerful armies in the world to avoid conflicts with enemies who might prey on their weaknesses. It is worth noting that President Roosevelt would act aggressively in foreign affairs often without the support or consent of the Congress all in the attempt of expanding American empire to the rest of the world. During his tenure, Roosevelt ensured that American political system and social values were considerably adjusted the military policy’s considerations as well as ensuring that American defense policies were built upon pluralistic military institutions constituting of professionals and citizen-soldiers to ensure that these policies were effective and efficient to conquer their