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The
Intelligence Revolution
A Historical Perspective
Proceedings
of the
Thirteenth Military History Symposium
U.S. Air Force Academy
Colorado Springs, Colorado
October 12 -14, 1988
Edited
by
Lt. Col. Walter T. Hitchcock, USAF
Department of History
United States Air Force Academy
20050429 015
U.S. Air Force Academy
Office of Air Force History
United States Air Force
Washington, DC 1991
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Military History Symposium (U.S.) (13th : 1988 : United States Air Force
Academy)
The intelligence revolution : a historical perspective
proceedings of the Thirteenth Military History Symposium, U.S.
Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 12-14,
1988 / edited by Walter T. Hitchcock.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-912799-70-6
1. Military intelligence-History--20th century-Congresses.
2. Military intelligence-History--Congresses. 3. World War,
1939-1945-Military intelligence-Congresses. 4. Military
intelligence-United States-History--Congresses. I. Hitchcock,
Walter Theodore, 1944- . II. Title.
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Twelfth
Military History Symposium
Committee
Department of History
and
Association of Graduates
U.S. Air Force Academy
Chair
Col. Carl W. Reddel, USAF
Professor and Head
Department of History
Members
Lt. Col. Phillip S. Meilinger, USAF Lt. Col. Richard M. Coppock
Deputy Head USAF, Retired
Department of History Executive Director
Association of Graduates
Maj. Mark Clodfelter, USAF Capt. Lorry M. Fenner, USAF
Executive Director Deputy Director
Military History Symposium Military History Symposium
Support Staff
Mrs. Christy Whale Mrs. Nellie Dykes
Mr. James Shatto Mrs. Zoreen Cruise
Preface
It is commonplace within and outside the intelligence community to
acknowledge the predominant role of technology in the collection,
dissemination, and even analysis of information. With roots traceable to
events in the late 1800s, this technological phenomenon loomed ever larger
in the twentieth century. The increasing reliance on photographic, signals,
and electronic intelligence has been viewed with varying degrees of
celebration and concern by scholars and intelligence professionals.
This volume contains the essays and commentaries originally presented at
the Thirteenth Military Symposium held to address this topic at the United
States Air Force Academy from October 12 to 14, 1988. The participants
in the conference attempted to provide a preliminary evaluation of the
transformations that have occurred within the military intelligence community
as a consequence of the Second World War. Not only did that conflict
accelerate advances in technical means of collection, it also led to an
international willingness to share intelligence on an unprecedented scale.
The years 1939-1945 therefore witnessed a true "revolution" in intelligence
collection and cooperation. That war also caused an interrelated growth in
organizational size, efficiency, and sophistication that helped gain the craft
of intelligence an acceptance in operational circles that it had not previously
enjoyed.
While this intelligence story is one of significant individual and corporate
achievement, nearly all the participants in this conference reminded listeners
of the inherent limitations of research into aspects of the subject that remain
sensitive for today's national security. That is the salient lesson of these
essays. Access to intelligence source material is limited and historians are
often frustrated with conditions that necessitate less than full disclosure on
many subjects. Nevertheless, with the growing awareness by the public of
both the high cost of technology and the central role of intelligence in the
national decisionmaking process, the citizenry can legitimately argue its own
"need-to-know." An assessment of the role and importance of
intelligence-and the effectiveness of the attendant technologies--can clearly
benefit from the objective perspective of the historian.
The Symposium in Military History is a biennial event jointly sponsored
by the Air Force Academy's Department of History and its Association of
Graduates. It provides a public forum for academic scholars, military
professionals, Academy cadets, and concerned citizens to exchange ideas on
military affairs and military history.
Symposia of this scale and complexity are never realized without the
v
individual and collective contributions of many people and organizations.
From the beginning of the symposium series in 1967, successive meetings
have been devoted to a specific topic chosen for the occasion. The subject
for this symposium was the brainchild of Maj. Bill Williams, an Air Force
intelligence officer and history instructor at the Academy. Special thanks are
owed to all those who offered their knowledge and wisdom in developing
the program. LL Gen. Charles R. Hanem, Superintendent of the Academy,
and Brig. Gen. Erlind G. Royer, Dean of the Faculty, deserve special
recognition for their commitment and support of this event. As in the past,
the Association of Graduates, the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation,
and the Major Donald R. Backlund Memorial Fund provided generous
financial assistance. The officers and staff of the Academy's Department of
History were indispensable to the success of the symposium. Lt. Col. Harry
Borowski and Lt. Col. Bryant Shaw provided important leadership during the
formative stages of organization, and Col. Carl Reddel, Lt. Col. Phil
Meilinger, Maj. Mark Clodfelter, and Capt. Lorry Fenner were the executive
overseers and implementers for all phases of the actual conference. The
professionalism and hard work of all members of the department ensured the
meeting's success.
Bringing the record of the conference to published form was yet another
formidable task. Mrs. Christy Whale, Mrs. Nellie Dykes, Mr. James Shatto,
Mrs. Zoreen Cruise, and Mr. Antonio M. Rodriguez gave their expert typing
support in preparing the manuscript for publication. Special thanks go to the
individual contributors who made this volume possible. The views and
interpretations contained in each essay are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the official position of the United States Air Force.
Indebted as I am to all those who gave so much of their time and effort to
make this volume a reality, responsibility for all errors is mine alone.
Walter T. Hitchcock, Lt. Col., USAF
U.S. Air Force Academy
vi
Contents
P reface .............................................................................. v
Thirty-first Harmon Memorial
Lecture in Military History
W orld W ar II: An Intelligence Revolution .................................... 3
Harry Hinsley
Session I
The Origins of Modern Intelligence
Chair: Ernest R. May
Intelligence on the Eve of Transformation ................................... 15
Dennis E. Showalter
Military Intelligence Sources
during the American Civil War ............................ 39
Peter Maslowski
C om m ents ......................................................................... 71
Ernest R. May
Session II
The Intelligence Revolution
World War II
The European Theater
Chair:G erhard L. Weinberg
Radio Intelligence in the Battle
of the A tlantic ................................................................ 77
Jiirgen Rohwer
Intelligence Collaboration Between Britain,
the United States, and the Commonwealth
during W orld W ar II ......................................................... 111
ChristopherA ndrew
Soviet Operational Intelligence ................................................... 123
Col. David Glantz, USA
C om me nt ........................................................................... 187
GerhardL . Weinberg
Session III
The Intelligence Revolution
World War II
The Pacific Theaters
Chair: Roger Dingman
Japanese Intelligence in the Pacific Theater .................................... 197
Alvin D. Coox
Japanese Intelligence Estimates of China,
193 1 - 1935 ..................................................................... 203
Hisashi Takahashi
Comments ............................................ 223
Roger Dingnman
Session IV
The Legacy of
The Intelligence Revolution
Chair:W alter Laqueur
Satellite Reconnaissance ......................................................... 233
William E. Burrows
The Intelligence Revolution's Impact on
Postw ar D iplom acy ............................................................ 251
John L. Gaddis
USAF Intelligence in the Korean War .......................................... 275
Robert Frank Futrell
C om m ents ........................................................................... 295
Walter Laqueur
Session V
The Impact of the Intelligence Revolution
on Current Military Posture
Chair:R ay S. Cline
Rem arks by a Select Panel ...................................................... 301
Richard Helms, GeneralJ ames A. Williams, USA,
Admiral PierreL acoste, Maj. Gen. Jack E. Thomas, USAF
Banquet Session
Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Glasnost ................................. 315
Lt. Gen. Samuel V. Wilson, USA
A Concluding Comment
Retrospect on the Conference ................................................... 325
HaroldD eutsch
C ontributors ........................................................................ 351
Index .............................................................................. 36 1
The Thirty-first
Harmon Memorial Lecture
in Military History
