The OSS anniversary is observed on June 13th each year. The Office of Strategic Services was created on June 13, 1942, in the early days of World War II to provide an intelligence service to the United States. Prior to World War II the business of collecting and disseminating intelligence was in the hands of elements of the armed services and foreign policy experts. The OSS would be the forerunner for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and U.S. Army Special Forces. (see footnote).
The OSS was established under the jurisdiction of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Roosevelt appointed William Dovovan as the director of the OSS. Donovan organized the OSS so it could perform a variety of missions to include research and analysis, counterintelligence, espionage, covert operations, and paramilitary operations. Paramilitary operations were conducted by “Operational Groups” or OGs. They conducted military operations in remote areas and behind enemy lines. Jedburgh teams were formed up to operate in the European theater – many of the teams parachuted into France to support the Normandy landings in June of 1944. There were many other units and elements of the OSS that conducted a variety of mission around the world such as Detachment 101 that operated in Burma area of operations.
At the conclusion of World War II, the Office of Strategic Services was disbanded. Many of its members went into civilian life while some remained in the U.S. military. Some former OSS members would soon find themselves in the U.S. Army Special Forces or the Central Intelligence Agency.
Footnote:
The Central Intelligence Agency claims that the OSS was the first U.S. intelligence agency:
“The Office of Strategic Services: America’s First Intelligence Agency”, Central Intelligence Agency. The Office of Strategic Services: America’s First Intelligence Agency – CIA
However, there have been intelligence agencies since the Revolutionary War (George Washington’s spy networks), the Civil War (both Union and Confederacy), and World War I. Some sources say that the first formal intelligence organizations were formed in the 1880s: the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Army’s Military Intelligence Division.
Some additional reading on the OSS anniversary:
The Glorious Amateurs: OSS Turns 75! CIA, June 18, 2017.
Director Pompeo Delivers Remarks at OSS 75th Anniversary, CIA, June 16, 2017.
Some History of the OSS in Albania during WWII, SOF News, November 14, 2016.
World War II UW – Marquis, SOE, OSS, and . . . Present UW. SOF News, November 11, 2016.
Operation CARPETBAGGER – Supporting the OSS in WWII, SOF News, August 15, 2016.
The OSS in Burma; Jungle War against the Japanese, by Troy J. Sacquety, 2014. Story of Detachment 101.
https://www.amazon.com/OSS-Burma-against-Japanese-Paperback/dp/0700620184
Order Establishing the Office of Strategic Services, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, June 13, 1942. Posted on The American Presidency Project, University of California Santa Barbara.
