The army behind the armyPowell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)
History
The army behind the army
Powell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)
United States. Army; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
The Fifth Section of the Military Intelligence Division, known as M I 5,
is charged with the duty of obtaining positive intelligence, that is,
of locating direct and indirect sources of information; of supervising
military attachés, who, within the limits of their activities, obtain
essential information, and of forwarding this information to such
sections of the Intelligence Division as may find it of value. Now
I am perfectly aware that the army officers who are attached to the
American embassies and legations in various foreign countries do not
stand particularly high in the estimation of the American people. They
are generally regarded as men who have been selected for their wealth
and social distinction rather than for their abilities as soldiers; who
have had more experience in ballrooms than in bombarded cities, and are
more successful in leading cotillions than at leading troops in battle.
As a matter of fact, this estimate of our military attachés is bitterly
unjust. As showing the type of men who represented the army abroad, I
might mention that our military attaché in England during the early years
of the Great War was Major-General George S. Squier (then a colonel),
chief signal officer of the army and one of the foremost scientists in
America, if not, indeed, in the world; our attaché at Paris was Colonel
Spencer S. Crosby, one of the most able engineer officers in the army;
while at Berlin our military representative was Major-General (then
Colonel) Joseph A. Kuhn, who, after organizing, training, and commanding
in action the 79th Division, eventually rose to the command of an army
corps.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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