authority over guerrilla warfare. The OPC merged with the CIA’s Of-
fice of Special Operations(OSO) in 1952 to form the Directorate of
Plans (DP), predecessor of the Directorate of Operations (DO).OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS (ORA). Predecessor of
the Directorate of Intelligence (DI) in the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), the ORAwas established in the early 1950s to pro-
duce and disseminate intelligence analyses to mid- and senior-level
decision makers.OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES (OSS). Established on 13
June 1942 to replace the coordinator of information(COI), the OSS
was America’s wartime intelligence and sabotage organization.
Headed by William J. Donovan, the OSS was placed under the ju-
risdiction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS), and its personnel came
from all the branches of the armed forces as well as civilians. “Wild
Bill” Donovan was not too keen on intelligence analyses but wanted
the OSS to support military operations in the field by providing re-
search, propaganda, and commando support.
OSS “cloak and dagger” operations focused on actions behind en-
emy lines as well as liaison with the underground in Nazi-occupied
countries. Despite Donovan’s preoccupation with the action-oriented
part of the OSS, some of the most valuable work was done by the re-
search and analysis (R&A) section, which was headed by Harvard
historian William L. Langer.
Even in wartime, coordinationof intelligence remained a problem
in Washington. The Pearl Harbordisaster underscored the problems
with interservice cooperation. The army and navy signals intelligence
(SIGINT) organizations barely cooperated, jealously guarding their re-
ports and their access to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They also
prevented intelligence analysts from reading signals intelligence at all.
Outside the White House, no one collated and analyzed the totality of
the intelligence data collected by the U.S. government. This lack of
government-wide coordination limited the success of intelligence
analysis and prompted efforts to reform the intelligence establishment
after the war. The OSS was disbanded in 1945. In 1946, many of its
functions were transferred to the Central Intelligence Group(CIG),
and, in 1947, to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES• 14905-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 149