U.S. Department of Defense
Date of this Version
8-19-1942
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This order outlines the procedures for handling foreign ordnance type materiel sent to this country for evaluation. It discusses the roles of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, a military installation subordinate to the Chief of Ordnance, and that of the Ordnance Intelligence Unit in the Technical Division of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance.
The modern US Army vision of the technical intelligence developed during World War II. Shortly before World War II, Army Technical Services had been instructed to set up intelligence sections in the offices of their chiefs. The technical services were bureaus which supplied weapons, equipment, and services to the Army, managed the careers of officers in a particular branch, trained specialists, and organized and trained special purpose military units. There were a number of technical services including the Chemical Warfare Service, the Medical Department, the Ordnance Department, the Quartermaster Corps, etc The Ordnance Department provided small arms, artillery, and fighting vehicles to the army and bombs to the Army Air Corps. The Chief of Ordnance was a general who was the head of the Ordnance Department. The Office of the Chief of Ordnance was the headquarters of the Ordnance Department in Washington. The Office of the Chief of Ordnance was part of the Department of War, the headquarters of the Army.
During World War II, the importance of studying foreign military equipment was becoming apparent and procedures for collecting and evaluating of equipment were being developed. This is an example of a procedure intended to establish effective procedures for the creation of technical intelligence.
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Comments
(1) This is a digital copy of a page from a mimeographic copy of a history of the Ordnance Department history of World War II.
(2) Apparently an Ordnance Department Order was used in the same way as a General Order would be used in the Department of War or in a military unit in the field. It was to be "directive in nature, general in application, and of permanent duration..."