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Article: OSS (United States Office of Strategic Services)
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, andSecurity
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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OSS (United States Office of Strategic Services)
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ADRIENNE WILMOTH LERNER
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first centralized United States intelligence agency. Created in 1942, the agency spearheaded the United States intelligence community, both civilian and military, during World War II. The mission of the OSS was to collect foreign intelligence and sabotage enemy war efforts. Maintaining espionage, analysis, and research forces, the OSS acted as a clearinghouse for information gathered from human and signals intelligence sources. At its peak, the agency employed 13,000 men and women.
Before World War II and the formation of the OSS, the United States ...