Third Service Command Begins Preliminary CIC Training (17 AUG 1942)
In July 1942, the Army’s nine corps areas—responsible for the administration and logistical support of different regions within the United States—were reorganized as service commands. These commands operated primarily as supply and administrative agencies for the Army Service Forces and largely retained responsibility within the same geographical boundaries as their predecessors. The Third Service Command, headquartered in Baltimore, oversaw the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
On Nov. 11, 1942, the Army adjutant general ordered all service commands to establish their own Preliminary CIC Training Schools. With more personnel joining the CIC every day, the Army needed a way to train newly enlisted personnel to become counterintelligence specialists at a rapid rate. The service command schools would provide basic investigative training to these enlisted soldiers before they were allowed to attend training at the CIC Advanced Training School in Chicago, Illinois. There, agents would receive more intensive and mission-specific training, particularly for overseas duties.
By the time the order came through in November, the Third Service Command, which opened the inaugural session of its own preliminary CIC school on Aug. 17, 1942, had already hosted a second session and graduated sixty-six agents. The sessions ran a minimum of three weeks and included approximately 200 hours of training on basic investigative techniques and related subjects. Students were instructed to wear civilian clothes and to never unnecessarily divulge their affiliation with the CIC. The secrecy of their assignment was instilled from the very moment they arrived at the school.
The majority of course hours were spent on the general procedures and methods employed by CIC agents during investigations, interrogations, surveillance, report writing, evidence gathering and preservation, etc. Other topics of study included the local and national laws governing military investigations and court procedures. Time was also spent on a broad overview of the various federal and military agencies the CIC frequently worked with and the responsibilities delineated between them. Pistol marksmanship and physical training accounted for several hours, as well as general intelligence and security studies. Of limited priority during the preliminary school was espionage and counterespionage instruction, which was the purview of the advanced school.
On Mar. 25, 1943, the adjutant general provided a revised curriculum for the CIC schools. It extended the preliminary schools to a minimum of four weeks, expanded course hours on preestablished subjects, and added instruction on various topics like motor vehicle operation and aerial map reading, based on the experiences of CIC detachments serving overseas. Other courses, such as port and frontier security duties, allied and enemy uniform, insignia, vehicle, and weapons identification, and other theater-specific operations were added to the advanced school.
Following completion of their preliminary training, trainees were assigned to local CIC field offices for a minimum of four weeks. There they gained practical experience and worked to prove themselves as capable counterintelligence agents. After their apprenticeship was finished, they were awarded the title “Special Agent” and were approved to attend the CIC Advanced School in Chicago for further training.
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Article by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian. New issues of This Week in MI History are published each week. To report story errors, ask questions, request previous articles, or be added to our distribution list, please contact: TR-ICoE-Command-Historian@army.mil.
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