
In May 1942, Alfred McCormack established the Special Branch of the Military Intelligence Service, which specialized in communications intelligence. It was tasked with collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence. Originally consisting of just 26 people, 16 of them officers, it was quickly expanded to include 342 officers and 1,000 enlisted personnel and civilians. In March 1942, the Military Intelligence Division was reorganized as the Military Intelligence Service. In 1903, it was placed under the new general staff in an elevated position. In 1885, the Army established the Military Intelligence Division. All of those operations were shut down at the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Baker handled similar operations for their respective regional commanders. In January 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker established the Bureau of Military Information for the Union Army during the Civil War, headed by George H. The "1776" on the United States Army Intelligence Service seal refers to the formation of Knowlton's Rangers. Knowlton's Rangers, named after its leader Colonel Thomas Knowlton, became the first organized elite force, a predecessor to modern special operations forces units such as the Army Rangers, Delta Force, and others. In 1776, General George Washington commissioned the first intelligence unit. Intelligence personnel were a part of the Continental Army since its initial founding in 1776. The Army's intelligence components produce intelligence both for Army use and for sharing across the national intelligence community. The primary mission of military intelligence in the United States Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence and electronic warfare support to tactical, operational and strategic-level commanders. The Military Intelligence Corps is the intelligence branch of the United States Army.
