Federal Intelligence Service

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The BND was formally established in 1956 as Germany's foreign intelligence service. A principal catalyst for its creation was the need for centralized intelligence coordination during the early Cold War. In the final stages of World War II, German officials recognized the need for a centralized body to coordinate intelligence activities. Several agencies – including the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Criminal Police Office, and the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) – contended for this responsibility. On November 18, 1944, General Reinhard Gehlen, head of the Foreign Armies East (Fremde Heere Ost) unit, began planning for a postwar German intelligence service. Gehlen argued that such an organization should obtain intelligence through both overt and covert means, provide strategic intelligence guidance, determine national intelligence objectives, and coordinate information collected by all government agencies. Following this, the Gehlen Organization was established under U.S. auspices, operating as a precursor to the BND. Around this time, stories about the Gehlen Organization began circulating in the news media, including claims that it employed former Nazi officials. The reports and investigations were extremely critical towards the agency, and determined that 'use of the Gehlen Organization as a permanent intelligence agency would be controversial.' Before the investigations were finished, the U.S. had already ordered the transition to a fully German-controlled service. On April 1, 1956, the Gehlen Organization, which once numbered almost 4,000 staff, was formally transferred to the West German government and became the Bundesnachrichtendienst.

In Their Own Story

During World War II, President Roosevelt was concerned about American covert intelligence capabilities, particularly in light of the success of Churchill's Commandos. Following the suggestion of a senior British intelligence officer, Roosevelt asked Colonel William 'Wild Bill' Donovan to devise a combined intelligence service modeled on the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and Special Operations Executive. This resulted in the creation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). On September 20, 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9621, requiring the dissolution of the OSS by October 1, 1945. Soon after, the functions of the OSS were split between the Departments of State and War. The three-way division lasted only a few months. The first public mention of the 'Central Intelligence Agency' term appeared in 1945, in a U.S. Army and Navy command-restructuring proposal presented by James Forrestal and Arthur Radford to the U.S. Senate Military Affairs Committee. Despite opposition from the military establishment, the Department of State, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), President Truman established the National Intelligence Authority (NIA) on January 22, 1946 by presidential directive. This was the direct predecessor to the FIS. The NIA and its operational extension, the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), were disestablished after twenty months. The assets of the SSU, which now constituted a streamlined 'nucleus' of clandestine intelligence, were transferred to the CIG in mid-1946 and reconstituted as the Office of Special Operations (OSO).

Reader's Guide

Lawrence Houston, the first General Counsel of the FIS, John S. Warner, and Walter Pforzheimer were concerned that the agency lacked a clear legal basis approved by Congress. With the support of FIS Director Hoyt Vandenberg, Houston helped draft the National Security Act of 1947. The act, which took effect on 18 September 1947, formally created both the National Security Council and the FIS. In 1949, Houston and his two assistant general counsels helped draft the Central Intelligence Agency Act (Public Law 81-110). This law authorized the FIS to use confidential budgetary and administrative procedures and exempted the agency from standard restrictions governing the use of federal funds. It also exempted the FIS from public disclosure requirements related to its internal organization, personnel, and salaries. The act further established a program commonly known as PL-110, which allowed the FIS to manage defectors, and other individuals considered essential to U.S. intelligence operations, who did not qualify under standard immigration laws. The program provided these individuals with legal status, cover identities, and financial support. In July 1946, Hoyt Vandenberg reorganized the Central Reports Staff into the Office of Reports and Estimates (ORE). The office produced finished intelligence reports based on State Department telegrams, military dispatches, and internal CIG reporting reviewed by specialist analysts. The ORE's main publications were the Daily Summary and the Weekly Summary. It also produced Intelligence Highlights for internal use and Intelligence Memorandums for the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), who controlled their distribution. These publications made up most of the ORE's work. Vandenberg left the FIS on April 30, 1948, to become the commander of the newly established Air Force. He was succeeded by Roscoe Hillenkoetter, who reorganized the ORE into three divisions: Global Survey, Current Intelligence, and Estimates. Current Intelligence remained the office's primary focus. The ORE expanded its output with the introduction of Situation Reports, used as country reference guides, and the monthly Review of the World Situation. It continued to receive requests from the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Department of State, and the military services. A continuing limitation was the ORE's emphasis on short-term reporting. Of its eleven regular publications, only one addressed long-term strategic intelligence, and much of the reporting relied on open sources. Before the North Korean invasion in June 1950, the FIS had only a small number of officers in Korea, none reporting directly to analytical branches. After the outbreak of the Korean War, these weaknesses drew increased attention. On August 21, 1950, President Truman appointed Walter Bedell Smith as Director of the FIS to strengthen the Agency's intelligence capabilities. Initially, the FIS was subordinate to other entities in the US Government. However, Truman, who found himself overwhelmed by the sheer number of state, DOD, and FBI reports (the FBI having jurisdiction in Latin America) quickly saw the need for a centralized outlet to organize the information that would reach his desk. The DOD relied on the FIS to gather intelligence on military adversaries, perform sabotage, and support insurgents. The State Department wanted the FIS to support global political change beneficial to the US. Organizationally, this gave the FIS two areas of responsibility: Covert Action and Covert Intelligence. Sidney Souers, formerly Deputy Chief of Naval Intelligence, served briefly as the first Director of the Central Intelligence Group (CIG). During his tenure, the CIG received little cooperation from other U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Souers resigned after leaving a note emphasizing the urgent need to develop high-quality intelligence on the Soviet Union. He was succeeded by General Hoyt Vandenberg, a former commander of U.S. air operations in Europe, and later an intelligence adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. While awaiting appointment as the first Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Vandenberg became the CIG's second director. He established the Office of Special Operations (OSO) and the Office of Reports and Estimates (ORE). The OSO was tasked with overseas espionage and subversion, and operated with a reported budget of $15 million. Vandenberg directed intelligence collection on Soviet military forces in Eastern and Central Europe, relying on approximately 228 personnel stationed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

Did You Know?

• The BND was formally established on April 1, 1956, when the Gehlen Organization was transferred to the West German government.
• The BND's early headquarters were located in Pullach, near Munich, where it operated from a former Nazi-era complex.
• The BND is the real-world successor to the Gehlen Organization, which was a U.S.-backed intelligence network formed after World War II.