Office of Strategic Services

E2897

government agency intelligence agency

The Office of Strategic Services was the United States’ World War II-era intelligence and covert operations agency that laid the groundwork for the modern American intelligence community.

Aliases (6)

Statements (67)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	government agency → intelligence agency →
archivesAt	U.S. National Archives and Records Administration →
commemoratedBy	OSS Society →
conflict	World War II →
country	United States →
dissolved	1945-10-01 →
employed	Allen Dulles → Arthur Schlesinger Jr. → David Bruce → E. Howard Hunt → Frank Wisner → James Jesus Angleton → John Ford → Julia Child → Moe Berg → Paul Mellon → Ralph Bunche → Sterling Hayden → William Colby →
hasAbbreviation	OSS →
headOfGovernmentBody	William J. Donovan →
headquartersLocation	Washington, D.C. →
inception	1942-06-13 →
influenced	Central Intelligence Agency → United States Special Operations Command → modern United States intelligence community →
jurisdiction	federal government of the United States →
keyPerson	William J. Donovan →
legalBasis	presidential military order of 1942 →
mainFunction	covert operations → propaganda and psychological warfare → special operations → strategic intelligence collection → support to resistance movements →
motto	“Semper Occultus” (attributed, unofficial) →
nickname	Wild Bill Donovan’s organization →
notableOperation	Operation Jedburgh → intelligence operations in Switzerland → operations with Chinese Nationalist forces → support to French Resistance →
operatedIn	Asia → Burma → China → Europe → France → Germany → Italy → North Africa →
parentOrganization	Joint Chiefs of Staff → United States Armed Forces →
partOf	United States war effort in World War II →
predecessor	Coordinator of Information →
shortName	OSS →
significantEvent	established by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt →
subOrganization	Morale Operations Branch → Operational Groups → Research and Analysis Branch → Secret Intelligence Branch → Special Operations Branch →
successor	Central Intelligence Agency → Office of Policy Coordination → Office of Special Operations → Strategic Services Unit →
trainingFacility	Area B-5 (Catoctin Mountain Park) → Camp David → Camp X →

Referenced by (45)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Donal McLaughlin ("United States Office of Strategic Services") → Frank Wisner → James Jesus Angleton → Julia Child → Moe Berg → Secret Intelligence Branch →	employer
Morale Operations Branch → Operational Groups → Research and Analysis Branch → Secret Intelligence Branch → Special Operations Branch →	partOf
Frank Wisner → James Jesus Angleton → William Colby →	memberOf
Allen Dulles → Julia Child → Sterling Hayden →	militaryBranch
Morale Operations Branch → Research and Analysis Branch → Special Operations Branch →	operatedBy
John Ford ("Field Photographic Branch of the Office of Strategic Services") → William J. Donovan →	founded
Morale Operations Branch → Special Operations Branch →	foundedBy
Operational Groups ("U.S. Office of Strategic Services") → Research and Analysis Branch →	parentOrganization
Central Intelligence Agency → Navy SEALs ("Office of Strategic Services Maritime Unit") →	precededBy
Semper Occultus →	associatedWith
British Security Coordination →	collaboratedWith
Strategic Services Unit →	continuedFrom
European resistance movements →	cooperatedWith
British Security Coordination →	coordinatedWith
Semper Occultus →	describesMissionStyleOf
OSS Society →	focusesOn
OSS →	fullName
Office of Policy Coordination ("Directorate of Plans") →	mergedInto
OSS Society →	namedAfter
Operation Jedburgh →	operator
William J. Donovan ("Coordinator of Information of the United States") →	positionHeld
Strategic Services Unit →	predecessor
Secret Intelligence Branch →	supervisingAgency
Merrill's Marauders →	supportedBy
Area B-5 (Catoctin Mountain Park) →	usedBy
William J. Casey →	workedFor