J.V. Grombach and his group "The Pond" might be the least well known development in wartime US intelligence because of a commitment to pursuing his political enemies using the power of an unknown intelligence group. In total secrecy, he would attempt to destroy or purge official groups of those he found unacceptable and it would require other officials to stop his increasingly damaging attacks from within their own ranks.
The Special Intelligence Service is a little known predecessor of the most infamous and renowned later groups that still remain in the public consciousness. This largely forgotten American entity was under the command of J. Edgar Hoover and despite his earliest lukewarm desires to manage the group, in time he would desire to use this organization as a launching point for shared control of worldwide intelligence operations with the military.
Join your host Chuck Ochelli with author Carmine Savastano as they offer some insights with evidence into the design and history of America's first official attempt to centralize intelligence via the Office of Strategic Services.
Inspecting the foundations of the modern historical American intelligence system and its military origins reveals the influences that created the Office of Strategic Services from which all later intelligence groups would evolve. Additionally noted are some resulting power struggles between civilian and military departments about the policies and future path of American intelligence.
Historian Mike Swanson and author Carmine Savastano return to complete their prior study of former Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles in another look at the whether he was the legendary spymaster or merely presenting the crafted image of one.
