Pearl Harbor Intelligence Failure Essay

Later that year in December of 1941, the United States suffered the most costly intelligence failure when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The failure was a result of analysis misconceptions, lack of integration of intelligence data, collection gaps, bureaucratic confusion, a historical and cultural misunderstanding of the mindset of the adversary, a great underestimation of Japanese capabilities and intentions, and Japanese denial and deception. Moreover, intelligence was being handled in a casual, uncoordinated manner and there was a lack of coordination mainly between the Army and Naval intelligence. In the aftermath of the attack, it became, it became obvious that there was a need for a larger and much more capable intelligence organization and efforts. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was …show more content…
The operating arm of the Military Intelligence Division, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) which provided intelligence analysis to the U.S. and allied commands, was created in 1942 and carried out collection around the world including agent operations, signal interception, and photo reconnaissance. At the same time, aerial reconnaissance missions were run by the Army Air Corps, and counterintelligence support was provided the Army Counterintelligence Corps who operated both domestically and overseas. The Army signals intelligence broke and exploited the code systems used by the Japanese army which intelligence is thought to have shorted the war in the Pacific, and intelligence produced by U.S., Poland, and British in an effort code named “ULTRA” gave Allies insight into the workings of the German military and shortened the war in Europe. Also during this time, a reconnaissance team, the Alamo Scouts, comprised of American soldiers and Australian and Philippine guerrilla forces interrogated Japanese prisoners and exploited captured