Sunday, December 30, 2018

OSS Operations Group Manual

These are the policies and procedures used by the CIA's JMWAVE station to train the anti-Castro Cubans, and for the Dealey Plaza Operation.


OPERATIONAL GROUP FIELD MANUAL – STRATEGIC SERVICES (Provisional)

Prepared under the direction of The Director of Strategic Services
(William Donovan)

SECRET

Strategic Services Field Manual No. 6
Office of Strategic Services
Washington D.C.
25 April 1944

This Operational Groups Field Manual – Strategic Services is made available for the information and guidance of selected personnel and will be used as the basic doctrine for Strategic Services training for the operations of these groups.

The contents of this manual should be carefully controlled and should not be allowed to come into unauthorized hands. The manual will not be taken to advance bases.

AR 380-5, 15 March 1944, pertaining to the handling of secret documents, will be complied with the handling of this manual.
Signed
William J. Donovan Director

TABLE OF CONENTS
SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION
1.      SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF MANUAL
2.      DEFIITIONS
3.      OPERATIONAL GROUPS

SECTION II – ORGANIZATION

4.      ORGANIZATION IN WASHINGTON
5.      ORGANIZATION IN THE FIELD

SECTION III – PERSONNEL
6.      ORGANIZATION FOR RECRUITMENT
7.      QUALIFICATIONS OF OG PERSONNEL

SECTION IV – TRAINING
8.      GENERAL PROCEDURE
9.      TRAINING OBJECTIVES
10.  CURRICULUM
11.  MAINTENANCE OF MORALE

SECTION V – OPERATIONS
12.  GENERAL
13.  TYPES OF OG OPERATIONS
14.  OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS

SECTION VI – COOPERATION OF OG WITIN OSS AND WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

15.  COOOPERATION WITH THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
16.  COOPERATION WITH OTHER OSS OPERATIONS BRANCHES
17.  COOPERATION WITH SIMILAR AGENCIES OF ALLIED NATIONS

SECTION VII - PLANNING
18.  PLANNING IN WASHINGTON
19.  PLANNING IN THEATERS OF OPERATIONS
20.  CHECK LIST



OPERATIONAL GROUPS FIELD MANUAL – STRATEGIC SERVICES

SECTION I – INTRODUCTION

`1. SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF MANUAL

This manual sets forth the authorized functions, operational principles, methods, and organization of Operational Groups (OG’s) as a part of OSS operations. It’s purpose is to guide Strategic Services personnel responsible for planning, training, and operations in the proper employment of OG’s.

2. DEFINITIONS

a.       OVER-ALL PROGRAM FOR STRATEGIC SERVICES ACTIVTIES – a collection of objectives, in order of priority (importance) within a theater or area.
b.      OBJECTIVE – a main or controlling goal for accomplishment within a theater or area by Strategic Services as set forth in an Over-all Program.
c.       SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR STRATEGIC SERVICES ACTIVITIES – a statement setting forth the detailed missions assigned to one or more Strategic branches, designed to accomplish a given objective, together with a summary of the situation and the general methods of accomplishment of the assigned missions.
d.      MISSION – a statement of purpose set forth in a special program for the accomplishment of a given objective.
e.       OPERATIONAL PLAN – an amplification or elaboration of a special program, containing the details and means of carrying out the specified activities.
f.       TASK – a detailed operation, usually planned in the field, which contributes toward the accomplishment of a mission.
g.      TARGET – a place, establishment, group or individual toward which activities or operations are directed.
h.      THE FIELD – all areas outside of the United States in which Strategic Services activities take place.
i.        FIELD BASE – an OSS headquarters in the field, designated by the name of the city in which it is established, e.g., Strategic Services Field Base, Cairo.
j.        ADVANCED OR SUB-BASE – an additional base established by and responsible to an OSS field base.
k.      OPERATIVE – an individual employed by and responsible to the OSS and assigned under special programs to field activity.
l.        AGENT – an individual recruited in the field who is employed and directed by an OSS operative or by a field or sub-base.
m.    RESISTANCE GROUPS – individuals associated together in enemy-held territory to oppose the enemy by any and all means short of military operations, e.g., by sabotage, non-cooperation.
n.      GURREILLAS – an organized band of individuals in enemy-held territory, indefinite as to number, which conducts against the enemy irregular operations, including those of a military or quasi-military nature.


3. OPERATIONAL GROUPS

a.       DEFINITION
OPERATIONAL GROPUS: a small, uniformed party of specially qualified soldiers, organized, trained, and equipped to accomplish the specific missions set forth below.
b.      AUTHORITY

Among the functions assigned by the Joint Chiefs of Staff directive to the Office of Strategic Services are the following, which are applicable to Operational Groups:

(1)   The organization and conduct of guerrilla warfare;
(2)   The use of the organization and facilities of the OSS by the theater commander in his theater or area in any manner and to the maximum extend desired by him.

c.       MISSIONS OF OPERATIONAL GROUPS

The mission of OPERATIONAL GROUPS is:

(1)   To organize, train, and equip resistance groups in order to convert them into guerrillas, and to serve as the nuclei of such groups in operations against the enemy, as directed by the theater commander.
(2)   In addition, under authority granted to the theater commander by the JCS Directive, Operational Groups may be used to execute independent operations against enemy targets as directed by the theater commander.


SECTION II – ORGANIZATION

4. ORGANIZATION IN WASHINGTON
a. Operational Groups are organized in Washington along strictly military lines. There is a commanding officer, responsible to the Strategic Services Operations Officer, and a staff consisting of an executive officer, an  S-1 (personnel), and S-2 (intelligence and security), and S-3 (plans and training), an S-4 (supply), and a medical officer (chief surgeon and medical supply officer). There is also training staff of variable size consisting of semi-permanent senior instructors, and junior instructors who are assigned to field duty with OG’s after they have trained their successors.
b. OG Headquarters, Washington, has no direct command over OG’s in the field, since they are under control and direction of the theater commander through the strategic services officer. The primary function of the OG organization in Washington is to service OG’s in the field with trained personnel and supplies. OG Headquarters, Washington, also has the administrative responsibility of maintaining coordinated chronological record of OG activities.
5. ORGANIZTION IN THE FIELD
a. The Operational Group
(1) TABLE OF ORGANIZATION
The Operational Groups, consisting of 4 officers and 30 men, is the basic unit of OG organization. An OG normally consists of 2 sections of 2 squads each.
The T/O of a typical OG is as follows:
Captain (1) commanding
First Lieutenant (3) including:
Second-in-command of the OG (1)
Section leader (2)
Technical sergeant (2), including:
Second-in-command of sections (2)
Staff Sergeant (6), including:
Squad leader, (4)
Medical technician (2)
Corporal or technician fifth grade (22), including:
Scout (16)
Code clerk (1)
Courier (1)
Radio operator (4)
Aggregate (all ranks(: 34

2. TABLE OF EQUIPMENT

In addition to standard Army clothing, OG members are issued special garments appropriate to the climate and terrain in their country of operations. Each Operational Group has a special Table of Equipment (T/E), showing the arms and other articles to be carried. This T/E varies with the theater for which the OG is bound and the missions it is expected to accomplish.

3. SS EQUIPMENT
(a) SS weapons and demolition equipment are issued to OG’s through SS supply channels in the theater, as required by their mission.
(b) Communications equipment carried by OG’s consists of SS radio sets which are issued through SS supply channels in the theater.

4. MOTORIZED VEHICLES

Although motorized vehicles are no part of the organic equipment of an OG, they may be issued in the theater when required by a mission and when it is feasible to introduce and maintain such vehicles in the area of operations.

b. THE FIELD SERVICE HEADQUARTERS

(1)   TABLE OF ORGANIZATION

The Field Service Headquarters (FSHQ) is the next higher echelon of command above the Operational Group. An FSHQ is roughly comparable to the Army’s battalion headquarters, and the FSHQ commanding officer directs the operations of from two to five OG’s. An FSHQ is normally located outside of, but in proximity to, the enemy-held territory in which several OG’s are operating. However, when conditions permit, FSHQ will be established in the areas of operations. The T/O consists of the following:
Major (1), commanding
Captain (1), medical officer
First lieutenant (3), including:
Adjutant (1)
Communications officer (1)
Supply officer (1)
First sergeant (1)
Technical Sergeant (6), including:
Signal non-commissioned officer (3)
Supply non-commissioned officer (2)
Replacement (1)
Corporal or technician, fifth grade (16),
Aggregate (all ranks): 28



SECTION III – PERSONNEL
6. ORGANIZTION FOR RECRUITMENT
a. Members of OG’s procured in the United States are officers or enlisted men who have been inducted into the Army through regular channels. Under War Department approval, and within War Department allotment of grades and ratings, selection is made of such personnel by trained interviewers of the Personnel Procurement Branch (PPB), OSS, according to specifications submitted by Headquarters, Operational Groups Washington. PPB interviewers examine the civil and military records of likely candidates and hold personal interviews. Candidates who are acceptable are ordered to an SS area to begin training, pending security clearance. This procedure in no way violates security, as the training initially given is an extension of Army training. No specialized strategic services instruction is given until the security check has been completed.
b. It will sometimes be necessary to procure OG personnel directly in the theater where they will operate. This procedure is applicable when persons cannot be found in the United States who are qualified in a particular language, knowledge of a certain locality, and other essentials. When an OG must be staffed in the theater, the work of procurement will usually be done by a cadre from the U.S. consisting normally of 2 officers and 5 men,…..
……
d.      SKILLS
As many men as possible in each OG should be qualified in certain specialized fields. Previous training on radio, demolitions, weapons, scouting, or field craft is a particularly desirable qualification in a candidate.,,,,
……f….POLITICAL SYMPATHIES
Persons charged with procurement of OG personnel must use great care in the case of individuals who are sympathetic to particular political movements or factions within the country of their origin. The readiness and ability of such individuals to get along harmoniously with the movement or faction in the area of operations must be carefully determined in advance. In certain areas, however, where disputes are bitter, and the areas of rivals are not delineated, it is more desirable to staff an OG with American citizens whose language ability is somewhat imperfect rather than with ex-natives of the area who have pronounced political attachments.
g. CHARACTER TRAITS
While the risks involved tend to make OG work appeal to young men, the success of OG assignments is not the result of daring and bravado alone. Accordingly, candidates will be selected whose past records, civilian and military, give evidence of stability and good judgement.
h. ARMY TRAINING
Except for certain specially qualified persons recruited in the field (see paragraph 6. b.) candidates must have completed basic training before being accepted for OG work. Candidates who have also had combat training are preferable.
SECTION IV – TRAINING
8. GENERAL PROCEDURE
OG training is an intensive course of specialized instruction in the weapons, techniques, and methods of operation appropriate for a small, self-sufficient band of men who may be required to live and fight in the manner of guerrillas….The training period in the U.S. is normally three weeks…..





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