The Strategic Services Unit was an

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

of the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

that existed in the immediate post–

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

period. It was created from the Secret Intelligence and Counter-Espionage branches of the wartime

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

(OSS).

Assistant Secretary of War The United States assistant secretary of war was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of Augus ...

John J. McCloy John Jay McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and high-ranking bureaucrat. He served as United States Assistant Secretary of War, Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry L. Stims ...

was instrumental in preserving and maintaining the two branches of the OSS with a view to forming a permanent peace-time intelligence agency. The unit was established on October 1, 1945, through Executive Order 9621, which simultaneously abolished the OSS. The SSU was headed by General John Magruder.

Thomas Powers Thomas Powers (born December 12, 1940, in New York City) is an American author and intelligence expert. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1971 together with Lucinda Franks for his articles on Weatherman member Diana ...

(1979). ''The Man Who Kept the Secrets: Richard Helms and the CIA''. p. 28 (Magruder at SSU). In January 1946, a new

National Intelligence Authority The National Intelligence Authority (NIA) was the United States government authority responsible for monitoring the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), the successor intelligence agency of the Office of Strategic Services established by President Har ...

(NIA) was established along with a small

Central Intelligence Group The Central Intelligence Group (CIG) was the direct successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and the Strategic Services Unit (SSU), and the direct predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The official duties of CIG as quo ...

(CIG). On April 2, 1946, the Strategic Services Unit was transferred to the new group as the

Office of Special Operations The Office of Special Operations (OSO) was an office of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and its predecessor, the Central Intelligence Group (CIG). The head of OSO was the Assistant Director for the Office of Special Operations (ADSO), the firs ...

(OSO) and a transfer of personnel began immediately. In 1947, the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

was established under the 1947 National Security Act, incorporating the Central Intelligence Group. In August 1952, the Office of Special Operations was combined with the

Office of Policy Coordination The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was the covert operation wing of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Created as a department of the CIA in 1948, it actually operated independently until October 1950. OPC existed until 1 A ...

to form the

Directorate of Plans The Directorate of Operations (DO), less formally called the Clandestine Service,Central Intelligence AgencyCareers & Internships Retrieved: July 9, 2015. is a component of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was known as the ''Directorate ...

References

Central Intelligence Agency Cold War history of the United States Counterintelligence agencies Government agencies established in 1946 Human intelligence (information gathering) United States Department of War United States intelligence agencies {{US-gov-stub