Dennis E. Nolan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dennis Nolan as Brigadier General around 1920

Dennis Edward Nolan (born April 22, 1872 in Akron , New York , † February 24, 1956 in New York City ) was an American officer in the United States Army , most recently major general , who served as chief of military reconnaissance during the First World War American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and is referred to as the Father of American Military Intelligence .

Life

Nolan was born the eldest of six children of an immigrant Irish family. He originally planned to become a teacher and was teaching at an elementary school in his hometown while he was still in high school. He then wanted to enroll at Cornell University for a teacher training course, but received an offer at short notice to take the entrance exam for the West Point Military Academy and got the highest score of all applicants. He wasn't a very good student, but he was an excellent athlete and played successfully on the Army Cadets football team. After graduation in 1896, he selected the infantry and joined the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Snelling , Minnesota , as 2nd Lieutenant . He was soon transferred to California to the 1st Infantry Regiment , stationed in the Presidio of San Francisco .

In the Spanish-American War of 1898 Nolan took part as assistant adjutant of a brigade of invading forces in Cuba and was involved, among other things, in a smaller landing near Havana in May and in the Battle of El Caney in July. In December 1898 he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant , and later he received two Silver Stars for his participation in the campaign . In the Philippine-American War , which began in 1899 , he served with the rank of major of the volunteers in the 11th Volunteer Cavalry from August 1899 on the main island of Luzon . During this time he first attracted the attention of his future superiors, John J. Pershing and James Harbord .

Nolan returned to the United States in 1901, where he married and then became a permanent captain teacher at the West Point Military Academy. Here he taught law and history until 1903. He was inducted into the newly formed General Staff of the US Army in 1903 and served in the Division of Military Information in Washington, DC until 1906 . Last year he took part in a tour to France, where he observed military maneuvers on behalf of the General Staff. After a time in the troop service, Nolan was again transferred to the Philippines in 1907, where he worked for the Philippine Constabulary until 1911 , most recently as an inspector. From 1911 to 1915 he was Regimental Adjutant of the 30th Infantry Regiment in California and Fort William H. Seward , Alaska. From May 1915 he served again with the Washington General Staff, this time in the War College Division under Tasker H. Bliss , and was promoted to major in 1916.

Pershing (center) with his staff in Chaumont. Nolan right behind Pershing.

On the recommendation of General Harbord, General Pershing selected him after the USA entered the war in April 1917 as his chief of intelligence ( Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 ). At the end of May he traveled to Europe with Pershing and his staff on board the SS Baltic . In France he first studied the French and British reconnaissance methods as an observer with the 3e armée and at the British headquarters during the Third Battle of Flanders and then made Pershing his suggestions about the organization of his future business area. Among other things, he introduced aerial reconnaissance and radio reconnaissance into the repertoire of the US Army and worked closely with the Signal Corps on this. Furthermore, he brought experience with acoustic and optical location of enemy batteries , the questioning of defectors and the evaluation of captured documents and ensured the foundation of his own reconnaissance school in Langres, France . He also set up the Corps of Intelligence Police to operate counterintelligence, the forerunner of the Counter Intelligence Corps of World War II. His other duties included measures of censorship and propaganda . The Stars and Stripes newspaper, which still appears today, was founded in February 1918 by officers from Nolan's department.

Nolan also made frequent frontline visits. At the end of September 1918 he observed the progress of the Meuse-Argonne offensive when he was temporarily assigned the command of a brigade of the 28th Infantry Division . He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for successfully defending Apremont on October 1st against a German counterattack . His other awards from this war included the Distinguished Service Medal . He stayed in Europe after the end of the war until he was called back to the General Staff in Washington in July 1919.

He was demoted from Temporary Brigadier General to Major, but reached the permanent rank of Brigadier General in 1920 while serving as Assistant Chief of Staff, Military Intelligence Division . From 1921 to 1922 he commanded the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade in Texas , then the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Sam Houston until 1923 . He then came back to the General Staff as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4 , and was Deputy Chief of Staff from 1924 to 1926 under Chief of Staff of the Army John L. Hines . In January 1925 he was promoted to major general. From 1926 to 1927 Nolan served as a representative of the War Department in Geneva at the Preparatory Disarmament Conference of the League of Nations .

From 1927 to 1931, Nolan commanded the 5th Corps Area , based in Fort Hayes , Ohio. From 1931 until reaching the statutory age limit of 64 in 1936, he commanded the 2nd Corps Area with headquarters on Governors Island , New York. When the First Army was formed in the fall of 1933 , he also took over its leadership. In retirement, he chaired a State Department committee for the 1939 New York World's Fair . After its end he became chairman of the New York Citizen's Budget Commission, which he remained until 1951. From 1938 to 1940 he was also President of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy and from 1940 President of the Philippine Club . He died honored in New York in 1956 at the age of 83. His grave is in Arlington National Cemetery .

In 1988, Nolan was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame .

literature

  • George Washington Cullum etc. (Ed.): Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, since its establishment in 1802. 1891 ff.
  • History Office, Office of the Chief of Staff, US Army Intelligence and Security Command (ed.): The Life and Times of MG Dennis E. Nolan, 1872–1956, The Army's First G2. Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 1998 ( PDF, 6.5 MB ).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Nolan, Dennis E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nolan, Dennis Ernest (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American major general
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Akron , New York
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1956
Place of death New York City