Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met recently with
intelligence community professionals at Defense Intelligence Agency
headquarters at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, to thank
them for their work and to honor one of the earliest members of the
intelligence community, Army Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton.
Within the headquarters, the agency renamed Clapper Leadership Hall to Thomas Knowlton Leadership Hall.
"Thomas Knowlton was a warrior in the Continental Army and the father
of American intelligence," Hegseth said. "It was Gen. George
Washington, our first commander in chief and the nation's first true
spymaster, who commissioned Knowlton in 1776 to form our military's
first dedicated intelligence gathering unit. Washington understood that
victory is won not just by steel and shot, but by secrecy, by deception
and by foresight. He knew that accuracy and timely intelligence are the
bedrock of strategic dominance."
It was after a spree of debilitating defeats as a result of
intelligence failures in early battles of the Revolutionary War that
Washington recognized the Continental Army's need for an elite group
whose sole objective was intelligence and reconnaissance.
With that realization, Washington selected Knowlton as commander of
the Continental Army's first intelligence unit, which would come to be
known as Knowlton's Rangers.
Washington chose Knowlton as the unit's commander because of his
experience as a scout in the French and Indian Wars and his leadership
at the battles of Breed's Hill and Long Island.
Consisting of 130 men and 20 officers, the unit was charged with
conducting reconnaissance, carrying out raids against British facilities
and other dangerous covert missions.
Knowlton was killed in September 1776, while leading his men at the
Battle of Harlem Heights. His contributions, and the creation of
Knowlton's Rangers, are regarded as the birth of military intelligence.
Hegseth told the leaders that in the same way that Knowlton provided
Washington with the intelligence needed to defeat the British during the
American Revolution, today's intelligence community ensures that
America's military has the intelligence it needs to make decisions every
day.
"I cannot do my job without the immense, tireless and often
unheralded efforts that you put in every single day," he said. "The work
done in these halls and behind these walls, across the globe by the
defense intelligence community is the cornerstone ... of our national
defense."
During his visit, the secretary also provided coins to several
military personnel and discussed with leaders how departmentwide
transformation efforts, including restoring the warrior ethos,
rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence, affect the
defense intelligence community.
Posts
