The Stories/Camp Ritchie Background: Difference between revisions

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'''Camp Ritchie Background'''

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The history of [[Camp Ritchie]] dates to the 1890s when the 638-acre site was used as a summer resort by wealthy families from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. It is located approximately 15 miles SW of Gettysburg, PA, adjacent to the town of Cascade, MD, near the Pennsylvania border. In 1926, the Washington County site became a training center for the Maryland National Guard and was named Camp Albert C. Ritchie in honor of the then Governor of Maryland. It also served as a summer camp for children. In 1942, the Army leased Camp Albert C. Ritchie from Maryland and its official name became the Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC), or simply Camp Ritchie.

Some historians have concluded that there was no completely defined mission to govern the activities of G-2. Although the first two officers who were placed in charge of G-2 in the European theater, Colonels Homer Case and R. A. McClure, made serious efforts to draw up a workable organizational structure, the operation was continually evolving in a step-by-step manner. [Box 432, Folder 1].

The first class of instruction at Camp Ritchie was scheduled for July 25, 1942. Col. [[Robbins, Thomas|Thomas Robbins]] from the British School for Interrogators of Prisoners of War at Cambridge University was co-opted to help and was on site from June to October 1942. Prior to the establishment of the MITC at Camp Ritchie, there were several sporadic attempts to provide specialized training at other locations; this included aerial photo interpretation classes at the Engineers School, Fort Belvoir in 1941; and classes for the interrogation of German Prisoners of War at Camp Blanding, FL and at Camp Bullis, TX. The Fort Belvoir photo interpretation course was the first one given since World War I. A student of that first class was Lt. Col. Lester C. Curl (1907–1975) who then became an instructor at Fort Belvoir and later helped start the Air Intelligence School for the Air Corps. In April 1943, he was transferred to the ETO where he served with G-2 Section, HQ ETOUSA. From July to September 1944, he became a photo interpretation instructor at Camp Ritchie and later went on to become head of a new organization, the Photo Intelligence Center (PIC) [Box 374].

After considering several suggested approaches, the approved plan, as outlined in a memo dated May 23, 1942, specified that the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, would operate a school under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Military Intelligence Services (MIS) and that the Military Intelligence Training Center would be located at Camp Ritchie, where summer encampments of the Maryland National Guard had taken place for a number of years. This was codified when the State of Maryland and the Federal Government signed a lease, the terms of which provided that the camp may be used exclusively for national defense purposes as deemed necessary by the War Department. The lease was for the period of one year commencing on June 1, 1942, with an option for the Government to renew from year to year at a rental of One Dollar per annum, but not to extend beyond six months after termination of the present war emergency. Except for the residence of the Commanding General, the Federal Government was given permission to make repairs and alterations to all of the camp’s facilities considered necessary by the War Department.

== See also ==

* [[The Stories]]

* [[Camp Ritchie]]

* [[Secret Heroes/First Class]]

* [[Introduction]]

* [[FAQ]]

* [[Contents]]