Courtesy Photo | Brig. Gen. Eugene Kelley, Jr., USAICS commander, (right) with Col. William C. Powell,...... read more read more
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by Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian
On August 11, 1975, Brig. Gen. Eugene “Gene” Kelley, Jr., took command of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School (USAICS) at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. His two-year tenure as the commanding general coincided with a significant Army intelligence reorganization that included the consolidation of all intelligence training under USAICS.
In 1942, at the age of eighteen, Gene Kelley was drafted into the U.S. Army as an infantryman. Assigned to 2d Battalion, 386th Infantry, 97th Infantry Division, he earned his first of three Combat Infantryman Badges in the latter part of World War II. Having received a battlefield commission, Kelley decided to remain in the Army after the war. He served in the Korean War, attended the Infantry advanced course, and completed the area studies, strategic intelligence, and imagery intelligence courses at the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Maryland. In 1966, he deployed to Vietnam for back-to-back assignments as commander, 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (Air Reconnaissance Support), and deputy commander, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. Kelley then served as commander, 66th MI Group; assistant deputy director for human resources, Defense Intelligence Agency; and director of intelligence operations, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence.
On August 11, 1975, General Kelley assumed command of USAICS, replacing Brig. Gen. Harry H. Hiestand, who had departed the schoolhouse in mid-July. Kelley’s first task was to prepare USAICS for consolidation, along with other branch schools, under one of the Army’s newest major commands, the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). To fit the standardized school model, USAICS created separate training and combat development directorates and established its School Brigade as the single command, staff, and support element for the entire center. The brigade and its three battalions moved their headquarters in the newly constructed Riley Barracks.
At the same time, the Army renewed its focus on the Soviet Union and produced new doctrine to ensure the Army could “win the first battle of the next war.” To support this effort, the Intelligence Organization and Stationing Study (IOSS) sought to develop a more coordinated and effective structure for all Army intelligence, integrating electronic warfare and intelligence and placing emphasis on tactical levels of combat at corps and below. [See This Week in MI History #51 26 July–1 August] This drove USAICS’ concepts, doctrine, and material developments, as well as training.
While Combat Electronic Warfare and Intelligence battalions were being organized for each of the Army’s combat divisions, General Kelley directed USAICS to reorient training to this tactical emphasis. Under his direction, USAICS stood up tactical counterintelligence courses, developed the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield concept, and began training officers how to integrate intelligence from all sources. The final piece was integrating signals intelligence and electronic warfare taught at the Army Security Agency Training Center and School (ASATC&S) at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, into USAICS’ combat intelligence training. Consequently, on 1 October 1976, General Kelley oversaw the realignment of the ASATC&S under USAICS’ command and its redesignation as the U.S. Army Intelligence School Devens.
When General Kelley relinquished command to Brig. Gen. Albert Stubblebine on 1 August 1977, he reflected on the “landmark” progress made over the previous two years. After lamenting that the previous separation of the “various sub-elements of intelligence…sometimes led to less than satisfactory combat effectiveness,” General Kelley praised the “joining of intelligence under one command structure within TRADOC.” He predicted it would “increase the overall efficiency and increase our ability to stay abreast of technology and thus provide the field commander with a multiplier of combat power.”
| Date Taken: | 08.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.08.2022 11:33 |
| Story ID: | 426769 |
| Location: | FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 268 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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