Military Information Division ( United States ) The Military Information Division ( MID ) was the first military intelligence branch of the United States Army and the United States Department of War , operating from 1885 to 1903 . History . The MID was established by Brigadier General Richard C . Drum , the then Adjutant General of the United States Army in October 1885 under his office in Washington DC . It thus became the de facto first standing military intelligence agency of the United States . Whilst the Union Army had a Bureau of Military Information , it reported to the Commanding General for less than a year prior to being disbanded at the end of the Civil War . The original duties of the MID consisted of collecting military data on foreign nations . Drum also asked senior Army commanders to have their officers to submit intelligence reports from their travels to foreign nations . " Initially , the division acted as a relatively passive repository for military related information . " In 1889 , the MID saw the formation of , directed and controlled what would become the Defense Attaché System , with United States Armed Forces officers being dispatched to London , Berlin , Paris , Vienna , and St . Petersburg . The Secretary of War , Redfield Proctor , required all information from the attachés to be analysed by the MID . " By 1898 , the MID had 16 attaché posts in Europe , Mexico , and Japan . Until the early 1940s , the attaché system constituted the foundation of the Army ’ s strategic collection effort . " Spanish - American War . With the beginning of the Spanish - American War in April 1898 , the United States Army entered a conflict with existing military intelligence preparation for the first time . Since 1882 , the MID had been collecting terrain and order of battle intelligence on the Spanish in Cuba and the Caribbean and had consequently produced detailed maps of likely theaters of operation . Such intelligence was assisted by the reports of the United States Army attaché in Madrid , Captain Tasker H . Bliss who would later be the Chief of Staff of the United States Army , on Spanish deployments in the region . In April , the Chief of MID , Major Arthur L . Wagner ordered two experienced military observers of MID to be deployed to the region to collect specific information on Spanish defence capabilities before the deployment of American forces . First Lieutenant Andrew S . Rowan was deployed to Cuba and First Lieutenant Henry H . Whitney was deployed to Puerto Rico . " As the war progressed , the MID published comprehensive handbooks for both Caribbean countries . " The Spanish - American War ended in August 1898 with an American victory . Philippine - American War . After the American naval victory in the Battle of Manila Bay of May 1898 , the American troops were deployed to the Philippines in July 1898 . With American victory in the Spanish - American War in August 1898 , fighting broke out as the Filipinos sought independence . This led to the Philippine – American War in June 1899 . Consequently , the American Military Governor of the Philippines formed the Bureau of Insurgent Records ( BIR ) to translate and collate captured documents and to provide information about the Filipino forces beyond tactical reconnaissance . In December 1900 , the bureau became the Division of Military Information ( DMI ) under the United States Military Government of the Philippines and was responsible for military intelligence and counterinsurgency capabilities . The Chief of DMI , Captain Ralph Van Deman who had served on the staff of the Chief of MID Major Arthur L . Wagner and would be called the " The Father of American Military Intelligence " , expanded the capabilities of the DMI to include a mapping section , improved liaison with other agencies , relayed intelligence to the field commanders , provided photographs and descriptions of known Filipino insurgents , and coordinated localised intelligence officers to gather information on the surrounding terrain , attitudes of local villagers , and the dispositions of Filipino insurgent groups . In 1902 , the DMI became a branch the MID with the end of the Philippine – American War in July 1902 . Reorganisation . In 1903 , Secretary of War Elihu Root reorganised the United States Department of War and also established the United States Army General Staff to coordinate and perform administrative , planning and intelligence functions . The Second Division of the General Staff consequently acquired the MID from the Adjutant General ' s Office . The Second Division was given four major duties : collecting and disseminating information on foreign countries ; directing the work of the attaché system ; supervising mapping , and maintaining a reference collection . " For the moment , the intelligence function had achieved equal standing with other staff missions . "