Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan

by Bruce Lee

One of the most important matters is who will be the men chosen to handle the Ultra/Magic information in the field? This is where Colonel McCormack’s genius shows.2 Rather than allow the Army to assign any reserve officer or college graduate who happens to be available for the job, McCormack deems the work can “be done effectively only by imaginative persons of absolutely first-class ability and suitable training.” His MIS operation reports only to General Marshall and the Secretary of War. This makes MIS vulnerable to roadblocks thrown up by civil service experts and delays posed by Army personnel officers who are angry that the unit is secret and they cannot control what is going on. And so Colonel McCormack turns to the field from which he comes, the law, and picks men of exceptional brilliance.