The Admirals' Advantage: U.S. Navy Operational Intelligence in World War II and the Cold War

by Christopher A. Ford, David Rosenberg

Operational intelligence, knowledge of the enemy’s location and actions, is crucial to effective military operations. The Admirals’ Advantage offers a revealing look at naval operational intelligence based on the findings of a classified Operational Intelligence (OPINTEL) Lessons-Learned Project and a 1998 Symposium at the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center. Participants included senior intelligence and operational leaders who explored the evolution and significance of OPINTEL since World War II. Past and current practices were examined with inputs from fleet and shore commands and insights from interviews and correspondence with senior flag officers and intelligence professionals.

Genres: Naval History

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

Christopher A. Ford, a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, a former United States Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, has published widely in the fields of international law and security studies, nuclear nonproliferation, comparative law, and intelligence law and policy.

Reviews

[Laurent Reinhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive history of US Navy operational intelligence [OPINTEL] that spans World War II and the end of the Cold War. The authors convincingly lay out how OPINTEL drove an in-depth understanding of the Soviet Navy that ultimately played a part in NATO's winning the Cold War. I served as a Naval Intelligence Officer then and thus found the book extremely meaningful. Additionally, coauthor David Rosenberg was the Commanding Officer of a Navy Reserve unit in which I served in the early 2000s. Donating it to the USS Midway Museum Library.
“OPINTEL [operational intelligence] during the era of the Maritime Strategy thus demonstrated how good intelligence can be used, in effect, as a weapon of war - one that helped the U.S. Navy develop the capability to ‘bring the Soviet Navy to their knees.’ The imbalance of OPINTEL capabilities between the United States and the USSR provided NATO a potentially decisive advantage over the Warsaw Pact in the event of war . . . Navy OPINTEL was perhaps one of the West's most powerful weapons and may have contributed in important ways to NATO's victory in the Cold War.” pp 108-109

[Roy McCullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good treatment of a fairly specialized and little-studied topic. A worthwhile read.

[TK Keanini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book on how important good intelligence is to the players advantage. My angle on this book is to understand the game theory aspects, to study the patterns of conflict.