John Ohly’s “Grand Strategy” Files: The Majestic Link Between the “Grand Joint Operation” and the “Shadow GHQ.”

After having spent the last 12-16 months extensively researching this stuff, I actually feel like I could walk away after this one. Because this represents "checkmate," as far as I'm concerned, regarding MJ-12's institutional history. This connects the Shadow GHQ, Grand Joint Operation, NSC 10/2, and MJ-12. As always, this exclusively leverages declassified "acknowledged" archival evidence to reconstruct the process by which SecDef Forrestal—and his Special Assistant for National Security, Jo...

This post connects the Shadow GHQ, James Forrestal's Grand Joint Operation, NSC 10-2, and MJ-12. Buried in an official OSD history are five high-level meetings called “Grand Strategy,” held between April and June 1948, which coincide with the development and creation of NSC 10/2. I trace these meetings through James Forrestal’s Special Assistant for National Security, John Ohly, and connect them to the Shadow GHQ meeting and March 1949 Grand Joint Operation to reconstruct the architecture thr...