September 22, 2025

Camp Ritchie During WWII:

A Secret Training Camp for Intelligence Soldiers
Marguerite Wilson

When the US was plunged into World War II, military intelligence was seriously lacking. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall ordered the development of intelligence training centers and a coordinated intelligence program. During the war, 20,000 intelligence enlisted and officer personnel from 70 countries were trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. The science of military intelligence and training was quickly developed and implemented. The Camp Ritchie curriculum was considered by many to be the gold standard for military intelligence training, especially interrogation techniques. It is estimated that 40 percent of actionable intelligence procured in the field in Europe was obtained by Camp Ritchie soldiers. Much evidence used in the Nurnberg and other trials was procured by Ritchie soldiers. This talk will discuss the rapid development of Camp Ritchie, its interaction with surrounding communities, the curriculum, and a few stories of its remarkable cadre and graduates.

Presenter

Immediate Past President Marguerite Fabert Wilson was born to an intelligence corps Air Force father and an English war-bride mother who had served as an emergency evacuation nurse in England. They were stationed in Washington, DC, Okinawa, Italy, Germany, North Carolina, and New Jersey.

Marguerite graduated from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill with a BS in Nursing. She later received her Master’s in Nursing from The Catholic University of America and worked as a psychiatric nurse most of her career. She served in the Army Reserves, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After retirement, she and her husband, Frederick Torch member Jeff Wilson, served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, which was cut short by the birth of their grandson for whom they then provided child care. Marguerite's interests include music, bird watching, local history, cooking, traveling, hiking, swimming, and spy and mystery stories.