# Military Intelligence Service Language School *U.S. Army school that trained Japanese linguists in Minnesota during World War II (1942–1946).* The Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) was a U.S. Army school that trained soldiers as Japanese linguists for the American military in World War II.[^1] It began as the Fourth Army Intelligence School at the Presidio in San Francisco, which opened on November 1, 1941. In 1942 it moved to Minnesota, first to Camp Savage and then to [[Fort Snelling]], where its last class graduated on June 8, 1946.[^2] Most of its students were Nisei, second-generation Japanese Americans. The school graduated over six thousand linguists, roughly 85 percent of them Nisei.[^1] The school came to Minnesota after Executive Order 9066 of February 19, 1942. The order led to the forced removal of Japanese Americans from their homes to camps that the Minnesota Historical Society's entry calls concentration camps inside the United States.[^2] Several states rejected the school's request to relocate within their borders. [[Harold Stassen]], Minnesota's governor and a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], agreed to take it.[^1][^3] After the move to Camp Savage, many of the school's students came from those camps.[^1] The main account of the school in the record is the MNopedia entry of the [[Minnesota Historical Society]]. The Society's site states that its funding comes from the State of Minnesota, the Legacy Amendment, and donors and members.[^1] The entry gives two reasons for Minnesota's selection: the state had adequate facilities, and most of its residents were, in the entry's words, "accepting of Japanese Americans". The same entry records that Nisei soldiers at the school faced discrimination, and that the move itself followed the federal removal order.[^1] ## Who A group of U.S. Army officers conceived the idea of a military language school on April 15, 1941.[^2] The school recruited mainly Nisei. Among them were Kibei, Japanese Americans who had been educated in Japan, and a few students were white.[^1] Early graduates became instructors at the school.[^1] The final Camp Savage class, in January 1944, had one hundred instructors. By 1946 there were 160.[^2] Members of the Women's Army Corps joined the school in May 1945.[^2] Stassen was the state official who accepted the school.[^1] The Legislative Reference Library's veto record lists him as governor for the 1939, 1941 and 1943 legislative sessions.[^4] ## What Instruction covered: - reading and writing; - interrogation and translation; - document analysis; - geography and map reading; - the structure of the Japanese military, and Japanese politics and society.[^1] When the school moved to Minnesota, it was placed under the direct control of the War Department and renamed the Military Intelligence Service Language School.[^1] At Camp Savage the curriculum stressed versatility but centered on the military uses of the Japanese language.[^1] A Chinese-language division was added on November 19, 1945, and a Korean-language division on November 29, 1945.[^2] After the last Fort Snelling class graduated, the school returned to California and was renamed the Army Language School.[^2] ## When The MNopedia entry gives two dates for the move to Minnesota: - Its chronology dates the move to Camp Savage to May 1942, after the school graduated its first class in California.[^2] - Its narrative text places the move in June 1942.[^1] The first Camp Savage class convened on June 1, 1942, and graduated on November 30, 1942.[^2] The school moved to Fort Snelling in August 1944.[^2] After Germany's defeat, activity at the school increased and students graduated more rapidly.[^1] Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945.[^2] The last class graduated from Fort Snelling on June 8, 1946.[^2] The graduates' wartime work was kept secret. According to the entry, their story became public only in the 1970s, when World War II military intelligence documents were declassified.[^1] ## Where The school's first site was the Presidio in San Francisco.[^2] In Minnesota it occupied Camp Savage in Scott County, which it outgrew. In August 1944 it moved to Fort Snelling, with headquarters in building 57.[^1] By 1946 it used more than 125 classrooms there.[^2] Most graduates were deployed to the Pacific or China-Burma-India theaters.[^1] ## Why According to the entry, some Army officers recognized in the early 1940s that a possible war with Japan would require Japanese linguists.[^1] Executive Order 9066 prompted the school's move from the West Coast.[^1] After Japan's surrender, the school grew because more linguists were needed for the occupation of Japan.[^1] The entry records that the school was controversial because many felt the Nisei could not be trusted.[^1] It also records that the U.S. intelligence service feared recruits would be hard to find after Executive Order 9066, and that Nisei nonetheless volunteered in the hundreds.[^1] ## How In the field, graduates communicated with Japanese soldiers, gathered and translated documents, and took part in combat.[^1] Nisei graduates served on the staffs of U.S. generals and translated during high-level negotiations. The linguists served in every branch of the military and supported more than 130 wartime organizations.[^1] Late in the war, Japanese radio messages and communiqués were intercepted and translated directly.[^1] ## How many The school's numbers, as stated in the MNopedia entry: - **October 1944:** 1,600 enlisted men, 142 officer candidates and 53 officers had graduated.[^2] - **January 1944:** the last Camp Savage class had 1,100 students.[^2] - **Early 1946:** the school was at its largest, with three thousand students, and about five thousand of its graduates were overseas.[^1] - **Overall:** over six thousand linguists graduated, roughly 85 percent of them Nisei.[^1] During the school's years in Minnesota, the state's Japanese American population grew to approximately five thousand.[^1] The entry states that the Nisei linguists were credited with shortening the war in the East by two years, saving nearly a million lives and billions of dollars. It does not say who made that assessment, and the record contains no primary source for the figure.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Historical Society (Peter J. DeCarlo), *Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS)*, MNopedia (first published May 13, 2015; last modified April 10, 2026) — narrative text and site footer: mission, students, curriculum, relocation, Stassen's acceptance, enrollment, graduates, secrecy, and the Society's funding statement. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/military-intelligence-service-language-school-misls [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society (Peter J. DeCarlo), *Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS)*, MNopedia (last modified April 10, 2026) — chronology: dated events from April 15, 1941, to June 8, 1946, including class sizes, graduate counts, and the dates of the language divisions and the renaming. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/military-intelligence-service-language-school-misls [^3]: Wikipedia, *Joseph H. Ball* (last edited September 4, 2026) — describes Harold Stassen as a Republican who was elected governor of Minnesota. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_H._Ball [^4]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Veto Details: Governor Harold Stassen* (compiled record) — lists Stassen's vetoes for the 1939, 1941 and 1943 legislative sessions. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/vetoes/vetodetails.aspx?gov=14