2nd Military Intelligence Battalion (United States)

In May 1965 many of the 2nd MI Bn (ARS) had been sent to Viet Nam and a number of Signal Corps personnel had finished signal corps training at Ft Gordon, GA and had been sent over to Frankfurt Germany and based on 201 test scores were asked to volunteer to fill the ranks of the 2nd MI Bn (ARS). Those of us who volunteered were sent to HHQ Company of the 2nd MI Bn (ARS), Kapaun barracks in Kaiserslautern, Germany and from there to Oberammergau for intense training for about two months and from there back to Kaiserslautern. We were then assigned to various detachments on various NATO air bases. I was assigned to detachment D at Laon, France when shortly France pulled out of NATO and our detachment was sent to RAF Upper Heyford, England with the US Air Force 66th TRW. During the winter of 1966, with the fog issues in England, we rotated down to Spain. I understand that In June of 1967 (the Israel/Egypt 6 day war) the 66th TRW was involved with aerial reconnaissance over the Mediterranean/Egyptian operations. (I was on a 2 week leave back to the states and it was all over when I got back to my unit.) In November 1967 I returned to the States, Ft Dix NJ for discharge in December.

2nd Military Intelligence Battalion
2nd Military Intelligence coat of arms
Active	1952–1955 1977-1992 2001-present
Country	United States
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Intelligence battalion
Part of	66th Military Intelligence Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Wiesbaden Army Airfield
Motto(s)	Oculi Cultus Secreti ("The Eyes of Intelligence")
Equipment	RC-12 Guardrail
Engagements	Operation Desert Storm
Commanders
Current commander	LTC Brian Cunningham
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia

2nd Military Intelligence Battalion is a unit of the United States Army which specializes in the acquisition of signals information in direct support of the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade. The 2nd MI Battalion currently is headquartered at Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Germany.

History

There are conflicting reports of the history of the 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion. According to the current 2nd M.I. website, the unit was constituted on 15 February 1952 in the Regular Army as the 2nd Military Intelligence Service Battalion and activated on 1 March 1952 in Austria. 2nd M.I. was reorganized and redesignated 25 May 1954 as the 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion and was subsequently inactivated on 8 September 1955 in Austria.^[1]

The official website claims that on 16 September 1980, 2nd M.I. was reactivated and redesignated as Headquarters, Headquarters and Operations Company, 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion, and assigned to the 3rd Armored Division. However, there was a Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) 2nd M.I., located in Pirmasens, Husterhoeh Kaserne in the 1970s. HHC was active at least from 1977, through 1979 at this location. 2nd M.I. subsequently was redesignated and reorganized 26 January 2001 in Darmstadt, Germany, subordinate to the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade. 2nd M.I. then was relocated to Wiesbaden, Germany in November 2008.^[1]

The U.S. Army Center of Military History's official lineage of military intelligence publication (hosted on Fort Huachuca's official website) states that 2nd M.I. was constituted 18 October 1961 in the Regular Army as the 2nd Air Reconnaissance Support Battalion and activated on 15 November 1961 in Germany. On 16 September 1962, the battalion was converted and redesignated as the 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion.^[2] Other sources report that in or after October 1982, 2nd M.I.'s assets were split up and 2nd M.I. was reassigned to the 207th Military Intelligence Brigade, VII Corps and stationed in Echterdingen in Baden-Württemberg in the Federal Republic of Germany.^[3] The unit participated in Operation Desert Storm as part of VII Corps. Following the Cold War, 2nd M.I was inactivated on 15 November 1991^[2] in Germany.^[1]

Coat of Arms

The coast of arms is a shield: Per chevron abased azure and argent, a chief dancetty of two enhanced of the last the apexes surmounted by two rounders of the first counterchanged and in base a sphinx rampant sable armed gules. The motto is Oculi Cultus Secreti (The Eyes of Intelligence). The colors of white and teal blue, symbolize the battalion's former status as an unassigned-to-branch unit. The battalion's numerical designation and mission are suggested by the two rounders or lenses directing their gaze downward. The sphinx is representative of the intelligence mission. Black alludes to the coat of arms of the old Rhineland district of Pfalz in Germany, where the unit was activated.

Military Campaigns

2nd M.I. participated in the Defense of Saudi Arabia, the Liberation and Defense of Kuwait and Cease-Fire campaigns during the Gulf War. It was decorated with a Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer, embroidered Southwest Asia.

References