The 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade is located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. The 201st was originally named the 201st Military Intelligence Brigade and on 3 July 2008 it became the Army's third active duty battlefield surveillance brigade and was renamed the 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (BfSB). The US Army decided to get rid of its BfSBs and the 201st was realigned into a new expeditionary military intelligence brigade.
The 201st MI currently consists of one Intelligence Electronic Warfare Battalion (IEW BN), and a (Headquarters and Headquarters Company) (HHC).
Mission
The 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade provides deployable all-source intelligence analysis, human intelligence (humint), electronic warfare intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, target acquisition, battle damage assessment, command and control warfare, and broad bandwidth communications support to I Corps.
History
Heritage
The 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade was created from the merger of two separate units; Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 503rd Army Security Agency Group, and the 201st Counter Intelligence Detachment.
503rd Army Security Group
The HHC, 503rd Army Security Group was constituted as the 323rd Signal Company, on 23 July 1942 and activated in Miami, Florida on 1 September 1942. While stationed on the Marshall Island during World War II, the company supported Army Air Corps units in the Pacific Theater. The company was inactivated on 17 October 1946 at Andrews Field, Camp Springs, Maryland.
After being brought back to service again, the company was redesignated 6 September 1950 as the 323d Signal Radio Intelligence Company, and allotted to the Organized Reserve Corps until the company was again activated 2 October 1950 at Fort Myer, Virginia. On 3 January 1951, the company was converted and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 601st Communications Reconnaissance Group. On 5 February 1951 the company was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 503rd Communications Group. The 503rd was again activated on 1 May of the same year.
201st Counter Intelligence Detachment
The 201st Military Intelligence Detachment was constituted on 12 July 1944 as the 201st Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment. The detachment was activated on 20 August 1944 in New Guinea, and while in the Southwest Pacific area, attached to I Corps and supported the Corps through campaigns in New Guinea, and the Philippines. The detachment was inactivated on 25 February 1946 in Japan.
On 6 October 1950, the detachment was activated in Korea and assigned to the United States Army Forces, Far East and Eighth US Army participating in operations throughout Korea during the Korean War. The detachment was inactivated on 21 February 1955 in Korea. Allotted 20 March 1956 to the Regular Army, the unit activated 12 June of that year in Korea. After again being reorganized and redesignated 15 May 1959 becoming the 201st Military Intelligence Detachment, only to be inactivated the following month on 27 June 1959 in Washington, D.C.
Merger
The lineage of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 503rd Army Security Agency Group, and 201st Military Intelligence Detachment merged on 1 September 1987. Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 503rd Army Security Agency Group was withdrawn from the Army Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army. The company was consolidated with the 201st Military Intelligence Brigade. The new unit was activated on the same day at Fort Lewis, Washington and consisted of the following units:
201st Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Lewis, Washington
Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment
14th Military Intelligence Battalion (Tactical Exploitation), Fort Lewis
502nd Military Intelligence Battalion (Operations), Fort Lewis
641st Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Exploitation), Salem, Oregon (Oregon Army National Guard)
BfSB Transformation
On 3 July 2008, the 201st Military Intelligence Brigade transformed into the 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade on Watkins Parade Field at Fort Lewis. The 201st BfSB was the third active-duty surveillance brigade in the Army today, following the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, which was stood up a year prior at Fort Hood, Texas.