201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade

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.

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.

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.[3]

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 Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 503rd Army Security Agency Group was withdrawn from the Army Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army.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[4][5]
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment
  • 14th Military Intelligence Battalion (Tactical Exploitation), Fort Lewis[5]
  • 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion (Operations), Fort Lewis[5]
  • 641st Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Exploitation), Salem, Oregon (Oregon Army National Guard)[6][5]

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.[7]

The former MI brigade, which included reservists, and National Guardsmen, as well as active-duty soldiers, transformed into the 201st BfSB within a year. Broadening its reconnaissance mission to include surveillance and target acquisition with the addition of a long-range surveillance company – C Troop, 38th Cavalry, the 63rd Network Support Company, and the 602nd Forward Support Company. This however, was no easy task. The brigade stand-up required an almost total overhaul, complete with equipment, vehicles, amended missions and hundreds of new active-duty soldiers. Three hundred forty-five "whirlwind days" of preparation ended 23 Sep when the 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, with its subordinate battalions, cased their colors for deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom.[8]

The changes made were all part of an Army-wide transition to the Army Modular Force, future-concept ("Grow The Army Plan" of modernization) proposed by US Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker in 2007.[9] The plan calls for eleven Surveillance Brigades, seven of which are designated to Army National Guard: the 58th BfSB from Maryland, the 67th BFSB from Nebraska, the 71st BfSB from Texas, the 142nd BfSB from Alabama, the 219th BfSB from Indiana, the 297th BfSB from Alaska, and the 560th BfSB from Georgia, all of which are moving to the objective designs by the scheduled completion of the Grow The Army Plan by fiscal year 2013.

The 109th Military Intelligence Battalion activated in October 2008 to resume its 25-year-old legacy at Fort Lewis as formerly the 9th Infantry Division's primary intelligence-gathering arm.

The 502d Military Intelligence Battalion went through a transformation of its own to conform to the collection needs of the newly modular, self-sufficient brigade.

Troop C (LRS), 38th Cavalry Regiment[10] was later reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT), 3d Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment. The squadron included Troops A and B (ground troops) and Troop C (LRS), which was formed from the assets of the existing C-38th Cavalry Regiment. A subsequent force reorganization inactivated all LRS units, both in the active Army and the Army National Guard, to include all elements of the 38th Cavalry Regiment.

The brigade was home to nearly 1,000 service men and women. The brigade and its organic intelligence systems played a major role in the Army's Transformation Project that took shape at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. This transformation included another overhaul of the current structure to the reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) format.[11]

Along with the other two FORSCOM Intelligence Brigades (the 504th and 525th), the 201st BfSB further transformed into the 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade (EMIB), consisting of the 109th E-MI BN and the 502nd E-MI BN (the LRS elements were cut in this transformation). The BDE now consists of approximately 650 Soldiers between the two line BNs and HHC BDE.

• Meritorious Unit Commendation (streamers embroidered Pacific Theater, Korea 1953, and Iraq 2009–2010)
• Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (streamer embroidered 17 October 1944 – 4 July 1953)

• World War II (Antisubmarine, New Guinea, Western Pacific, Luzon)
• Korean War (UN Offensive, CCF Intervention, First UN Counteroffensive, CCF Spring Offensive, UN Summer-Fall Offensive, Second Winter, Summer-Fall 1952, Third Winter, Summer 1953)
• Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraqi Sovereignty and Operation New Dawn)
• Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan Campaign Medal) (May 2012 – Feb 2013 and again in 2014–2015 and Sep 2019-Jun 2020)