JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The 201st Military Intelligence Battalion “Black Knights” held their casing of the colors ceremony at the McArthur Parade Field at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Sept. 22, representing the end of their interrogation mission.
“We do what we do, when we do it, for the person to our left and our right. It’s really that simple and it’s really that profound,” said Lt. Col.
David Violand, 201st MIB commander. “In the intelligence world, success remains very much defined by the ability of one human being to convince another human being to commit to action. In an increasingly complex world, our efforts to retain an edge rely most heavily on the human dimensions of our efforts. War is – by nature – an indelibly human affair. We must continuously strive to be master practitioners of all aspects of our craft in this profession.”
Previous leaders of the 201st were also present at the ceremony, which was celebrated that evening with a dining out.
The 201st Military Intelligence Battalion was originally activated Oct. 3, 1982, at Fort Monmouth, N.J. and assumed control of both the 17th Military Intelligence Company at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the 166th MI Company at Vint Hill Farms Station, Va. The unit became subordinate to the 513th MI Brigade at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
The 201st MI Battalion was actively engaged in virtually every major military contingency between 1992 and 2004. The battalion inactivated on Oct. 15, 2004, at Fort Gordon, Ga.
The 201st MI Battalion was re-activated at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Oct. 16, 2005, as the Army’s first interrogation battalion, supporting the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center.
From 2010 to 2011, and most recently from 2012 to 2013, the battalion deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Both year-long rotations provided intelligence and debriefing support to the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force, or CJITF, 435 with its mission to drive counterinsurgency from the Afghanistan battle space. The unit earned a Meritorious Unit Citation for each deployment.