519th Military Intelligence Battalion
Encyclopedia
The 519th Military Intelligence Battalion is a unit of the United States Army
.
Personnel of the 519th MI Battalion were alleged to have killed the Afghan detainee Dilawar (torture victim) in custody at Bagram Theater Internment Facility
in December 2002.
The battalion was first created in 1948. The battalion served in the Vietnam War
; the Invasion of Grenada
; the Invasion of Panama; Desert Storm; the Invasion of Afghanistan; and the Invasion of Iraq. Additionally, Company A served in the Korean War
prior to the formation of the battalion as the 523d Military Intelligence Company.
, Kansas
. Elements of the battalion served in the Republic of Korea from 1951 until 1954, participating in seven campaigns and earning one Meritorious Unit Commendation and two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations. The battalion was inactivated in 1954. On 25 January 1958, the 519th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion (BN) (Airborne (ABN)) was reactivated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
. In May 1965, the 519th MI BN (ABN) deployed to the Dominican Republic
for Operation Powerpack, where it supported the 82d Airborne Division and the U.S. Marines in combating the Communist insurgency
on the Caribbean
island. In late Summer of 1965 the 519th MI BN redeployed back to FT Bragg, NC and subsequently deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in November 1965. During the Vietnam War
, the battalion again left the United States and distinguished itself by participating in sixteen campaigns and earning three Meritorious Unit Commendations.
In 1972, the battalion returned to Fort Bragg. After several reorganizations, the battalion officially achieved a three-company configuration in September 1978, with Headquarters, Headquarters & Service Company; Company A (Interrogation); and Company B (Counterintelligence). In April 1981, the Forces Command Intelligence Training Detachment (FITD) was attached to the battalion, bringing with it the mission of training Army Reserve
and National Guard
units throughout the United States. On 16 April 1982, the battalion was reorganized and redesignated the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion (Tactical Exploitation) (Airborne), resulting in the activation of Company C (Electronic Warfare). Since then the battalion has reorganized one more time. In 1995, Company C was deactivated and Company F, 51st Infantry (Long Range Surveillance) was assigned to the battalion to provide the Corps with long range surveillance capability. About 2007, during the reconfiguration of the 525th MI Brigade to a Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (BFSB), Company F, 51st Infantry was redesignated C Troop (ABN), 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment (1-38th CAV) and was removed from the control of the 519th MI BN and reassigned to 1-38th CAV, which is another subordinate battalion in the 525th BFSB. Subsequently, C Co. 519th MI BN was reactivated as a line company in the 519th MI BN.
The battalion participated in combat operations in Grenada
(Operation Urgent Fury) in November 1983, Panama
(Operation Just Cause) in December 1989, and in the Kuwait
i Theater of Operations (KTO) (Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm) and was subordinate to the 525th MI Brigade (CEWI) (ABN), as part of the XVIII Airborne Corps, under Third US Army during the deployment in the KTO from August 1990 to March 1991.
During the 1990s, the 519th MI BN participated in Peace Keeping Operations in Haiti
(Operation Restore Democracy), Bosnia (Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Forge) and Kosovo
(Operation Joint Guardian). The 519th MI BN also deployed individual Tactical Human Intelligence Teams to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope.
The 519th Military Intelligence Battalion, is presently a subordinate unit of the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, provides tactical HUMINT, long range reconnaissance and surveillance, counterintelligence, interrogation, multi-functional collection and exploitation, and SIGINT support within assigned areas of the Division, Corps, Joint Task Force (JTF) or Multi-National Force area of operations.
During the Global War on Terrorism, 519th MI BN has repeatedly deployed for combat operations in both Afghanistan
and Iraq
. The 519th MI BN recently served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) I, OEF III, OEF IV, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) I, OIF IV, and OEF XII and has continued to distinguish itself as one of the elite intelligence battalions in the military. "Always Out Front"!
The battalion recently redeployed back to FT Bragg, NC after serving in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom XI, from July 2010 to July 2011, under the command of LTC Anthony "Tony" Hale and CSM William "Bill" Manchester, as part of Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) 101. While in Afghanistan, the 519th MI Battalion was headquartered out of Bagram Air Base
, Afghanistan, with its units deployed throughout Regional Command East. The 519th MI BN is presently commanded by LTC Kevin McAninch, who assumed command on 4 August 2011 from LTC (P) Tony Hale.
Carolyn Wood
was implicated in the use of unauthorized interrogation techniques, physical abuse, sexual abuse and the deaths in custody of captives during the fall of 2002.
. According to the Fay Report
Wood played a key role in the importation of extended interrogation
techniques the Bush administration had claimed could be used against "illegal combatants" in Afghanistan
to Iraq
where prisoners where the Bush administration detainee policy prisoners were still entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions
,
Personnel in Company A, during Wood's leadership, were implicated in the sexual abuse of captives, and were alleged to have provided guidance to military police to abuse prisoners to soften them up for interrogation.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
.
Personnel of the 519th MI Battalion were alleged to have killed the Afghan detainee Dilawar (torture victim) in custody at Bagram Theater Internment Facility
Bagram Theater Internment Facility
The Parwan Detention Facility , also called the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, is a United States-run prison located next to Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.It was formerly known as the Bagram Collection Point...
in December 2002.
The battalion was first created in 1948. The battalion served in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
; the Invasion of Grenada
Invasion of Grenada
The Invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was a 1983 United States-led invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 100,000 located north of Venezuela. Triggered by a military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion...
; the Invasion of Panama; Desert Storm; the Invasion of Afghanistan; and the Invasion of Iraq. Additionally, Company A served in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
prior to the formation of the battalion as the 523d Military Intelligence Company.
History
The 519th Military Intelligence Battalion was activated on 15 October 1948 at Fort RileyFort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. Elements of the battalion served in the Republic of Korea from 1951 until 1954, participating in seven campaigns and earning one Meritorious Unit Commendation and two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations. The battalion was inactivated in 1954. On 25 January 1958, the 519th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion (BN) (Airborne (ABN)) was reactivated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. In May 1965, the 519th MI BN (ABN) deployed to the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
for Operation Powerpack, where it supported the 82d Airborne Division and the U.S. Marines in combating the Communist insurgency
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
on the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island. In late Summer of 1965 the 519th MI BN redeployed back to FT Bragg, NC and subsequently deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in November 1965. During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the battalion again left the United States and distinguished itself by participating in sixteen campaigns and earning three Meritorious Unit Commendations.
In 1972, the battalion returned to Fort Bragg. After several reorganizations, the battalion officially achieved a three-company configuration in September 1978, with Headquarters, Headquarters & Service Company; Company A (Interrogation); and Company B (Counterintelligence). In April 1981, the Forces Command Intelligence Training Detachment (FITD) was attached to the battalion, bringing with it the mission of training Army Reserve
Army Reserve
Army Reserve may refer to:*Military Reserve Force*Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve...
and National Guard
National Guard
The term National Guard originally referred to a French citizen militia . The term is now used in many countries. Depending on the country in question, "national guard" may refer to an organized militia, a military force, a paramilitary force, a gendarmerie, or a police force:- Americas :* National...
units throughout the United States. On 16 April 1982, the battalion was reorganized and redesignated the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion (Tactical Exploitation) (Airborne), resulting in the activation of Company C (Electronic Warfare). Since then the battalion has reorganized one more time. In 1995, Company C was deactivated and Company F, 51st Infantry (Long Range Surveillance) was assigned to the battalion to provide the Corps with long range surveillance capability. About 2007, during the reconfiguration of the 525th MI Brigade to a Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (BFSB), Company F, 51st Infantry was redesignated C Troop (ABN), 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment (1-38th CAV) and was removed from the control of the 519th MI BN and reassigned to 1-38th CAV, which is another subordinate battalion in the 525th BFSB. Subsequently, C Co. 519th MI BN was reactivated as a line company in the 519th MI BN.
The battalion participated in combat operations in Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
(Operation Urgent Fury) in November 1983, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
(Operation Just Cause) in December 1989, and in the Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
i Theater of Operations (KTO) (Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm) and was subordinate to the 525th MI Brigade (CEWI) (ABN), as part of the XVIII Airborne Corps, under Third US Army during the deployment in the KTO from August 1990 to March 1991.
During the 1990s, the 519th MI BN participated in Peace Keeping Operations in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
(Operation Restore Democracy), Bosnia (Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Forge) and Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
(Operation Joint Guardian). The 519th MI BN also deployed individual Tactical Human Intelligence Teams to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope.
The 519th Military Intelligence Battalion, is presently a subordinate unit of the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, provides tactical HUMINT, long range reconnaissance and surveillance, counterintelligence, interrogation, multi-functional collection and exploitation, and SIGINT support within assigned areas of the Division, Corps, Joint Task Force (JTF) or Multi-National Force area of operations.
During the Global War on Terrorism, 519th MI BN has repeatedly deployed for combat operations in both Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The 519th MI BN recently served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) I, OEF III, OEF IV, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) I, OIF IV, and OEF XII and has continued to distinguish itself as one of the elite intelligence battalions in the military. "Always Out Front"!
The battalion recently redeployed back to FT Bragg, NC after serving in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom XI, from July 2010 to July 2011, under the command of LTC Anthony "Tony" Hale and CSM William "Bill" Manchester, as part of Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) 101. While in Afghanistan, the 519th MI Battalion was headquartered out of Bagram Air Base
Bagram Air Base
Bagram Airfield, also referred to as Bagram Air Base, is a militarized airport and housing complex that is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, southeast of Charikar in Parwan province of Afghanistan. The base is run by a US Army division headed by a major general. A large part of the base,...
, Afghanistan, with its units deployed throughout Regional Command East. The 519th MI BN is presently commanded by LTC Kevin McAninch, who assumed command on 4 August 2011 from LTC (P) Tony Hale.
Unit organization
The battalion has undergone various reorganizations. In addition to a headquarters company it has contained:- Company A -- interrogationInterrogationInterrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
; (in Vietnam this was language translation/analysis and documents exploitation not interrogation) - Company B -- counter-intelligenceCounter-intelligenceCounterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
; - Company C -- electronic warfareElectronic warfareElectronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
(deactivated); (in Vietnam this was Field Operations Intelligence/Collection not EW) - Training company -- the Forces Command Intelligence Training Detachment -- trains reservists;
- Company F -- 51 Infantry Long Range Surveillance Company
Bagram torture and prisoner abuse
A platoon of company A of the 519th, under the command of then LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Carolyn Wood
Carolyn Wood
Carolyn Wood, United States Army captain, is a military intelligence officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was implicated by the Fay Report to have "failed" in several aspects of her command regarding her oversight of interrogators at Abu Ghraib...
was implicated in the use of unauthorized interrogation techniques, physical abuse, sexual abuse and the deaths in custody of captives during the fall of 2002.
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Carolyn Wood was promoted to Captain and command of Company A prior to the assignment of the company to lead the interrogations at Abu GhraibAbu Ghraib
The city of Abu Ghraib in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq is located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000. The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghraib...
. According to the Fay Report
Fay Report
A report commonly known as The Fay Report was appointed to look into the scandal at Abu Ghraib.General Paul Kern was the appointing authority for the report....
Wood played a key role in the importation of extended interrogation
techniques the Bush administration had claimed could be used against "illegal combatants" in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
where prisoners where the Bush administration detainee policy prisoners were still entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
,
Personnel in Company A, during Wood's leadership, were implicated in the sexual abuse of captives, and were alleged to have provided guidance to military police to abuse prisoners to soften them up for interrogation.