319th MI Battalion Activated in Germany (1 AUG 1945)

Photo By Erin Thompson | The 319th MI Battalion's distinctive unit insignia.  

UNITED STATES

07.28.2023

Story by Erin Thompson 

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian

1 AUGUST 1945
On 1 August 1945, the 319th Military Intelligence Battalion (Operations) was activated at Bad Schwalbach, Germany, to interrogate German prisoners of war after World War II. The 319th went on to participate in the Korean War and multiple operations across Europe, Southwest Asia, the Middle East, and Central America.

On 14 July 1945, the 319th Headquarters Intelligence Detachment was constituted into the U.S. Army and was activated on 1 August 1945 in Bad Schwalbach, Germany. The unit was one of many Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) units formed to support the Allied effort of interrogating German prisoners of war. The unit remained in this role until the next year, being inactivated in October 1946.

It was reactivated two months later as the 319th Military Intelligence Company, this time consisting of Japanese American (Nisei) interpreters, linguists and translators. This unique organization was attached to Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Allied Translator and Interpreter Service in December 1946 to support occupation efforts in Japan. The 319th became an invaluable asset to the occupation forces and received full theater counterintelligence credentials. By 1949, the 319th was the only Army intelligence unit larger than platoon size in Japan. The unit remained in the Pacific from 1946–1952, during which time it participated in the Korean War, for which it received a Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1953.

The unit was inactivated in Japan on 28 March 1954. In January 1955, it was redesignated the 319th MI Battalion under the implementation of the new force structure of the Military Intelligence Organization, which provided the unit with a Table of Organization and allowed it to be administratively independent from the Regular Army. The unit was reactivated on 7 March 1955 at Fort Meade, Maryland, and again reorganized in 1958, becoming the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 319th MI Battalion, with the 162d MI Company reorganized as Company A. The unit did not take part in the Vietnam War and was instead inactivated in 1968 and would remain inactive until 1982.

On 1 April 1982, the 319th HHC was reactivated at Fort Bragg (known as Fort Liberty since 2023), North Carolina. At that time, the 319th became subordinate to the 525th MI Brigade, tasked with providing intelligence and special communications support to the XVIII Airborne Corps. After 1982, the unit partook in Operation URGENT FURY in Grenada, counter-Nicaraguan campaigns in Honduras, Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama, Operation DESERT SHIELD in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY in Haiti, Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR in Hungary, Italy, and Bosnia, and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM in Iraq as Task Force Hurricane. The unit earned its second unit commendation in Southwest Asia in 1991 and two more in Iraq in 2007 and 2009.

The unit’s crest is primarily blue and gold, the same colors used to represent all MI units. The Korean temple represents the unit’s decorations and history of service in the Pacific. The black and white quartered base is taken from the arms of the city of Bad Schwalbach, Germany, where the unit was first activated. The phrase "Hostem Cogere" translates to “Confine the Enemy.”

The 319th redeployed again in 2011 to Afghanistan to support Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. It later became involved with Operation RESOLUTE SUPPORT, a NATO-led, multinational effort in Afghanistan to provide long-term security, advisory support, and training. This lasted from 2015 until the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in September 2021. Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 319th MI Battalion, 525th MI Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, remains stationed at Fort Liberty today.

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• Date Taken: 07.28.2023
• Date Posted: 07.28.2023 16:44
• Story ID: 450240
• Location: US