1st Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Exploitation), nicknamed the "Flying Eye Battalion", is a unit of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

which specializes in the acquisition of aerial signals information in direct support of the

66th Military Intelligence Brigade The 66th Military Intelligence Brigade ("Six-Six-M-I" and 66th MIB) is a United States Army brigade, subordinate to United States Army Intelligence and Security Command and based at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden, Germany. After years of histo ...

. 1st MI Battalion (AE) is currently headquartered at

Lucius D. Clay Kaserne Lucius D. Clay Kaserne (german: Flugplatz Wiesbaden-Erbenheim) , commonly known as Clay Kaserne, is an installation of the United States Army in Hesse, Germany. The ''kaserne'' is located within Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. Named for General Lucius D. C ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Battalion history

The unit was originally formed on 14 December 1956 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st Air Reconnaissance Support Battalion, and formally activated 1 February 1957 at

Fort Polk Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. It was named to honor Leonidas Polk, the first ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. It was reorganized and redesignated 1 May 1959 as Company A, 196th Aerial Photo Interpretation Detachment at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, North Carolina. Then on 20 March 1962 it was converted and redesignated the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (Air Reconnaissance Support). In October 1962 the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (ARS) was instrumental in identifying Russian missile activity from clear photographic evidence produced from Air Force U-2 Spy Planes.Finnegan and Danysh, p 132 Upon its return from Vietnam in 1973, 1st MI was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and eventually inactivated 15 July 1982.Finnegan and Danysh, p 260 Reactivated 14 January 1984 in Germany as V Corps' aerial exploitation battalion, 1st MI is currently assigned to the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade out of

Wiesbaden, Germany Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, supporting

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

in Afghanistan. 1st MI Battalion has served in * the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, as Company A, 196th Aerial Photo Interpretation Detachment, which was formed 10 July 1945 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina * the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, as 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (ARS) (MIBARS)Finnegan and Danysh, p 147 *

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Operation Joint Endeavor The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...

Operation Joint Guard The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

Operation Joint Forge The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. I ...

Operation Joint Guardian Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Operation Noble Anvil The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

Current unit organization

The battalion has undergone various reorganizations. Currently it comprises four

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

: * Headquarters and Headquarters Service Company – Runs battalion command and control and provides logistics support * Company A – Provides aerial images through the use of the

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

* Company B – Produces

SIGINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

collection and Aerial

Electronic Warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

with the Guardrail Common Sensor * Company C – Conducts analysis and dissemination of

Vietnam unit organization

The unit served in Vietnam from 23 December 1965 from Ft. Bragg and departed Vietnam on 19 April 1971 to return to Ft. Bragg, as 1st Military Intelligence Battalion (Air Reconnaissance Support)(MIBARS).Stanton, p 236 Detachments were stationed in multiple locations during the battalion's deployment. Each detachment consisted of an operations/imagery interpretation section, a reproduction section and a supply and maintenance section. *Headquarters and Headquarters Company was based in Saigon at Muscara Compound. It included an aviation platoon ("The Good Guys"). *Detachment A was based at

Biên Hòa Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam and part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area and located about east of Ho Chi Minh City, to which Biên Hòa is linked by Vietnam Hig ...

and supported III Corps operations. *Detachment B was based at

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

and supported I Corps operations. *Detachment C was based at

Cần Thơ Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque rur ...

and supported IV Corps operations. *Detachment D was based at

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hòa District, Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh Distri ...

and supported II Corps operations. *45th Military Intelligence Detachment was assigned to 1st MI Battalion in 1968 and was based in Phu Bai. It was eventually organized as Detachment E and supported operations in I Corps.

Decorations

The following decorations have been awarded to the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion:Finnegan and Danysh, p 261 * Presidential Unit Citation (Air Force) for Southeast Asia 1966–1967"Lineage and Honors Information", 1st Military Intelligence Battalion, U.S. Army Center of Military History *

Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

for

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

1965–1966 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for Vietnam 1966–1967 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for Vietnam 1967–1968 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for Vietnam 1969–1970 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for Vietnam 1970–1972 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

2005–2006 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

2007–2009 *

Army Superior Unit Award The Superior Unit Award is a decoration of the United States Army which is awarded in peacetime to any unit of the Army which displays outstanding meritorious performance of a difficult and challenging mission carried out under extraordinary circum ...

for 1995–1996 *Army Superior Unit Award for 1999–2003 * Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star for Vietnam 1965–1971 Company A is additionally entitled to: *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

1950–1952 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for Korea 1953 *

Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation The Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation () is a military unit award of the government of South Korea that may be presented to South Korean military units, and foreign military units for outstanding performance in defense of the Republic o ...

for Korea 1950–1952

Notes

;Citations ;References cited * * * * {{refend

External links

Ist MI in OEF
GlobalSecurity.org website Military units and formations of the United States Army in the Vietnam War 001 Military units and formations established in 1957