5 Military Intelligence Battalion (5 MI Bn) is an Intelligence Corps Army Reserve unit in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

. It is based in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, with sub-units in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

and detachments in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

and Chesterfield. It is partnered with 1 Military Intelligence Battalion, a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

unit based in

Catterick Garrison Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 13,000 in 2017 and covering over 2,400 acres (about 10 ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

Role and organisation

Current role

5 MI Bn provides

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

support to the Regular

with personnel trained in operational intelligence and

Open Source Intelligence Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (covert and publicly available sources) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and busi ...

(OSINT).

Training

Personnel attend weekly training evenings and monthly weekend training to develop their skills as soldiers and intelligence operators. This includes training in

fieldcraft Fieldcraft is the techniques involved in living, traveling, or making military or scientific observations in the field and the methods used to do so. The term "fieldcraft" is used in a broad range of industries including military, oil and gas, wi ...

and military skills, analytical and intelligence techniques,

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

, and adventurous training. The unit also conducts annual collective training either in the UK or the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, normally in partnership with 2nd Intelligence Battalion

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

Organisation

The current organisation of the battalion, following the

Army 2020 Refine Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. Army 2020 Refine The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reacti ...

, as of 2021 is as follows: * Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company, at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh * 51 Military Intelligence Company, in

and

* 52 Military Intelligence Company, in

* 53 Military Intelligence Company, at Carlton Barracks, Leeds and Chesterfield

History

Post-war origins: 1945-1963

5 MI Bn traces its direct history to the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and start of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

era. Following the end of the Second World War, the British Army reduced the size of the regular Intelligence Corps as the need for military intelligence reduced. By 1947, this meant that Intelligence Corps personnel in the Territorial Army (TA) outnumbered Regular personnel. The Intelligence Corps TA was formed around the regional Land Command Headquarters, providing direct Field Security (FS) intelligence support to military formations and UK-based units. Many of these TA units were gradually disbanded during the post-war draw down. A parallel Intelligence Corps unit with historic links to WW2, the Ports and Travel Security Group (P&TSG) was formed from the some of these units, to provide security to UK ports and overseas military movements. At its height, the P&TSG comprised over 1,000 personnel.

Restructuring: 1963-1967

In 1963, further restructuring of the FS TA units, saw the formation of the UK Intelligence Unit (TA), a national organisation headquartered in Hounslow, London, providing direct

counterintelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ...

(CI) support to Home Defence and the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

(BAOR) in Germany. The post-war period saw further advances in Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Photographic Interpretation (PI). The HUMINT organisations were initially staffed by Intelligence Corps TA personnel in the IS (Intelligence School) 9 (TA), formed on 1 May 1947 from wartime members of MI9 (Escapers & Evaders) and MI19 (Debriefing of

Prisoners of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

). IS 9 (TA) eventually became The Joint Services Interrogation Unit (JSIU) (TA), which in turn became 22 Interrogation Company (Volunteers) in 1967. The Cold War TA PI specialism was initially provided by the Intelligence Corps TA in the Army Photographic Interpretation Unit (APIU) in Borers Wood, London, the Army Photographic Interpretation Centre (APIC) at RAF Wilton and latterly with the

Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre The Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre (DIFC) is based at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. Largely created from the staff of the National Imagery Exploitation Centre (formerly known as the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (JARIC)) and th ...

(JARIC) at RAF Brampton. In 1967, several Intelligence Corps TA elements merged to form 21 Photographic Interpretation Company (V), later to become 21 Int Company (V). On 1 April 1967, the TA Intelligence & Security Group (V) was formed to provide direct support to the BAOR. The initial establishment included a national unit, 20 Security Company (V), which used Intelligence Corps TA drill halls in the UK. It also included London-based 21 PI Company (V) and 22 Interrogation Company (V), headquartered in London TA Centre Artillery House (later renamed Ashford House) in Hackney, London.

Modernisation: 1967-2008

On 1 April 1999, the TA Intelligence & Security Group (V) was renamed 3 MI Bn (V), with its headquarters in Worship Street, London. It maintained sub-units in Worship Street,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

with detachments in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

. This period saw personnel deploying in support of operations in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

(Op CORPORATE),

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

(Op GRANBY) and in support to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

(Op GRAPPLE) and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

operations in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

(Op RESOLUTE, Op LODESTAR and Op PALATINE) and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

(Op AGRICOLA). After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

on the World Trade Centre in 2001, 53 volunteers from 3 MI Bn (V) were mobilised in support of the

War On Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

(Op VERITAS). They were employed in a variety of strategic and operational locations, with a large contingent serving in Defence Intelligence in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

, London. Deployments to locations such as

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

(Op SILKMAN),

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 ...

(Op TELIC),

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 borde ...

(Op HERRICK),

(Op ALTHEA) and

(Op AGRICOLA) soon followed. Since the end of Op HERRICK in Afghanistan in 2015, 5 MI Bn personnel have continued to support operations around the world, including deployments to Afghanistan (Op TORAL) and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

(Op CABRIT).

Formation: 2008-2014

5 Military Intelligence Battalion (Volunteers), was formed at Queen Elizabeth II Barracks,

Strensall Strensall is a village in the Strensall with Towthorpe civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Foss north of York and north-east of Haxby. From the 2011 Census, the civil parish of ...

on 1 April 2008. The new establishment consisted of: * Headquarters – Hollis VC Armoury, Coulby Newham on

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

. ** 51 MI Company (originally 22 Interrogation Company) based out of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. ** 52 MI Company in

with a detachment in

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

. ** 53 MI Company in

with a detachment in

. ** 54 MI Company in

Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. It has a population of 16,000. It was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Cainesham'' (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of ...

(Bristol) with detachments in

and Newport. ** 55 MI Company in

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

(

) with detachments in

and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. Due to its proximity to

, 51 MI Company reverted to 3 MI Bn (V) in 2009. This now saw 3 MI Bn (V) firmly centred in

, with 5 MI Bn (V) covering the remainder of the UK.

Current situation: 2014-Present

In 2014, 5 MI Bn was further divided into three separate battalions covering different parts of the UK. * 52 MI Coy

detachment expanded and become 62 MI Coy. *54 Coy became 71 MI Coy, with 7 MI Bn HQ located in

. * 55 Coy became 63 MI Coy, with 6 MI Bn HQ located in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. 5 MI Bn headquarters moved to Edinburgh, with companies initially in

and

and detachments in

and

detachment moved to Chesterfield in November 2018. 5 MI Bn personnel continue to support exercises and operations in the UK and around the world in 2021.

Affiliations

* 1st Military Intelligence Battalion * 2nd Intelligence Battalion (USMC)

Notes

References

External links

1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade

1 Military Intelligence Battalion
{{The British Army Battalions of the Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom) Army Reserve (United Kingdom)