Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion
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The Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion (MCSB) is a
Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence is an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of ...
battalion of the
United States Marine Corps 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 combi ...
. The battalion headquarters are located in
Fort George G. Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the N ...
, Maryland.


Mission

The battalion's stated purpose is "to enable and execute
Signals Intelligence 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 ( ...
,
Information Assurance Information assurance (IA) is the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. Information assurance includes protection of the integrity, availability, authenticity, n ...
and National-Tactical Integration activities in order to satisfy
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...
/
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,
Marine Air-Ground Task Force Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF, pronounced MAG-TAF) is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined ar ...
and joint force intelligence requirements."


Organization

The Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion headquarters are located in Fort Meade, Maryland. The MCSB has seven companies, five of which are based in the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
, one in Hawaii, and one in England. * Company A,
Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...
* Company B,
Fort Meade, Maryland Fort Meade is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,327 at the 2010 census. It is the home to the National Security Agency, Central Security Service, Uni ...
* Company D,
Fort Gordon, Georgia Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...
* Company G,
RAF Menwith Hill Royal Air Force Menwith Hill is a Royal Air Force station near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which provides communications and intelligence support services to the United Kingdom and the United States. The site contains an extensive sate ...
, England (Company was shutdown in Dec. 2013) * Company H,
San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
* Company I,
Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Oahu, Hawaii, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adj ...
, Hawaii. Company I was established as "Company I, Marine Support Battalion" on September 1, 1962, and was stationed at the U.S. Naval Facility in
Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. * Company L
Fort Meade, Maryland Fort Meade is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,327 at the 2010 census. It is the home to the National Security Agency, Central Security Service, Uni ...
. Company L is part of the Marine Corps Cyberspace Command.


Notable veterans

General
Alfred M. Gray Jr. Alfred Mason Gray Jr. (born June 22, 1928) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1 July 1987 until his retirement on 30 June 1991 after 41 years of service. Early li ...
, who served as the 29th
Commandant of the Marine Corps The commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions. The CMC reports directly to the secr ...
from July 1, 1987, until his retirement on June 30, 1991, is considered the founder of Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, although he never commanded the unit under that name. In 1955 then Captain Gray was tasked with forming two units, one to be assigned to Europe and the other to the Pacific area, chosen from Marines undergoing Manual Morse intercept training at the Naval Security Group (NSG) training facility at Imperial Beach, California. These two units would form the nucleus of what is known today as Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion. Upon completion of the course at Imperial Beach, the Pacific team under his command reported for duty with the NSG at Kamiseya, Japan in May 1956. In 1958 then-Captain Gray was assigned to Hawaii to form and activate the 1st Radio Company, a tactical signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit, where he would serve from September 1958 to May 1961. LtGen
Vincent R. Stewart Vincent Raymond Stewart (born May 11, 1958) is a retired Jamaican American lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps who most recently served as Deputy Commander at United States Cyber Command. He previously served as the 20th Director ...
served as a company commander twice in MCSB, once at I Company when it was in Adak, Alaska, (1986–1988) and once at E Company when it was in Misawa Japan (1992–1994). LtGen Stewart served as Director of the
Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...
2015–2017 and as Director
Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence is an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of ...
2009–2013. MajGen
William H. Seely III William H. Seely III is a major general in the United States Marine Corps, who served as the 35th Commandant of the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) in Norfolk, Virginia from August 2020 to August 2021. He began serving as the Director of M ...
served as the Company Commander, I Company,
Kunia, Hawaii Kunia Camp (also called Kunia) is an unincorporated community on the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies along Hawaii Route 750 northwest of downtown Honolulu, the county seat of Honolulu County. Its elevation is ...
, from 2000–2002 during the
Hainan Island incident The Hainan Island incident occurred on April 1, 2001, when a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided in mid-air, resulting in an interna ...
. He went on to serve as Director
Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence is an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of ...
2016–2017 and 2021–present. MajGen
Dimitri Henry Dimitri Henry is a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who is the Director of Intelligence of the Joint Staff. He previously served as the Director of Intelligence of the United States Central Command and before that as the Director o ...
served as the Commanding Officer, Co H, Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, San Antonio, TX, from 2001–2004. He went on to serve as Director
Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence is an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of ...
2017–2019. LtCol Dewey G. "Guy" Jordan commanded MCSB from 2005–2007 and later served as the AC/S G-2 and C/S
Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command The U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command (abbreviated as MARFORCYBER) is a functional formation of the United States Marine Corps to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattack. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command is the Marine Corp ...
(MARFORCYBER) from 2012–2014, retiring as a Colonel in 2014. He first served as a Defense Intelligence Senior Level (DISL) executive at CYBERCOM and DIA from 2015–2017. He has since served as a Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service (DISES) executive at Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps (HQMC)as the Assistant Director of
Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence is an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of ...
and then at the National Security Agency (NSA) from October 2017 – present.


See also

List of United States Marine Corps battalions This is a list of current United States Marine Corps battalions, sorted by the mission they perform. __TOC__ Active units Ground Combat Element battalions The ground combat element (GCE) consists of those combat and combat support units whose ...


References

{{reflist Military units and formations of the United States Marine Corps Battalions of the United States Marine Corps