FROM LEYTE TO THE LEVANT: the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion (Airborne)
FROM LEYTE TO THE LEVANT
A Brief History of the
389th Military Intelligence Battalion (Airborne)
ABSTRACT On 16 July 2019, the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion (Airborne) was activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. First organized during World War II, the 389th will fuse the tactical intelligence efforts of Special Forces, Psychological Operations, and Civil Affairs units, with their higher operational-level commands. This article provides the lineage, operational history, and mission of the newest battalion in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
The 389th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion dates to World War II, with the constitution of the 389th Translator Team on 14 December 1944. Organized per Table of Organization and Equipment (T/O&E) 30-600T (September 1944), “Intelligence Services,” the translator team was authorized one officer and three enlisted men.1 Activated on 27 February 1945 in the Philippines, it consisted of specially trained Japanese American linguists from the Military Intelligence Service (MIS Sidebar).2
As part of the 314th Headquarters Intelligence Detachment, the 389th Translator Team was attached to the G-2, 96th Infantry Division (ID).3 It saw combat during the Leyte Campaign.4 Afterwards, it was shipped to Okinawa on 26 March 1945 aboard the USS Mendocino (APA-100), as part of the Southern Attack Force. It landed on 1 April at Beach White 1, in the lightly defended Hagushi Beaches area of Okinawa.5
During the ensuing three-month battle, one translator was attached to each of the 96th ID infantry regiments.6 With the battle drawing to a close in late June, the 96th ID concentrated its linguists at their civilian and Prisoner of War collection point to assist with the screening of civilians and interrogating of Japanese prisoners.7 The 389th Translator Team received the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), awarded in December 2001, for actions on Okinawa.8
Following a series of minor postwar reorganizations, the unit was inactivated in July 1952.9 Its next chapter began on 7 January 1963, with the activation of the 389th MI Detachment in Louisville, Kentucky. A U.S. Army Reserve unit, it was attached to the 11th Special Forces Group (SFG), beginning its long association with Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF).10 The detachment’s 8 officers, 7 warrant officers, and 30 enlisted personnel were organized into collection, counterintelligence, imagery interpretation, interrogation, and order of battle sections, and were authorized to wear the Green Beret.11 But, during its first decade, it lacked a clear mission. It also lacked the necessary support structure, due to its attached relationship with the 11th SFG.12
During the early 1970s, the 389th MI Detachment gained an influx of combat-tested, Ranger and Special Forces (SF)-qualified officers, who led the unit into the 1980s.13 Unit readiness and morale improved, but it still lacked resources.14 In addition, training with the 11th SFG was limited to two weeks of annual training in the summer.15 This began to change in 1985, when the unit was reorganized and redesignated as the 389th MI Company (Combat Electronic Warfare Intelligence [CEWI]) (Special Forces Group).16 The conversion to a CEWI Company added signals intelligence (SIGINT) positions, increasing its authorized strength to 10 officers, 11 warrant officers, and 76 enlisted personnel.17
After years of being attached, the 389th MI Company was formally assigned to 11th SFG in 1986.18 This change brought it under U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), which led to increased funding, more training opportunities, and full-time manning.19 It supported 11th SFG’s Europe-focused mission (Operation Plan [OPLAN] 4304) and participated in Operation FLINTLOCK, based out of Royal Air Force Station Watton, England.20 The company was inactivated in September 1990, becoming the ‘organic’ MI Company for 11th SFG, until the group’s inactivation in 1994, as part of the post-Operation DESERT STORM draw-down.21
Two decades after the 389th’s inactivation, a small number of intelligence personnel in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, 1st Special Forces Command (1st SFC), began working to establish a new ARSOF MI Battalion to provide 1st SFC with a deployable, operational-level intelligence capability.22 Then, in March 2015, Colonel (COL) Daniel K. Rickleff, Commander, 528th Sustainment Brigade, officially requested the establishment of a provisional MI Battalion.23 On 2 June 2015, Lieutenant General (LTG) Charles T. Cleveland, Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Operations Command (Airborne) approved the request, assigning the new battalion to the 528th Sustainment Brigade.24 While in provisional status, they participated in Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, the counter-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) effort and supported other sensitive ARSOF missions.
From 2015 to mid-2019, the unit operated under the ad hoc name of 1st Special Forces Command Military Intelligence Battalion. But, it needed a permanent unit designation, once activated.25 To avoid being assigned the ‘next available’ number, Department of the Army Force Management, U.S. Army Center of Military History, and USASOC History Office personnel worked with battalion leadership to determine a unit designation that reflected a legacy of military intelligence support to ARSOF and carried forth the wartime honors of a past military intelligence unit. The 389th met both criteria.26
On 16 July 2019, the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion (Airborne) was activated, with an authorized strength of 5 officers, 5 warrant officers, and 86 enlisted personnel and three companies: an Analytical Support Company, a Mission Support Company, and a Headquarters and Headquarters Company.27 Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Sapriya Childs, the 389th MI Battalion “conducts command and control of multi-disciplined intelligence operations in support of the 1st SFC, component subordinates units (CSUs), and mission partners. On order, it deploys and conducts…intelligence operations as part of a Special Operations Joint Task Force (SOJTF).”28 The motto of the 389th MI Battalion is “Illuminate to Action!”
389th Military Intelligence Battalion Organization (2019)
389th MI Battalion Lines of Effort
- Provide intelligence support to the component subordinate units;
- Serve as the core of the J2 for Special Operations Joint Task Force contingency;
- Execute geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) for ARSOF platforms;
- Conduct intelligence training and support standardization of intelligence support to ARSOF.
CHRISTOPHER E. HOWARD
Christopher E. Howard served four years in the U.S. Army before earning an MA in History from Appalachian State University. He worked as a Psychological Operations training specialist at USAJFKSWCS before joining the USASOC History Office in June 2018. His research is focused on the history of ARSOF sustainment and support.