LINTHICUM, Md. -- Soldiers, Army civilians, Family members, alumni, and guests celebrated the 902nd Military Intelligence (MI) Group's 75th Anniversary with a Gala event, Oct. 26.
Col. Jay Haley, commander, 902nd MI Group, welcomed more than 430 guests, including former group commanders and guest of honor, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, Army deputy chief of staff, G-2.
Gala attendees enjoyed an evening of fellowship with unit members from the past and the present, commemorating 75 years of the unit's historic accomplishments and the extraordinary contributions to the Army and the Intelligence community.
"It was a great opportunity to celebrate the 75 years that the 902nd MI Group has been a unit," said Haley. "Being able to trace our lineage from Gen. MacArthur's forces in the Pacific theater of WWII through the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Cold War and the War on Terrorism deserves to be celebrated."
Haley noted that the 902nd MI Group has made a tremendous impact on the nation, the Army and the lives of its Soldiers, civilians, contractors, and families.
"This relationship was on full display during the gala with so many past and present members attending," Haley added. "It's truly a privilege beyond compare to be the commander of such a storied unit at this time in history."
During the event, a new 902nd MI Group command video was showcased.
"It was extremely important that we captured the history of the 902nd MI Group and be able to present the video at the Gala," said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael Dye, command chief warrant officer for the 902nd MI Group. "The INSCOM (U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command) video team's production was a tremendous success and will be incorporated into all future newcomers' orientation sessions."
Dye, who was part of the planning committee, said all of the hard work the planning team put into the event paid off.
"The gala planning team began preparing for this event more than a year in advance with the goal of making it a truly memorable event," said Dye. "Their hard work paid off, and the event was attended by nearly 450 people, which included many alumni, some going back as far as the mid 1960's."
The 902nd MI Group has a long and proud history in the U.S. Army. The unit was constituted as the 902nd Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) Detachment and activated on Nov. 23, 1944, at Hollandia, New Guinea. While the unit arrived too late to participate in the capture of New Guinea, the detachment would see combat as part of Douglas MacArthur's Philippine invasion force. It was one of 29 CIC Detachments to serve in the Pacific theater.
The 902nd CIC Detachment was inactivated at the end of World War II and re-activated in January 1952, at the now defunct, Fort Holabird, Maryland, to give the Department of the Army's assistant chief of staff for intelligence an organization to handle the most sensitive counterintelligence cases worldwide. After many years and several name changes, "The Deuce" was re-designated as the 902nd Military Intelligence Group in October 1966. In July 1974, the group relocated from Fort Holabird to its current location at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
Today, the 902nd MI Group is the largest counterintelligence organization in the Department of Defense and a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). Its mission is to conduct proactive counterintelligence activities to detect, identify, assess and counter, neutralize or exploit foreign intelligence entities and insider threats in order to protect the Army and designated Department of Defense forces, information, and technologies.
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