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501st Military Intelligence Battalion

As part of the transformation of the 1st Armored Division as a whole, the 501st Military Intelligence Battalion was inactivated. This was a product of the decision to restructure signal assets, among others, and place military intelligence elements in special troops battalions at division and brigade level. This made these elements organic at both levels, whereas before they had been habitually attached to a division's brigades from the divisional military intelligence battalion.

Prior to its inactivation, the mission of the 501st Military Intelligence Battalion was to, on order, deploy to a designated contingency area and conduct multi-disciplined intelligence and electronic warfare operations in support of the 1st Armored Division missions.

The 501st Military Intelligence Battalion was first constituted on 13 October 1950 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 301st Communication Reconnaissance Battalion. It was activated 20 October 1950 at Camp Pickett, Virginia. In June 1955 the unit was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 301st Communication Reconnaissance Battalion. In July 1956 the unit was redesignated as the 301st Army Security Agency Battalion. It was inactivated in October 1957 in Korea.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company was reactivated on 15 December 1965 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was inactivated on 18 June 1971 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 301st Army Security Agency Battalion, was redesignated on 16 September 1980 as Headquarters and Operations Company, 501st Military Intelligence Battalion, and was assigned to the 1st Armored Division, and activated in Germany. The 501st participated with the 1st Armored Division during Operation Desert Storm.

With the transformation of the 1st Armored Division to the US Army's modular force structure in the late 2000s, the 501st Military Intelligence Battalion was inactivated. Its personnel were reflagged as the military intelligence elements in the special troops battalions at the division level and in each Division's 4 brigades.