5th Military Police Battalion (CID)

5th Military Police Battalion (CID) is responsible for the operation of all of the criminal field offices and agents throughout Germany.

5th Military Police Battalion was first constituted on 26 December 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 5th Section, Criminal Investigation and activated on 25 January 1943 at Fort Custer, Michigan. The unit was reorganized and redesignated on 29 December 1944 as the 5th Military Police Criminal Investigation Detachment. The unit operated in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War, receiving credit for participation in the Normandy, Northern France, and Rhineland campaigns. After the end of the Second World War, the unit remained in Germany until it was inactivated there on 15 March 1949.

The 5th Military Police Criminal Investigation Detachment was allotted 8 June 1949 to the Regular Army and activated on 20 June 1949 at Washington, District of Colombia. It was inactivated there on 19 May 1954. While inactive, the unit was redesignated on 31 July 1956 as the 5th Military Police Detachment and was then activated on 15 August 1956 in Italy. The unit remained there until it was inactivated on 9 June 1969.

The 5th Military Police Detachment was activated on 8 March 1971 in Vietnam. There it participated in 4 campaigns: Counteroffensive, Phase VII, Consolidation I, Consolidation II, and Cease-Fire. The unit was inactivated on 15 August 1972 in Vietnam.

The unit was activated on 1 October 1983 in Germany. There it took on the mission previously performed by US Army forces in Europe, Second Region, United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC). 5th Military Police Detachment (CID) (Corps Support Element) served as a subordinate district of the 3rd Military Police Group (CID) out of Fort Gillem, Georgia.

The unit was reorganized and redesignated on 1 September 1996 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 5th Military Police Battalion as part of its expanding responsibilities. In addition, on 6 September 1996, Second Region was reactivated and 5th Military Police Battalion was assigned to it. On 17 September 1999, Second Region, USACIDC was reflagged as the 202nd Military Police Group (CID), to which the Battalion remained assigned. The Battalion continued to perform functions in Europe as part of the Army's primary criminal investigative organization, responsible for the conduct of criminal investigations in which the Army was, or might be, a party of interest. CID conducted criminal investigations that ranged from death to fraud, on and off military reservations, and, when appropriate, with local, state and other federal investigative agencies.

On 17 May 2013, as part of ongoing reductions in US forces in Germany, the 202nd Military Police Group (CID), along with its subordinate 1002nd Military Police Battalion (CID) were inactivated. The 5th Military Police Battalion (CID) assumed responsibility for the operation of all of the criminal field offices and agents throughout Germany as a result, with the personnel previously assigned to 1002nd Military Police Battalion subsequently being reassigned to the Battalion. Those personnel were to continue to operate in their assigned areas with no diminished capabilities. 5th Military Police Battalion (CID) was subsequently reassigned directly to USACIDC.