501st Communications Reconnaissance Group
A Brief History
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History: Constituted on 13 October 1950 in the Regular Army as HHC, 501st Communication Reconnaissance Group, the unit was activated on 20 October 1950 at Camp Pickett, Virginia, and assigned to the Army Security Agency. On 29 May 1951, the 501st Transferred from Camp Pickett to Camp Stoneman, California for staging to Pusan, Korea.

The 501st arrived at Pusan on 25 June 1951. The unit spent four days in the Pusan assembly area awaiting sea transportation to Inchon. The 501st arrived at Inchon on 1 July 1951. The Group Headquarters moved into the war damaged main building of the Kyonggi Middle School, Seoul, Korea. By 15 July, the 501st had assumed administrative and operational control of all ASA units in Korea.

The 501st Communications Reconnaissance Group represented a first of its kind and a milestone in intelligence support to U.S. tactical forces. The Korean War presented ASA with an opportunity to test its newly formed doctrine in support of a field Army. ASA activated the 501st to direct operations of ASA support units in the Korean Theater, coordinating all ASA activities at each of the lower echelons.

By the end of hostilities in July 1953, the Group had three battalions and five companies assigned. Besides the numerous citations awarded to its subordinate units, the Group received the Meritorious Unit Commendation (1 July 1951 to 27 July 1953), the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation (15 July 1951 to 30 April 1953) and credit for participation in six campaigns.

On 28 January 1956, the 501st Communications Reconnaissance group was redesignated at HHC, 501st Army Security Group. On 1 July 1956, the 501st ASA group was inactivated and its personnel and mission transferred to the 508th USASA Group, a TDA organization, as part of a worldwide reorganization occurring within the Army Security Agency to provide greater flexibility in support to tactical units.

On 1 January 1978, HHC, 501st ASA group was redesignated HHC, 501st Military Intelligence Group and activated at Yongsan, Korea. The Group took the place of the temporary 501st MI Group (Provisional), organized at Camp Coiner on 1 April 1977, as part of the major reorganization within Army Intelligence which merged individual disciplines into one organization.

On 15 April 1986, the 501st was elevated to brigade status under the Army of Excellence guidelines.

======== The first ASA element to arrive in country was an 8-man Liaison Detachment from ASA Pacific, which deployed to the Republic of Korea in mid-September 1950. This was followed at the end of November by ASA Pacific (Advance) which absorbed the Liaison Detachment and took over its mission. Meanwhile, the 50th Signal Service Detachment, a communications security unit, had relocated from Japan to Korea in early October. At the end of October, the first sizeable ASA component, the 60th Signal Service Company, redeployed from Fort Lewis, Washington, to Korea. On June 1951, the 303d Communication Reconnaissance Battalion had arrived and collocated with ASA Pacific (Advance) as the ASA command and control element in-theater. The 501st Communication Reconnaissance Group became operational in July, absorbing ASA Pacific (Advance) By mid--1952, the following structure was in place: 501st Communication Reconnaissance Group, 203d, 304th, and 301st Communication Reconnaissance Battalions, and the 330th, 352d, 326th, 329th, and 351st Communication Reconnaissance Companies. (The 50th Signal Service Detachment returned to Japan in May 1951; the 60th SSC had been redesignated as the 330th CRC; the 326th CRC was formerly the 126th Signal Service Company.) Courtesy of Jim Gilbert INSCOM Historian =================
Lineages: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/branches/mi/0303mibn.htm 303rd MI Bn
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/branches/mi/0102mibn.htm 102nd MI Bn
201st Military Intelligence Brigade http://www.lewis.army.mil/201/lineage.htm
other links
The Korean War - the Sigint Background http://www.nsa.gov/korea/papers/sigint_background_korean_war.htm
http://www.kimsoft.com/2001/abook16.htm Story form Korea guy who worked with ASA
Historical Summary for 330th ASA Company On 26 Nov 1943, the 60th Signal Radio Intelligence (RI) Company was constituted in the Army of the United States, and on 23 December 1943, activated at Camp Crowder, Missouri. During WWII, Camp Crowder served as a major personnel processing and training center. A number of radio intelligence companies were formed there which later saw action in both the European and Pacific theaters. On 8 July 1944, the 60th RI Co left Camp Crowder to participate in field training and exercises at Fort Benning, Georgia. The unit then travelled to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, from 13 Oct to 8 November 1944, before returning to Fort Benning. In early January 1945, the company received orders to relocate on 19 January to Vint Hill Farms Station, Virginia, where its personnel would undergo advanced operational training prior to deployment overseas. Vint Hill Farms Station was the site of the Signal Security Agency's major training center and its Monitoring Station No. 1. However, the surrender of Germany on 7 May 1945 intervened. On 24 May, the company was redesignated as the 60th Signal Service Company. With the successful conclusion of the war, the Army set about implementing lessons learned. One of these was the desireability of placing all signals intelligence resources under the operational control of one command, the Army Security Agency (ASA), which was organized on 15 September 1945. (Previously, mobile radio intelligence units had been subordinate to theater commanders.) Although ASA's assets consisted mainly of a series of worldwide field stations, it was also given a handful of mobile support elements to include the 60th Signal Service Company. On 9 May 1946, the company was relocated from Vint Hill Farms Station to Fort Lewis, Washington. The unit's assigned strength was approximately 4 officers, 3 warrant officers, and 125 enlisted men. Here, it continued an operational mission for the next four years until the Cold war abruptly changed to a shooting one when North Korean Communist forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. Korea represented a test for the Army Security Agency and its ability to support an Army in the field. The 60th Signal Service Company was selected to represent ASA as its first deployed mobile support unit. Flying out of McChord Air Force Base, the 60th Signal Service Company arrived in Korea on 8 October. It was preceded by the ASA Pacific (advance) and the 50th Signal Service Company, which had a communications security mission. Upon arrival in country, the 60th, now with a personnel strength of 204, was assigned to support the Eighth U.S. Army in Seoul. The city had just fallen to Allied troops as a result of the strategic victory initiated by the General Douglas MacArthur's amphibious landing at Inchon. The 60th Signal Service Company pushed north in support of U.S. forces until it finally arrived at a point north of Pyongyang, the captured North Korean capital. The stay was cut short, however, when Chinese Communist troops entered the war and staged a massive counteroffensive across the Yalu River. The war, which had begun with shifting tides of military success for both sides, became stalemated in the spring of 1951. By early summer, ASA had deployed a battalion and the 501st Communications Reconnaissance Group to oversee its units in-country. On 25 October 1951, the 60th Signal Service Company was redesignated the 330th Communications Reconnaissance Company. By late July 1953, open hostilities had ceased along the 38th parallel which divided the Koreas. For its contributions during the war, the 330th Comm Recon company had become one of the most highly decorated units in ASA. The unit received nine campaign credits and two Meritorious Unit Commendations. For the next four years, the 330th remained subordinate to the 501st Comm Recon Group, helping to maintain an uneasy truce. In September 1955, the 330th Comm Recon relocated from Seoul to Siksong-ni. On 1 July 1956, all communications reconnaiossance units were redesignated as Army Security Agency units, to include the 330th. On 15 October 1957, the 501st ASA Group along with its remaining company, the 330th, was inactivated and replaced by a TDA structure which offered increaded flexibility. On 25 June 1962, the 330th ASA Company was reactivated at Camp Wolters, Texas, and assigned to the cocurrently activated 303rd ASA Battalion. The battalion's mission was to be ready to deploy in support of STRATCOM. From 1962 to 1966, the approximately 330-man company participated in training exercises and maneuvers. With the buildup of U.S. Forces in South Vietnam in response to Communist agression, beginning in the 1965-66 time period, the Army Security Agency began to deploy companies in support of the various Army divisions and field forces. On 2 August 1966, the 330th Company was deployed to Vietnam. There it was assigned to the 313th ASA Battalion which had the responsibilty for supporting the I Field Force in the II Corps Tactical Zone. (CTZ II was the largest of the four military regions dividing the country.) The 330th was known in-country as the 12th Radio Research (RR) Unit and later as the 330th RR Company. The 330th was located near Pleiku. Its mission was serving as the primary processing center for the 313th ASA Battalion and its subordinate direct support units scattered throughout the II CTZ. To meet the increased mission demand, the 330th grew in size until it was assigned over 500 personnel. As it had during the Korean War, the company compiled a distinguished record, earning credit for 12 campaigns and receiving 4 Meritorious Unit Commendations, and 2 Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm. As Army in-country troop levels began to be lowered, ASA was also forced to reevaluate its support structure. On 22 May 1970, the company was relocated to Nha Trang. Here it continued to serve as both a central processing and support element, gradually assuming some missions once performed by the direct support units now undergoing inactivation or redeployment. On 30 September 1971, the 330th was inactivated and its mission assumed by a concurrently organized field station. During its history, the 330th ASA Company had served under the ASA umbrella as a direct support unit and a processing company. Upon reactivation on 5 November 1973, the company not only assumed a new type of ASA support mission but began operations in the European Theater for the first time. The mission of the reactivated 330th ASA Company, now turned aviation company, would be to provide support direct to tactical commanders on a real time basis. Upon activation, the unit was assigned to and located with the 502nd ASA Group in Augsburg, Federal republic of Germany. On 9 January 1974, the first element of the 330th which consisted of CPT John N. Niemczuk, Jr., Commander, one warrant officer, and nine enlisted personnel and four vehicles departed Augsburg for the site which was to become the company headquarters, Building 216 on Sembach Air Base. On 6 January, the ground operations section of the unit occupied the abandoned missile site at Gruenstadter Berg. On 8 May, the unit Aircraft Maintenance Section took temporary possession of a hangar in the southwest corner of Ramstein Air Base. In mid-March MAJ Lemuel G. Brinkley, Jr. arrived to assume command. Finally, the last section of the unit to enter temporary facilities was Flight Operations which moved into Building 2330 at Ramstein Air Base on 22 April 1974. Within six months of becoming operational, the unit had grown from 0 to over 100 assigned personnel. The company utilized GUARDRAIL aircraft in support of U.S. Army Europe/7th Army. On 29 August 1975, the company headquarters was relocated to Kaiserslautern. The personnel assigned to the 330th over the months and years continued to add to the distinguished lineage of the unit. In 1976, the Army Security Agency was reorganized into the U.S. Intelligence and Security Command. Although still possessing a worldwide headquarters at Arlington Hall Station, Virginia, the new command lost it's verticalized organizational structure which characterized ASA. Consequently direct tactical support units were transferred to theater commands. On 1 January 1977 the 330th was reassigned to U.S. Army Europe, ending over 30 years association with the ASA.
177th ASA Co link http://members.tripod.com/~asay2k/177thASA/index.html SAD III Korea http://home.att.net/~john.mikes/ASA.htm 321st ASA Photos http://atourofduty.homestead.com/321ASAACoGC6061Pg2.html 177th ASA http://home.kendra.com/swanson/177thusa.htm 177th http://james_deaton.tripod.com/
303rd The 303D MI BN is the Operations Battalion for III Corps. The battalion provides intelligence support to the Corps Commander and Corps Intelligence Officer, G2. 303rd Military Intelligence Battalion providse timely, accurate and predictive intelligence to III Corps, ARFOR, or C/JTF for Contingency and Combat Operations. The 303d MI Battalion heritage traces back to World War II. Its parent unit, the 3253d Signal Service Company, was activated on April 29, 1944, in England, with the mission to intercept German radio traffic. On June 20, 1946, the company, now designated the 540th Signal Service Company, returned to Europe to support US Forces in Austria. The unit's current designation first appeared on September 25, 1950, when the 303d Communications Reconnaissance Battalion was activated. The 303d's mission was to provide COMINT to US Forces supporting the UN commitment to the Republic of Korea. In July 1951, the 540th Signal Service Company was absorbed into the 303d to preserve the 3253d's and 540th's histories. The 303d continued to provide intelligence collection to UN Forces until the battalion's inactivation in Seoul, Korea, on June 25, 1955. As the 303d Army Security Agency (ASA) battalion, the unit returned to active duty at Camp Wolters, Texas, on June 15, 1962. In Vietnam, the 303d supported II Field Force. After Vietnam, the unit returned to Texas and made its home at Fort Hood. After organizational changes, the battalion's companies were used to form the 312th and 522d MI Battalions. The 303d remained on active status and in 1978 was redesignated the 303d MI Battalion (Provisional) and was assigned to the 504th MI Group. At the same time the 376th ASA Company and the 370th ASA Company were redesignated A and B Companies, 303d MI Battalion, respectively. On April 16, 1982, the 303d was fully activated as the 303d MI Battalion (CEWI)(Operations)(Corps), with the mission to provide IEW, especially COMINT, to III Corps (US). The unit deployed to Bosnia in December 1995 to April 1996, in support of Operation Joint Endeavor and the Peace Implementation Force (IFOR). The Battalion commander served as the ground component commander of a 200 soldier JSTARS Ground Station Module Task Force. The unit deployed to Bosnia again from October 1996 to January 1997, to provide JSTARS support to the IFOR's withdrawal from areas in Bosnia. Recently, the 303D MI BN supported 1st Cavalry Division's Warfighter Exercise in March and 4th Infantry Division's Simex in June 1997.