New MI unit focuses on interrogation, debriefing

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By Michelle Tan
Times staff writer

The Army’s first joint interrogation and debriefing battalion was stood up April 12 during a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The 201st Military Intelligence Battalion is the first of four such battalions — two active and two Reserve — to be activated in the next several years.

Each of the 147 soldiers in the 201st specializes in interrogation and intelligence. Their job is to screen and interrogate detainees. .

“The 201st Military Intelligence Battalion will join our … team as an indispensable force for peace and freedom in the world and we will deploy the most advanced interrogation and debriefing battalion in the year to come,” said Col. Richard Saddler, commander of the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade, according to a transcript of the ceremony.

According to speeches at the ceremony, the concept behind the 201st and similar battalions came about, in part because of a 2004 investigation into the abuse of detainees at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison The investigation into those abuses highlighted the need for dedicated interrogation battalions, Saddler said.

The Army has initiated a long-term plan to activate several battalions just like the 201st, he said.

[Batgirl]

It's a good addition and relevant to the times