At a Glance

The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
Fort Huachua, Arizona

Fort Huachuca is home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command. Located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 70 miles southeast of Tucson and 15 miles north of the border with Mexico, Fort Huachuca was annexed in 1971 by the city of Sierra Vista and was declared a national landmark in 1976. Fort Huachuca is also the headquarters of Army Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) and the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) and the Electronic Proving Ground (EPG). Libby Army Airfield is located on post and shares the runway with Sierra Vista Municipal Airport; it is on the list of alternate landing locations for the space shuttle, though it has never been used as such.

Driving Directions: Fort Huachuca is located in the Southeastern corner of Arizona. Take exit 302 from Interstate 10 and drive south for approximately 25 miles to the main gate. This will be the second traffic light after passing through Huachuca City. Turn right at the traffic light to enter the post. Pull off to the right to get a temporary visitor's pass before proceeding to the security check point. To obtain a visitor's pass, you will need the following documents:
1. Picture ID -- driver's license.
2. Vehicle Registration.
3. Proof of Insurance.
4. Assignment or TDY orders (Military or Civilian workers only— not required for visitors.)

* Note that vehicle registration and proof of insurance are required only if you are driving your own privately owned vehicle or a rental vehicle onto Fort Huachuca. If you are using public transportation such as a taxi or shuttle bus, those documents are not required.

What does US Military Intelligence Do?

In the United States Armed Forces, Military Intelligence (sometimes referred to as MI) refers specifically to the intelligence components of the United States Army. Other branches of the service have their own military intelligence components, referred to by other names.

Some History...

Intelligence gathering has been a part of human cultures for millennia. Military. Even in the Bible, “the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan…’ When the Continental Army was founded in 1775, intelligence personnel were an integral part of it. George Washington spent $17,000 on paid informants. When Nathan Hale said, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country,” he was an American spy captured on an espionage mission, having been a member of Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton’s “rangers” (intelligence operatives).

In 1885, the Army established the Military Intelligence Division (MID). In 1903, the MID was placed under the new general staff in an elevated position.

In March 1942, the Military Intelligence Division was reorganized as the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). It originally consisted of just 26 people, 16 of them officers, but it soon increased in size to include 342 officers and 1,000 enlisted personnel and civilians. Its job was to collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence. Initially it included: an Administrative Group, Intelligence Group, Counter-intelligence Group and an Operations Group.

In May 1942, Alfred McCormack established the Special Branch of MIS, which specialized in COMINT (Communications Intelligence).

In 1945, the Special Branch became the Army Security Agency. In 1946, the Counter-Intelligence Group became the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps.

To meet the Army's increased requirement for national and tactical intelligence, an Intelligence and Security Branch was established in the Army effective July 1, 1962, by General Orders No. 38, July 3, 1962. On July 1, 1967, the branch was redesignated as Military Intelligence.

Military Intelligence was so highly classified in nature that public was relatively oblivious to the existence or workings of the Military Intelligence Service both during World War II and long after. A few records about MIS finally saw light of day in 1972 following Freedom of Information Act requests. As the Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service website says, “Consequently, many MIS soldiers did not receive recognition and/or decorations for their remarkable efforts. They became ‘unsung heroes,’ unacknowledged for their important contributions in wartime as well as postwar activities.”

In July 1967, a number of intelligence and security organizations were combined to form the military intelligence branch. In 1977 they eventually recombined with the Army Intelligence Agency and Army Security Agency to become the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.

The Military Intelligence Corps was activated on July 1, 1987 in accordance with the United States Army Regimental System.

So Secret They're Famous

Unusual Place to Visit

Military Intelligence Hall of Fame, Fort Huachuca (Sierra Vista), Arizona

By Richard “Zippy” Grigonis — December 1, 2010

The are many Halls of Fame covering many fields of endeavor. We’re all familiar with the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As John Ortberg has written, “There is a hall of fame for billiards players, chess competitors, and Scottish sports stars. There is a Barbed Wire Hall of Fame, a Kansas Oil and Gas Hall of Fame…” In Germany they have the Walhalla temple, a hall of fame honoring laudable and distinguished personalities “of the German tongue.” But did you know that there is a Military Intelligence Hall of fame? Military intelligence types work tirelessly and thanklessly behind the scenes without ever receiving any notoriety, and the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame is one of the few places where these denizens of the shadows get some recognition.

Military Intelligence Corps branch insignia

The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame was founded by the Military Intelligence Corps of the United States Army in 1988 to honor soldiers and civilians who have made exceptional contributions to the Military Intelligence profession. The Hall is administered by the United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoe) at the 70,000-acre Fort Huachuca, Arizona. (The USAICoe is the United States Army's school for professional training of military intelligence personnel; it’s a component of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.) In the United States Armed Forces, Military Intelligence (sometimes referred to as MI) refers specifically to the intelligence components of the United States Army. Other branches of the service have their own military intelligence components, referred to by other names.

The first MIS veteran to be inducted into the US Army Military Intelligence Corps. Hall of Fame was Hisashi “Johnny” Masuda , in 1988.

The U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca accepts nominations throughout the year for the MI Hall of Fame, relying on the input of contributors to identify and nominate worthy candidates for this honor. Anyone can nominate an individual for induction into the MI Hall of Fame. Commissioned officers, warrant officers, enlisted soldiers, or civilians who have served in a U.S. Army intelligence unit or in an intelligence position in the U.S. Army are eligible for nomination.

A nominee must have made a significant contribution to MI that reflects favorably on the MI Corps. In certain isolated instances (particularly in the case of junior soldiers), heroic actions rather than other documented contributions may form the basis of the nomination.

Nominees cannot be employees of the United States Government in any capacity at the time of their nominations. Individuals cannot be self-nominated. An annual HOF Board convenes to review nominations and make recommendations to the Chief of MI who is the final approving authority for inductions into the Hall of Fame.

This is the regimental distinctive insignia for the military intelligence branch of the United States army.

During its entire history, only about 250 Military Intelligence professionals have been selected for membership in the MI Corps Hall of Fame, owing to the deliberate and thorough selection process. Each nomination is judged by a board of active and retired senior officers, warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and professional civilians. The board’s recommendations are presented to the Chief of the Corps who makes the final selection. The names of the inductees are then inscribed on the wall of honor in Alvarado Hall, Fort Huachuca, as a lasting symbol of their legacy to the Corps.

Strange Spyfellows

When surveying the list of people inducted into the MI Corps Hall of Fame, you can see names that one expects to be there, such as Thomas Thomas Knowlton (1740–1776) America's first Intelligence professional who during the Revolutionary War headed his own intelligence gathering unit, Knowlton's Rangers. One also sees on the list William Joseph (“Wild Bill” Donovan (1883–1959), the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) known as the “Father of American Intelligence” and the “Father of Central Intelligence.”

However, there are a few unexpected names on the list, such as Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884) , founder of the legendary Pinkerton National Detective Agency. As it happens, when the American Civil War started, Pinkerton served as head of the Union Intelligence Service in 1861–1862 and foiled an alleged assassination plot against President Lincoln in Baltimore, Maryland, while guarding the President as he traveled to his inauguration. He had agents working undercover as Confederate soldiers and sympathizers as they gathered military intelligence. Pinkerton served in several undercover missions under the alias of Major E.J. Allen. Pinkerton was succeeded as Intelligence Service chief by Lafayette Baker. The Intelligence Service was the forerunner of the U.S. Secret Service.

Pinkerton himself was a rather interesting man who was full of self-contradictions. In 1859 in Chicago, he met with abolitionist John Brown who had with him 11 slaves he had liberated in the South. Pinkerton helped Brown by arranging and raising the fare for the slaves' passage to Detroit, and thence to the freedom of Canada. However, in 1872, Pinkerton was paid handsomely by the Spanish Government to suppress a revolution in Cuba that had the goal of ending slavery and giving all citizens the right to vote.

Sidney T. Weinstein Award for Excellence in Military Intelligence

In 2007, the LTG Sidney T. Weinstein Award for Excellence in Military Intelligence was established to recognize the outstanding achievements of one Army Captain within the Military Intelligence Community who embodies the values and ideals for which the late LTG Weinstein stood. LTG Weinstein, who passed away in 2007, is fondly remembered as the father of modern military intelligence. More than just a fine officer, LTG Weinstein was a leader, mentor, role model, friend, and dedicated family man. He once said about MI Soldiers, “[You] got to be tactically and technically proficient…but by God, duty, honor, country is not a bumper sticker.”

To be eligible for the LTG Sidney T. Weinstein Award, a candidate must be a Military Intelligence Officer of the rank of Captain (CPT/O-3) in the Active Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard. He/she must have performed actions which positively promote, impact, advance, and bring honor to the MI profession. The candidate must possess either an MI Officer Area of Concentration (AOC) or a 15C AOC, be fully eligible for continued service for at least one year after award presentation and not in a promotable status as of 30 June 2011. No posthumous awards will be presented. Candidates also must meet the height and weight standards specified in AR 600-9, maintain a current passing grade on the Army Physical Fitness Test (waived for deployed nominees unable to take the APFT), and must not be under an unfavorable personnel or UCMJ action. Recipients of the Weinstein Award are recognized annually at a luncheon during the MI Corps Hall of Fame Week in June at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Creed of the Military Intelligence Corps

I am a Soldier first, but an intelligence professional second to none.
With pride in my heritage, but focused on the future,
Performing the first task of an Army:
To find, know, and never lose the enemy.
With a sense of urgency and of tenacity, professional and physical fitness,
and above all, INTEGRITY, for in truth lies victory.
Always at silent war, while ready for a shooting war,
The silent warrior of the ARMY team.