Assigned to the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade and stationed at Camp Humphreys in Korea, the mission of the 524th Military Intelligence Battalion is to carry out Counter Intelligence (COINTEL) and Human Intelligence (HUMINT) operations in support of Combined Forces Command (CFC), United States Force Korea (USFK), and United States Eighth Army. The unit was first constituted on 25 September 1950 in the Regular Army as the 524th Technical Intelligence Coordinator Detachment and activated at Fort Riley on 10 October 1950. After deployment to Korea and participation in five Korean War campaigns, it was inactivated a little over thirteen months later on 1 December 1951 while still in Korea.
It was redesignated as the 524th Military Intelligence Corps Detachment nearly fourteen years later on 22 June 1965; it was activated on 1 July 1965 at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) in eastern North Carolina. Redesignated as the 524th Military Intelligence Detachment (October 1966), it would serve in nearly a dozen Vietnam War campaigns (eleven) and earn a Meritorious Unit Commendation for service there between 1966 and 1968. From November 1970 and June 1982, the Detachment was inactivated; it was reactivated on the latter date (16 June 1982) as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 524th Military Intelligence Battalion, with its organic elements subsequently constituted in October 1988.
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The 524th Military Intelligence Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a DUI or unit crest, was approved on 16 May 1983. It azure and silver gray tones are the colors of the Military Intelligence branch; the black used in the insignia indicates solidarity. Two interlocking chevronels suggest the gleaning of info from various sources which are then processed by the unit and distributed to units that require it; the black pellets suggest the organization’s ability to interpret various types of data and form assessments of military situations.
Azure (oriental blue) and silver gray are the colors associated with Military Intelligence. The interlocking chevronels suggest the gathering of information from many sources processed through the unit and distributed throughout the Army, as represented by the border. The black pellets suggest the unit's ability to interpret various data and to form assessments of military situations; their number, 16, refers to the number of campaigns in which the unit participated in Korea and Vietnam. "Silent Vigilance" is the Battalion Motto.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e),
"Beret" and
"Garrison Cap," respectively.