The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command was not officially established until 1971, but its roots go back to the 1917 and the creation of a Criminal Investigation Division (CID) within the Military Police Corps to oversee all investigations into criminal activity, which had increased substantially as the size of the Army grew exponentially following American entry into World War I. Following the war, the CID was reduced and size and its functions decentralized, but the outbreak of World War II led to its reactivation and expansion—both of which were reversed following victory in 1945.
After extensive studies revealed the need for centralized command and control of criminal investigations, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Agency was created in 1969 to supervise CID operations across the globe, but the Agency lacked command authority. This was rectified in September 1971, when the US Army Central Investigation Command was formed as an Army Command with control over all CID resources, personnel, and activities.
This need for centralized control in the development and execution of criminal investigation techniques and processes is mirrored in the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (unit patch) of the USACID. Employing our national colors of red, white, and blue, the insignia features a central star with arrowheads marking the eight main points of a compass and the latitudinal and longitudinal lines of a globe, representing the central authority exercising command, direction, and control of the Army’s criminal investigations.
On a blue octagon 2 1/2 inches in diameter and within a 1/8 inch red border, the latitude and longitude lines of a global map terminating in arrowheads within the angles of the border all in white, and at center on a red disc a white five-pointed star. The insignia was approved on 12 November 1971.
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