202nd leads the way again

Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett ( From left) Lt. Col. James Gordon, Task Force Deuce commander, and Col Laurence Mixon, 513th Military Intelligence Brigade commander, case the colors for the 202nd Military Intelligence Battalion, which is readying for its fifth deployment since the war on terror began in September 2001. Col. Laurence M. Mixon echoed the words of King David in the Biblical account of David and Goliath Tuesday.

When his brothers wrongfully accused him of having wrong motives in going out to face the Philistine giant, David asked them ‘is there not a cause?’

“I say there is a cause,” said Mixon, commander of the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade, during a casing ceremony for the 202nd Military Intelligence Battalion, which heads to Afghanistan in its fifth deployment since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Since 2001, Task Force Deuce has been deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan to collect human intelligence, counterintelligence and signals intelligence.

In this mission, however, Task Force Deuce will set up the first Joint Interrogation Debriefing Center to provide interrogation and debriefing to U.S. and Coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Mixon said the 202nd has often been called upon to lead the way, and this time, it’s no different. Their role, he said, is critical.

“At this time, key decisions are being made concerning the future of not only Afghanistan and Southwest Asia, but the world,” he said. “You are going to set the standards.”

Lt. Col. James Gordon, Task Force Deuce commander, said his team has been trained and is “ready for combat.”

In 2004, the unit received the Army’s Meritorious Unit Citation.