The 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion is a military intelligence battalion subordinate to the 300th Military Intelligence Brigade and part of the California Army National Guard. Mission The battalion is tasked with providing linguists for human intelligence, counter-intelligence, and signals intelligence support, in addition to operating a center for language training and development. Like all National Guard units, the battalion can be called up for state duty by the state governor, ranging from support for anti-drug operations to providing linguists for interpretation and translation. History The 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion was constituted on 1 June 1991 in the California Army National Guard, and organized and Federally recognized with its headquarters at Fort Funston in San Francisco on 16 January 1992. On 1 September 1997, its Company E was allotted to the Massachusetts Army National Guard; the latter was reorganized and redesignated as Company D on 1 October 2001. The battalion was ordered to active duty on 10 February 2003 for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, attached to the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade. The battalion returned to the United States and was released from active duty on 25 May 2004, reverting to state control. Its mobilization for Operation United Assistance was announced in November 2014. COVID-19 Humanitarian Mission On March 20, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom alerted the California National Guard to be prepared to conduct a COVID-19 mission. The 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion was activated on emergency state active duty for the COVID-19 Humanitarian Mission and arrived at the Sacramento Food Bank to assist in packing food boxes for distribution, the following day. On Monday, March 23, 2020, the battalion was shifted to support food packing and distribution operations at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in San Jose. The following day, the battalion began supporting two additional food bank locations; the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County in Fairfield, CA and the Napa Food Bank in Napa, CA. Panther Strike As part of the 300th Military Intelligence Brigade, the battalion rotates the duty of hosting the brigade-level Exercise Panther Strike which it did last in 2014 and 2019. Panther Strike is a multi-national, multi-echelon military intelligence (MI) training exercise. The two-week exercise develops and enhances technical competence in counterintelligence (CI), human intelligence (HUMINT), geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), open source intelligence (OSINT), and signals intelligence (SIGINT) collective and individual tasks. Soldiers train in a realistic and challenging “train as they fight”