The Sphinx
from MI Fact Book
The sphinx, a composite creature with a lion's body and human head, is often represented in ancient art. The earliest example is the famous monument at Giza, Egypt, dating from approximately 2,500 BC. The head of the colossal sphinx is believed to a portrait statue of King Khafre.
In 1923, the War Department selected the sphinx as the symbol of the newly established Military Intelligence Officers' Reserve Corps, an association created to foster professionalism among officers with a background in intelligence. The sphinx was selected because it was a heraldic symbol of strength and wisdom.
For a number of years, the sphinx was associated exclusively with Army counterintelligence organizations. The Counter Intelligence Corps and School and their successors, the U.S. Army IntelligenceCommand and the U.S. Army Intelligence School, used the sphinx as their principal heraldic symbol. In1953, a 5-foot long sphinx constructed of pot iron and painted gold was placed in front of the CounterIntelligence Corps headquarters building at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. (The exact origin of the statue still remains a riddle.) On 5 August 1962, members of the National Counter Intelligence Corps Association rededicated the statue and attached a bronze plate to its base.
In 1973, the U.S. Army Intelligence Command was relocated from Fort Holabird to Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. The statue also made the trip. For a brief period, the sphinx rested on a pedestal in front of Nathan Hale Hall. However, in 1974, it was decided that the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, would become the permanent home of the sphinx.
In 1987, the Military Intelligence Corps was established at Fort Huachuca. The MI Corps serves as the regimental home to all military intelligence specialists around the world. It is appropriate that the sphinx, military intelligence's oldest and most meaningful symbol, adorns the new regimental crest.