Protective Services Battalion
The Protective Services Battalion is a U.S. Army unit responsible for protection of the United States Secretary of Defense, the United States Army Chief of Staff, and other senior civilian and military officials of the United States Department of Defense. It is, operationally, part of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command.
According to the U.S. Army, its peacetime protection operations began with the assignment of this responsibility to the 1st Military Police Detachment in the late 1960s during heightened domestic unrest caused by the Vietnam War. In 1971, subsequent to the establishment of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command as a major Army command, the Protective Services Activity was established to manage Department of Defense protective missions. During the build-up to the 1991 Gulf War, the PSA was reorganized as the Protective Services Unit. In October 2005, the unit was again reorganized as the Protective Services Battalion, later redesignated the U.S. Army Protective Services Battalion.
As of 1998, an Army spokesperson reported that the unit had between 40 and 50 special agents.
