Col. Brendon G. Harper relinquished command of Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA) to Col. Bradley P. Bean, July 15, 2022 during a change of command ceremony held on Quantico, Virginia.
Harper, a career intelligence officer is from Jacksonville, Florida and Bean is a native from Mesa, Arizona and upon completion of The Basic School was designated a signals intelligence and electronic warfare officer.
From June 2020 to July 2022, Harper commanded uniformed military service members, government civilians and contractors tasked to provide 24/7 global responsibilities satisfying the intelligence requirements of the Marine Corps force development enterprise, Fleet Marine Forces, the joint force and the greater National Intelligence Community.
“I would argue by looking around here at the exclusive VIPS and all of you here today says a couple different things. It recognizes the leadership of Col Harper and the leadership of Col Bean,” stated Maj. Gen. William H. Seely III, Director of Intelligence (DIRINT), Headquarters Marine Corps. “It also says a great many things about what MCIA means to the joint force and the intel community.”
Under Harper’s leadership, MCIA provided intelligence support to crisis response efforts such as Hurricane Ida relief, the Afghan noncombatant evacuation operation and Afghan evacuee support, and full time monitoring and production support regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
When addressing the MCIA team Harper stated, “On July 19, 2020 I took command and during that change of command I said motivation goes both ways.” Harper said, “I can tell you for a fact from an MCIA perspective you motivated me every day. Thank you for what you’ve done every single day.”
Harper and Bean switch billets as Harper departs MCIA to serve as the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) Assistant Chief of Staff (AC/S) G-2 as Bean departs the II MEF G-2 position to assume command of MCIA.
After assuming command of MCIA Bean stated, “I will make sure to continue to improve the fighting position and improve what MCIA has done.” He concluded addressing the Marines of MCIA by saying, “Thank you for what you’re doing, I look forward to serving with you and the staff. It is impressive to see what you are doing and where the command is going and I’m excited to be a part of the team.”
MCIA was first activated by then-Commandant of the Marine Corps General Alfred M. Gray on Nov 10. 1987 as the Marine Corps Intelligence Center (MCIC). The initial on-board strength was 17 Marines and 5 Civilian Marines. In 1993, MCIC was renamed the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA) which has now grown to approximately 1,000 Marines, civilian Marines and contract staff.
The increased personnel numbers is a symbol of the growing participation in, collaboration with, and contribution of MCIA to the National Intelligence Community and Marines deployed throughout the world.
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.22.2022 22:33 |
| Story ID: | 425648 |
| Location: | QUANTICO, US |
| Web Views: | 630 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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