HISTORY
Chief Warrant Officer Two Kenneth D. Allen, former Director of the 18 [th] Army Band at Fort Devens, is credited with writing the MI Corps March. Lieutenant Colonel Porfirio Montes, then commander of the 306 [th] MI Battalion and Major David Bilyeu, the executive officer of the 112 [th] MI Brigade, provided the lyrics. Allen first composed his march in 1990 and collaborated with Montes and Bilyeu on the lyrics in 1992.
Prior to 1992, the MI Corps had unofficially used a march composed and copyrighted in 1988 by Sergeant Steven Christensen stationed at Fort Lewis. Christensen's march, however, had never been approved by the U.S. Army Band. In May 1992, Colonel Lanning Porter, the Assistant to the Chief of Military Intelligence, proposed a "playoff" of the two marches at the June 10, 1992 Colonels' Mess. Recorded versions of both marches and a vocal rendition of Allen's version were played, after which a simple majority vote was taken. Attendees unanimously chose Allen's version. The official MI Corps March was played for the first time on July 2, 1992 as part of that year's MI Hall of Fame ceremony.
