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As the Army's primary criminal investigative organization, the US Army Criminal Invesigation Command (USACIDC; often referred to as the Criminal Investigation Division or CID) is responsible for the conduct of criminal investigations in which the Army is, or may be, a party of interest. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and operating throughout the world, USACIDC conducts criminal investigations that range from death to fraud, on and off military reservations, and, when appropriate, with local, state and other federal investigative agencies. The Command supports the Army through the deployment, in peace and conflict, of highly trained soldier and government service special agents and support personnel, the operation of a certified forensic laboratory, a protective services unit, computer crimes specialists, polygraph services, criminal intelligence collection and analysis, and a variety of other services normally associated with law enforcement activities.

USACIDC's mission is the same in both the installation and battlefield environments. However, USACIDC's traditional roles are expanded once deployed to the battlefield or to a contingency operation. USACIDC's advanced theater operations often include mentoring local national investigators and police in developing the rule of law, conducting site exploitation and recovery of forensic and biometric evidence and developing criminal intelligence. USACIDC also provides logistics security and conducts protective service and force protection operations. During battlefield operations, USACIDC's criminal investigations can include war crimes, anti-terrorism and crimes against coalition forces and host nation personnel. Investigating these complex criminal scenarios allows combatant commanders to take the fight to the enemy and most importantly, save lives.

The US Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC) was organized as a major command of the Army to provide investigative services to all levels of the Army. Using modern investigative techniques, equipment and systems, USACIDC concerned itself with every level of the Army throughout the world in which criminal activity could or had occurred. Unrestricted, USACIDC searched out the full facts of a situation, organized the facts into a logical summary of investigative data, and presented the data to the responsible command or a United States attorney as appropriate. The responsible command or the US attorney then determined what action would be taken. Ultimately, the commander of USACIDC answered only to the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Secretary of the Army. USACIDC had the authority to investigate felony crime affecting the Army at any time, in any place in the world.