20th Engineer Brigade (United States)

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

20th Engineer Brigade
Combat Engineers
SizeBrigade
Part ofRegular Army
Garrison/HQ
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current
commander		COL Daniel Herlihy
Command Sergeant MajorCSM Michael Arroyo
Notable
commanders
Insignia
Combat service identification badge (CSIB)
Flag

The 20th Engineer Brigade is a

unit patch
. Soldiers of the 20th Engineer Brigade provide various supportive duties to other Army units, including construction, engineering, and mechanical work on other Army projects.

Though its predecessor units have lineage that dates back before the

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
. Deploying overseas in November 1952, it supported construction projects in southwestern France until its return to the US on 10 September 1954. From then until its inactivation on 12 December 1958, it provided support to XVIII Airborne Corps.

Reactivated on 1 May 1967, at Fort Liberty, the brigade deployed to South Vietnam where it supported American forces for several years and a dozen campaigns. The brigade was deactivated on 20 September 1971, as American forces withdrew from the country.[2]

Reactivated as an airborne brigade on 21 June 1974 at Fort Liberty, NC, the unit has since seen numerous overseas tours, including to

Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn
. It has also independently conducted various humanitarian missions in the United States and in other nations throughout the world.

Organization

The 20th Engineer Brigade currently consists of five engineer battalions headquartered throughout the eastern United States. The Brigade

Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) as well as the 27th Engineer Battalion are headquartered at Fort Liberty, North Carolina[2] while the 19th Engineer Battalion (Construction Effects) is located at Fort Knox, Kentucky.[2] The 92nd Engineer Battalion is located at Fort Stewart, Georgia
.

The 307th Engineer Battalion, formerly assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, was reactivated effective 16 September 2010 by reflagging the existing 37th Engineer Battalion.[3][4] In 2014 the 307th was transferred to the 3d Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division.[5]

The insignia was originally authorized on 30 June 1967. It was amended on 14 January 1975 to add the blue and white "Airborne" tab. The tab is part of the unit insignia and does not indicate whether an individual soldier is Airborne-qualified. Parachute wings on an individual soldier indicate Airborne-qualification. While the brigade headquarters was on jump status, some subordinate elements were not.

On 16 September 2009, the brigade's Airborne status was terminated and the "Airborne" tab on the brigade's shoulder sleeve insignia was removed.[6]

History

Chief of Engineers
.
Former CSIB

Lineage

The lineage and honors of the 20th Engineer Brigade date back to the

Mexican Expedition, World War I and World War II. Though it was not officially designated as the 20th Engineer Brigade during all of these wars, the Brigade received campaign participation credit for all of these campaigns, and has numerous campaign streamers
for what its previous incarnations did during these conflicts.

On 16 August 1950 the brigade was first designated as the 20th Engineer Brigade and activated at

Camp Leonard Wood, Missouri.[7] It deployed overseas to France in November 1952 and established headquarters in Croix Chapeau. Comprising two battalions and six separate companies, the brigade provided engineer construction support to the Base Section of the European COMMZ in southwestern France. In August 1954, it redeployed back to the United States and was activated at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, on 10 September 1954. From that time until its inactivation on 12 December 1958, the brigade provided engineer support to the XVIII Airborne Corps.[2]

Vietnam War and aftermath

In response to the buildup of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, the brigade headquarters was reactivated 1 May 1967, at Fort Liberty and deployed to Vietnam in August 1967. During the Vietnam War, the brigade numbered over 13,000 officers and enlisted men organized into three engineer groups, with 14 battalions and 31 separate companies and detachments. One of these soldiers, Al Gore, would later become Vice President of the United States.[8]

20th Engineer Brigade insignia, with "Airborne" tab.

The brigade provided all non-divisional engineer support in Military Regions III and IV during eleven campaigns.[2] Units cleared more than one-half million acres (2,000 km2) of jungle, paved 500 kilometers of highway, and constructed bridges totaling more than six miles (10 km) in length. As American forces were withdrawing from Vietnam, the brigade was inactivated 20 September 1971.[7]

As the organization of the Army changed following Vietnam, the 20th Engineer Brigade was again reactivated at Fort Liberty, North Carolina as an airborne brigade on 21 June 1974.[2] Assigned as a subordinate command of the XVIII Airborne Corps, which comprised one airborne combat engineer battalion, a heavy construction battalion and four separate companies. Additionally, the 283rd Engineer Detachment (Terrain Analysis) provided terrain intelligence needs of the brigade's mission.[2] Since that time the brigade and its subordinate units supported the XVIII Airborne Corps, fulfilling critical combat engineer, construction, topographic, and bridging missions.[7] In the wake of February 1976 Guatemalan earthquake, the brigade participated in humanitarian aid and rebuilding efforts of a major highway, CA-9.

The brigade participated in the recovery efforts following the

New York State to help with recovery efforts.[2] As requirements and the engineer force structure changed, the brigade inactivated the 548th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Heavy) in 1987 and activated the 37th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne). In 1989, the 30th Engineer Battalion (Topographic) was added to the brigade.[2] Over the years, the brigade has provided engineer support to XVIII Airborne Corps and other Army commands. In addition to training, it has deployed in support of operations across the entire spectrum of conflict from disaster relief to combat operations.[2]

Gulf War

U.S. Army soldiers from the 20th Engineer Brigade jump from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft during a joint forcible entry exercise at Fort Liberty, N.C., 21 August 2006.

The brigade was called to support the multinational response to the

Desert Storm.[10] The brigade completed 1,500 combat heavy battalions equivalent days of work constructing roads, airfields, heliports, ammunition/fuel/water storage points, life support areas and forward landing strips, distributed over ten million maps, trained over 5,000 coalition engineers, and supported the French attack on Assalman airfield. During follow-on missions the brigade destroyed over 6,000 enemy bunkers and one million tons of munitions.[2]

After the Gulf War, elements of the brigade were dispatched to Haiti on a humanitarian mission. The 20th Engineer Brigade was assigned to construct base camps, improve the Haitian infrastructure, participate in humanitarian service projects, and assist with the reestablishment of public services, with a goal of improving overall quality of life within the country.[11]

Since 11 September 2001, it has participated in repeated operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq.[12]

First Iraq tour

Euphrates River
.

In November 2004 the brigade headquarters deployed to

Tennessee National Guard
were part of the brigade.

Second Iraq tour

The brigade again deployed to Iraq for the OIF 07-09 rotation. This time, the brigade was headquartered in

555th Engineer Brigade.[17] This was completed during a transfer of authority ceremony on 29 September 2008.[18] The brigade then began redeploying to Fort Liberty, completing its return by November 2008.[19] A year later, in August 2009, the brigade held a ceremony promoting dozens of its soldiers to the rank of Sergeant.[19]

Honors

Unit decorations

Ribbon Award Year Notes
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 1967–1968 for service in Vietnam
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 1968 for service in Vietnam
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 1968–1970 for service in Vietnam
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 1970–1971 for service in Vietnam
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 1990–1991 for service in Southwest Asia
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 2004–2005 for service in Iraq
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 2007–2008 for service in Iraq
Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal
, First Class 		1967–1970 for service in Vietnam

Campaign streamers

Conflict Streamer Year(s)
Civil War Peninsula 1861
Civil War
Antietam
 1862
Civil War Fredericksburg 1862
Civil War Chancellorsville 1863
Civil War
Wilderness
 1864
Civil War Spotsylvania 1864
Civil War
Cold Harbor
 1864
Civil War Petersburg 1865
Civil War Appomattox 1865
Civil War Virginia 1863 1865
Spanish–American War Santiago 1898
Philippine–American War Tarlac 1899
Philippine–American War Mindanao 1899
Mexican Expedition
 Mexico 1916–1917 1917
World War I
Lorraine
 1918
World War II Normandy 1944
World War II Northern France 1944
World War II Rhineland 1944–1945
World War II
Ardennes-Alsace
 1944–1945
World War II Central Europe 1945
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase III 1967–1968
Vietnam War Tet Counteroffensive 1968
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase IV 1968
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase V 1968
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase VI 1968–1969
Vietnam War Tet 69/Counteroffensive 1969
Vietnam War Summer-Fall 1969 1969
Vietnam War Winter-Spring 1970 1970
Vietnam War Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1970
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase VII 1970–1971
Vietnam War Consolidation I 1970
Gulf War Defense of Saudi Arabia 1991
Gulf War Liberation and Defense of Kuwait 1991
Operation Iraqi Freedom
 Iraqi Governance 2004–2005
Operation Iraqi Freedom
 Iraqi Surge 2007–2008
Operation Iraqi Freedom
 New Dawn 2011

Notable soldiers

Numerous soldiers who have served in the 20th Engineer Brigade have later achieved fame for various reasons, most of them having served the 20th in Vietnam. Former 20th Engineer Brigade soldiers and engineers include

Harold Parfitt,[21] Vice President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore,[8] Sergeant Major of the Army Leon L. Van Autreve,[22] and West Virginian state Senator Richard Ojeda.[23]

References

  1. ^ Engineer Units, Army Engineer Association. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 20th Engineer Brigade History 20th Engineer Brigade Staff. Retrieved 25 January 2008
  3. ^ Pike, John. "Army Announces Force Structure Actions". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  4. ^ "37th Engineer Battalion transforms, reflags - Welcome to Paraglideonline.net - Telling the Fort Bragg story". Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  5. ^ "HEADQUARTERS 3d BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 82d AIRBORNE DIVISION (THE GOLDEN BRIGADE) - Lineage and Honors Information - U.S. Army Center of Military History". History.army.mil. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  6. ^ "20th Engineer Brigade Insignia Update". The Institute of Heraldry. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  7. ^ a b c d "Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 20th Engineer Brigade: Lineage and Honors". U.S. Army Center of Military History. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  8. ^ a b Biography of Vice President Al Gore Archived 7 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, United States Government. Retrieved 25 January 2008
  9. ^ United States Army: DESERT SHIELD CHRONOLOGY, United States Army. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  10. ^ Desert Shield / Desert Storm Interviews Archived 23 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Pentagon Library Staff. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  11. ^ Force Protection: Integrating Civil Affairs and Intelligence, Captain Lynda Snyder and Captain David P. Warsaw. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  12. ^ Arkansas National Guard News Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 2nd Lt. Jennifer Patterson. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  13. ^ U.S., British Geodetic Surveyors Map Iraq Archived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, DefendAmerica.net, Senior Airman Chawntain Sloan. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  14. ^ United States Central Command Press Release, United States Army. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  15. ^ Work Begins on New Vehicle Repair Facility Archived 12 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, DefendAmerica.mil, Sgt. Michael J. Carden. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  16. ^ a b c d e MNC-I Leaders visit 20th Engineers Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Joy Pariante, MNC-I PAO. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  17. ^ Multi-National Corps-Iraq Press Release: 18 May 2008, MNC-I public affairs. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  18. Multi-National Force Iraq
    Public Affairs Office. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  19. ^ a b "Soldiers from Fort Liberty's 20th Engineer Brigade reach enlisted milestone". United States Army. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  20. ^ Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineer Archived 19 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine, United States Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  21. ^ Harold Parfitt, Panama Canal Authority. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  22. ^ Leon l. Van Autreve- Former Sergeant Major of the Army Archived 13 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, United States Army. Retrieved 2 April 2008
  23. ^ "Meet Richard Ojeda (official website)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 20th Engineer Brigade (United States).

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from 20th Engineer Brigade Lineage and Honors. United States Army Center of Military History.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=20th_Engineer_Brigade_(United_States)&oldid=1219237209"