U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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65th Engineers 65th Engineer Battalion
“First In, Last Out”
1 October 1941 Constituted 18 October 1927 in the Regular Army as the 65th Engineer Battalion. The battalion remained inactive until assigned to the 25th Infantry Division and activated as a combat engineer battalion at Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii on 1 October 1941 using the personnel and equipment of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Engineer Regiment of the Hawaiian Division. The 65th Engineers received their baptism of fire during the Japanese attack on Hawaii on 7 December 1941. In WW II and Korea its three line companies were primarily placed in direct support of the 25th Division’s three infantry regimental combat teams. In the Pacific campaigns of WW II and in the Korean War the 65th Engineers were called upon to clear mines and booby traps and to assist combat elements in emplacing friendly — or reducing enemy — obstacles and fortifications. The battalion also performed missions to improve roads, trails and to build bridges for the re-supply of the front lines and to speed the evacuation of casualties. As necessary, the 65th Engineers were prepared to and did on occasion fight as infantry. In WW II Companies A, B, and C, each received a Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry on Luzon. In Korea Company A received a Presidential Unit Citation at Sangnyong-Ni in support of the Wolfhounds in defending the Pusan Perimeter. Company B received a Presidential Unit Citation for its support of the 35th Regimental Combat Team’s gallant stand at the Nam River. Company C received a Presidential Unit Citation in support of 25th Division operations near the city of Taegu. The 65th Engineer Battalion participated in all ten campaigns of the Korean War, receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation and two awards of the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. The first element of the 65th to depart for Vietnam was Company C, which was sent ahead of the rest of the 25th Division to aid in the development of the port at Cam Ranh Bay. Next to go was Company D with the 3rd Brigade to the Central Highlands in December 1965. The battalion headquarters and Companies A, B and E (Bridge) arrived at Cu Chi from mid to late January of 1966. Missions assigned to the 65th in Vietnam were similar to those carried out in WW II and Korea, with line companies operating in direct support of the three maneuver brigades. In addition, the battalion conducted firebase and base camp construction and land clearing operations. For their Vietnam service Company B received two Valorous Unit Awards and Companies A, C and D each received a Valorous Unit Award. The 65th Engineer Battalion participated in twelve Vietnam campaigns, receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation, two awards of the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry and the Civil Action Honor Medal. The battalion departed Vietnam on 8 December 1970. Company A, 65th Engineers served as the combat engineer company for the 1st Brigade at Fort Lewis from 16 August 1995 until its inactivation on 16 June 2002. The inactivation was a result of the reorganization of the 1st Brigade from light infantry to a wheeled light armored configuration now known as a Stryker Brigade that calls for the assignment of a separate combat engineer company. The personnel and equipment of Company A were used to man the 73rd Engineer Company. The 65th Engineer Battalion is headquartered at Schofield Barracks. The battalion elements have served in either Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. Company B served a thirteen month tour of duty with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Iraq. Company C served a one year tour of duty with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan. As part of the modular reorganization of the 25th Infantry Division, the 65th Engineer Battalion was inactivated on 15 August 2005 after serving with the Tropic Lightning for 64 years. On 16 July 2007 the 65th Engineer Battalion was reactivated at Schofield Barracks and assigned to the 130th Engineer Brigade. The battalion was reorganized to consist of a Headquarters and Headquarters Company and Company A (Support). The rest of the original line companies were not reactivated. Replacing them as attachments are separate numbered engineer companies each dedicated to a specific mission such as mine clearing, base construction, bridging and topography; with the mix and number attached dependent on the mission. From 4 January 2009 to 15 December 2009, the 65th Engineer Battalion served in Tikrit, Iraq with three attached companies, conducting mine clearing, base construction and bridge repair receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation and participation credit for the Iraqi Sovereignty campaign phase.
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None authorized 77th Engineer Company 5 February 1947 Constituted in the Regular Army on 1 October 1933. Activated at Fort Custer, Michigan on 2 June 1942 with African-American personnel. On 1 April 1942 the unit was redesignated as the 77th Engineer Light Ponton (Pontoon) Company. In WW II the 77th was assigned to the China-Burma-India Theater of operations. The company participated in the India-Burma and the Central Burma campaigns supporting U.S. and Allied forces with the capability to rapidly cross streams and rivers as they drove the Japanese out of central Burma. The 77th was inactivated 27 November 1945 upon arriving at the New York Port of Embarcation. On 15 November 1946 the 77th was redesignated and reorganized as the 77th Engineer Combat Company. The company was activated in Japan on 6 December 1946 with African-American personnel. On 5 February 1947 the 77th was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division as the direct support engineer company for the 24th Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT). Accompanying the 24th RCT to Korea the 77th Engineer Company participated in the 25th Division’s first offensive combat action when the 24th RCT attacked and seized the vital road junction of Yechon. Significantly contributing to the success of the attack were the actions of the commanding officer of the 77th Engineer Company, 1st Lieutenant Charles Bussey who manned a machine gun and caused over two hundred North Korean causalities. The 77th went on to support the 24th RCT through bitter fighting in six Korean campaigns. Upon the inactivation of the 24th Infantry the 77th continued to serve with the 25th Division as an integrated combat engineer company for three additional campaigns until its inactivation in Korea on 15 April 1953. From 1956-1958 the 77th was assigned to the 1st Infantry RCT at West Point NY. From 1961-1963 the company was assigned to the U.S. Army Alaska at Fort Wainwright. In 1966 the 77th was assigned to Fort Belvoir, VA as a port construction company, then was inactivated on 21 February 1973. The 77th Engineer Company was reactivated on 16 September 2006 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri as a facilities construction company.
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None authorized 76th Engineer Company 6 December 1969 Constituted 1 October 1933 as the 76th Engineer Company. Activated 1 June 1941 at Fort McClellan, Alabama with African-American personnel. Reorganized and redesignated as the 76th Engineer Light Ponton (Pontoon) Company upon arriving in India on 12 November 1942. The company supported U.S. and Allied forces in India and Burma in facilitating the crossing of water obstacles during the campaign to drive the Japanese out of Burma. The 76th was inactivated at the New York Port of Embarkation on 27 November 1945. The 76th was reorganized and redesignated as the 76th Engineer Panel Bridge Transport Company and activated at Camp Campbell Kentucky with African-American personnel on 15 January 1948. On 3 March 1949 the 76th was again reorganized and redesignated as the 76th Engineer Dump Truck Company. The 76th arrived in Korea on 26 September 1950. Assigned to the Eighth Army the 76th participated in all ten campaigns of the Korean War receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation. In 1954 it was redesignated as the 76th Engineer Company and then inactivated in Korea in 1955. From 1957-1962 the company was active at Fort Belvoir and Fort Sill. The 76th Engineer Company was reactivated in 1964 at Fort Lee, VA as a direct support maintenance company. Arriving at Na Trang, Vietnam on 8 June 1966 it was inactivated one month later on 6 July 1966. On 6 December 1969 the 76th was assigned to the 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and activated at Schofield Barracks. The company consisted of two dump truck platoons and a bridge platoon. Upon the inactivation of the 4th Brigade on 15 December 1970 the 76th Engineer Company remained assigned to the 25th Division as a separate company. On 5 April 1972 the company’s personnel and equipment were assigned to the 65th Engineer Battalion and the 76th Engineer Company was inactivated. The 76th Engineer Company was reactivated on 16 October 2005 at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
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None authorized 54th Engineer Company 10 February 1971 Upon the departure of the 25th Division on 8 December 1970 from Vietnam, the 2nd Brigade remained under the operational control of II Field Force. The 54th Engineer Company was activated in Vietnam on 10 February 1971 as the combat engineer company for the 2nd Brigade. The company was based at Long Binh in direct support of the combat elements of the brigade located at Long Binh and Xuan Loc. The company was inactivated in Vietnam on 14 April 1971.
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None authorized 73rd Engineer Company 16 June 2002 Constituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army. The company was first activated at Fort Lewis Washington on 1 August 1941. It initially participated in the construction of the Alaska-Canada Highway known as the ALCAN Highway for which it received a Meritorious Unit Commendation and credit for participation in the WWII American and Asiatic Pacific Theaters of Operation. The company was reorganized as a light pontoon bridge company on 8 June 1942. After service in Alaska the 73rd was sent to the European theater where it served in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns in 1944-45. The company was inactivated on 9 January 1946 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia only to be reactivated eleven months later as an engineer light equipment company on 10 December 1946 in Japan. The 73rd was once again inactivated on 1 June 1949 in Japan and then shortly after reactivated as an engineer heavy equipment company at Fort Belvoir, Virginia on 19 September 1949. The company was reorganized and redesignated as the 73rd Engineer Company (Construction Support) on 28 September 1953. The company arrived in Vietnam from Fort Belvoir on 1 October 1966 and was based at Qui Nhon. It was inactivated in Vietnam on 16 January 1972. The 73rd was credited with participating in thirteen Vietnam campaigns and was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class. The 73rd was reactivated on 1 April 1984 and served at Fort Lewis until inactivated on 15 March 1994. With the reorganization of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division from light infantry to what was formally known as an Interim Brigade Combat Team now called a Stryker Brigade, the Department of the Army directed that the engineer company supporting the 1st Brigade would no longer be from the division combat engineer battalion but rather would be a separate company. Consequently the 73rd Engineer Company was reactivated on 16 June 2002 as a separate engineer combat company using the personnel and equipment of Company A, 65th Engineer Battalion which was inactivated. The 73rd served with the 1st Brigade in and around the city of Mosul, Iraq beginning in October 2004 in support of combat operations and stability initiatives. The company returned to Fort Lewis with the 1st Brigade in September 2005. On 1 June 2006 the 1st Brigade Combat Team including the 73rd Engineer Company was inactivated; with personnel and equipment transferred to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker). The 1st Brigade Combat Team including the 73rd Engineer Company was reactivated on 16 December 2006 with station at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Read more about them.
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None authorized 66th Engineer Company 16 November 2005 Constituted in the Regular Army on 1 July 1940 as the 66th Engineer Company and activated at Fort Jackson, SC on 8 July 1941 then redesignated as the 66th Engineer Topographic Company on 1 April 1942. In WWII the 66th served in North Africa, landing in Algeria in November 1942. The 66th Engineers then participated in the invasion of Sicily and subsequently participated in all four campaigns on the Italian mainland, receiving a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Post-WWII the 66th served briefly in Japan and then Germany in the years 1946-1948 until inactivated on 20 June 1948 in Germany. The company was reactivated at Fort Meade, Maryland on 15 December 1950. The 66th Engineer Company (Topographic) (Corps) arrived in Vietnam on 2 September 1966 from Fort Bragg, NC and was stationed at Long Binh with Headquarters, US Army Vietnam. The company produced and provided maps and topographic intelligence in support of combat operations in the III and IV Corps Tactical Zones. For its exceptional achievements through 13 campaigns of the Vietnam War the company was awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendations and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal First Class. The 66th Engineer Company (Topographic) (Corps) was inactivated in Vietnam on 20 March 1972. The company was reactivated on 21 December 1976 as the 66th Engineer Company (Atomic Demolition Munitions) (Corps) and was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas until inactivated on 15 June 1987. On 16 November 2005 the 66th Engineer Company was reorganized as a combat engineer company assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (Stryker), 25th Infantry Division and activated at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.