36th Engineer Brigade (United States)

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36th Engineer Brigade
36 Eng Bde SSI.jpg
36th Engineer Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1933–present
Allegiance United States Army
Branch Active duty
Role Combat engineering
Size Brigade
Part of III Armored Corps
Garrison/HQ Fort Cavazos, Texas
Engagements World War II
Korean War
Gulf War
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom
Decorations Meritorious Unit Commendation, Five Awards; Korea 1953, Korea 1954, Southwest Asia 1990–1991
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation (Korea 1950–1952), Iraq 2005–2006, Afghanistan 2007–2008
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia 36 Eng Bde DUI.jpg
Combat Service Identification Badge 36EngBdeCSIB.jpg

The 36th Engineer Brigade is a combat engineer brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Cavazos, Texas. The brigade is a subordinate unit of III Armored Corps.

Contents

The unit is responsible for providing command and control to subordinate Engineer units. The unit was formerly designated as the 36th Engineer Group, and before that as the 36th Engineer Regiment. The 36th is the only unit that has been organized in all three command structures that are commanded by a Colonel in the U.S. Army; regiment, group, and brigade.

With a lineage that dates back to 1933, the 36th Engineer Brigade saw action in the North African Campaign and the Italian Campaign, and it eventually participated it the invasion of mainland Europe. Trained in amphibious assault, the brigade saw its role change several times, from combat engineers to front line infantry. It would later serve in the Korean War, earning several unit decorations. Recently, it has seen tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Organization

The 36th Engineer Brigade is part of III Armored Corps, and consists of a Headquarters and Headquarters Company, which is located at Fort Cavazos, Texas and four Engineer Battalions: [1] 4th Engineer Battalion, 5th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Battalion, and the 62nd Engineer Battalion. [2]

The brigade was the first of the US Army's Engineer Brigades to be converted to a modular design. [3] This means that the Brigade can be deployed and sustain itself independently, without a division or corps level command supporting it. Additionally, the brigade's design allows it to take command of additional units within a theater of operations, allowing for greater versatility on the battlefield. [4]

History

World War II

The 36th Engineer Brigade was originally constituted on 1 October 1933 [5] as the 36th Engineer Regiment and activated on 1 June 1941 at Plattsburgh Barracks, New York. [3] During World War II the 36th Engineer Regiment consisted of nine combat engineer companies trained for amphibious assault and support operations. Because of this training, the unit's distinctive insignia was designed with a seahorse on a red and white shield. [3]

The brigade was deployed to the North African Campaign in 1942, participating in Operation Torch, where it conducted its first amphibious assault, and earning the brigade its first campaign streamer for the battle around Algeria and French Morocco. [3] It would continue supporting Allied units as they pushed Axis forces out of North Africa during the Tunisia Campaign. [5]

The brigade would then participate in the Battle of Sicily, conducting its second amphibious landing along with the 7th Army. It would push on with the rest of the force, eventually forcing German and Italian forces off of the island. The Brigade followed in the quick invasion of mainland Italy soon after, with an amphibious assault in the Naples-Foggia area, followed closely by another landing in support of Operation Shingle, near Anzio. For fifty days, during Operation Shingle, soldiers of the brigade held 7 miles (11 km) of the front line and earned the distinction by the German army as "The Little Seahorse Division". [3]

The unit subsequently participated in the invasion of southern France in 1944, code named Operation Dragoon, conducting its fifth and final amphibious assault of the war. [3] [6] It would support Allied units through three additional campaigns up until the end of the war; the Rhineland Campaign, the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, and the Central Europe Campaign. [5]

Korean War

On 15 February 1945, the unit was redesignated as the 36th Engineer Combat Group, [5] and following World War II it reorganized at Fort Lewis, Washington. The unit was broken up, its three battalions redesignated as the 2826th Combat Engineer Battalion, the 2827th Combat Engineer Battalion, and the 2828th Combat Engineer Battalion, respectively. They then assumed separate lineage, and the Regiment itself was inactivated on 30 November 1946 in Austria. [5]

Reactivated on 5 May 1947 at Fort Lewis, Washington, [5] the unit officially became the 36th Engineer Group on 10 April 1953. [5] During the Korean War, the 36th Engineer Combat Group consisted of four engineer battalions and four additional engineer companies, earning two Meritorious Unit Citations and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. [3] [6] It served in the Korean theater from 1950 until 1954, earning nine campaign streamers while supporting other army units in numerous engineering and construction projects, including rebuilding the Han river bridge just outside Seoul. [5] During its assignment, the group was assigned to IX Corps of the Eighth United States Army. [7] Projects that the group and its subordinate battalions completed included POW facilities, allied bases, and minefield clearing. [7] Along with the rest of IX Corps, the group was forced back behind the Pusan Perimeter and remained stranded there until the Incheon Landings were conducted by X Corps. The group would follow IX Corps for the remainder of the Korean war. [8]

After its withdrawal from Korea, the unit did not participate in any notable campaigns until its inactivation on 30 May 1972 at Fort Lewis. [5] It was reactivated shortly after on 1 July 1973 as the 36th Engineer Group (Construction) at Fort Benning, Georgia. [5] It would see no conflicts until the start of the Gulf War. In 1989, it participated in "Exercise Camino De La Paz," an unscheduled exercise conducted in the first half of 1989 on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. [9]

Present day

Soldiers from the 36th Engineer Brigade work on a construction project in Iraq. OCPA-2006-07-17-084127.jpg
Soldiers from the 36th Engineer Brigade work on a construction project in Iraq.

During the 1991 Gulf War, the 36th Engineer Group (Construction) fought in support of the 24th Infantry Division's rapid attack to the Euphrates. The unit also deployed in support of peace enforcement missions during Operation Continue Hope in Somalia and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Most recently, the 36th Engineer Group (Construction) has twice deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, executing a wide variety of construction missions in support of combat operations, including the construction of enemy prisoner of war camps, theater convoy support centers, and soldier life support areas. [3] Some of the soldiers from the unit were still in Iraq as late as October 2007. [10]

On 16 June 2006, the unit was reorganized and redesignated the 36th Engineer Brigade. [5] [6] and reassigned to Fort Cavazos, Texas as the United States Army's first modular engineer brigade headquarters. [3] The brigade deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2007, holding a ceremony at III Corps Headquarters, casing its unit colors in preparation for its deployment on 28 February 2007. [11] [12] The brigade supports operations conducted by the 82nd Airborne Division. It is part of Task Force Rugged, and among its duties are training Afghan citizens in skilled labor and other nationbuilding operations. [13] Most of the brigade served in Afghanistan since February 2007, while other elements of the unit served in Iraq. [14] While in Afghanistan, the brigade headquarters were stationed at Forward Operating Base Sharana. It also began to undertake missions against Improvised Explosive Devices, a problem which had originated in Iraq but since became more of a threat in Afghanistan. [15] [16]

Honors

Unit decorations

RibbonAwardYearNotes
Korean Presidential Unit Citation.png Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation 1950–1952for service in Korea
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)1953for service in Korea
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)1954for service in Korea
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)1990–1991for service in Southwest Asia
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)2005–2006for service in Iraq
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)2007–2008for service in Afghanistan
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army)2010–2011for service in Iraq

Campaign streamers

ConflictStreamerYear(s)
World War II Algeria-French Morocco (with Arrowhead)1942
World War II Tunisia 1942–1943
World War II Sicily (with Arrowhead)1943
World War II Naples-Foggia (with Arrowhead)1943
World War II Anzio (with Arrowhead)1943
World War II Rome-Arno 1944
World War II Southern France (with Arrowhead)1944
World War II Rhineland 1944–1945
World War II Ardennes-Alsace 1944–1945
World War II Central Europe1945
Korean War UN Offensive1950
Korean War CCF Intervention1950
Korean War First UN Counteroffensive1950
Korean War CCF Spring Offensive1951
Korean War UN Summer-Fall Offensive1951
Korean War Second Korean Winter1951–1952
Korean War Korea, Summer-Fall 19521952
Korean War Third Korean Winter1952–1953
Korean War Korea, Summer 19531953
Gulf War Defense of Saudi Arabia1991
Gulf War Liberation and Defense of Kuwait1991
Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan (CSES)2002–2003
Operation Iraqi Freedom Iraq2006–2007
Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan2007–2008

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References

  1. ↑ "Units". Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "36th Engineer Brigade: U.S Army Fort Cavazos". U.S. Army. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 36th Engineer Brigade Homepage: History Archived 27 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine , 36th Engineer Brigade Staff. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  4. ↑ Lead The Way Archived 10 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine , CSM Clinton J. Pearson, United States Army Engineer School. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lineage and Honors: 36th Engineer Brigade [ permanent dead link ], United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 10 April 2008
  6. 1 2 3 The Institute of Heraldry: 36th Engineer Brigade Archived 28 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine , The Institute of Heraldry. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  7. 1 2 Korea: ROA remembers the forgotten war.(Reserve Officers Association of the United States), The Officer magazine. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  8. ↑ GlobalSecurity.org: IX Corps, GlobalSecurity . Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  9. ↑ Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1989 Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , United States Army. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  10. ↑ More than 150 Fort Cavazos soldiers return from Iraq Archived 16 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Amanda Kim Stairrett, Killeen Daily Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2008
  11. ↑ 36th Eng. Bde. deploys to Afghanistan [ permanent dead link ], Heather Graham, Fort Cavazos Sentinel. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  12. ↑ February 2007&date=28 February 2007 US Army Community Relations Calendar [ permanent dead link ], United States Army. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  13. ↑ Workshop Trains Afghans on Construction Skills, Capt. Ashley Dellavalle, Defenselink.mil news service. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  14. ↑ DoD News Briefing with Col. Stevens from Afghanistan, Col. Gary Kneck, Department of Defense Press Office. Retrieved 10 April 2008
  15. ↑ CTF Rugged Times: VOlume 1 Issue 4 [ permanent dead link ], 1 April 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  16. ↑ "Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 36th Engineer Brigade - Lineage and Honors | U.S. Army Center of Military History". history.army.mil. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
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