37th Engineer Battalion | |
---|---|
![]() Coat of arms | |
Active | 1918–1919 1941–1945 1954–1958 1987–2010 2013–present |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | US Army Corps of Engineers |
Type | Combat, airborne |
Role | Combat Engineer |
Size | Battalion |
Part of | 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division |
Garrison/HQ | Fort Bragg (North Carolina, USA) |
Nickname(s) | "Eagle Battalion"(special designation) [1] |
Motto(s) | Fortuna Infortuna Forti Una (Fortune or Misfortune is all the same to a man of stout heart) |
Engagements | Normandy landings Operation Desert Storm Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom |
Insignia | |
Distinctive unit insignia | ![]() |
Unit beret flash | ![]() |
The 37th Engineer Battalion ("Eagle Battalion" [1] ) is an airborne engineer battalion in the United States Army, and currently subordinate to the 2d Brigade Combat Team, 82d Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 37th Engineer Battalion was reactivated in the 82d Airborne Division as part of the United States Army new BCT 2020 concept in which each BCT's Special Troops Battalions would be inactivated and reactivated as Brigade Engineer Battalions. Prior to this, the battalion was a subordinate unit of the 20th Engineer Brigade assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps.
The battalion is notable in that it was the only battalion, of any kind, in the history of the United States Army to have entered combat as both an officially designated amphibious and airborne unit (though the Glider Infantry Regiments of the 11th Airborne Division conducted amphibious assaults in World War II).[ citation needed ]
The 37th Engineer Battalion was first activated on 16 January 1918, as 1st Battalion, 37th Engineer Regiment, whose primary function was electrical and mechanical engineering. During World War I, the battalion participated in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive as a member of the American Expeditionary Force. Following the war, the 37th Engineer Regiment was inactivated in March 1919. [2]
Reactivated in January 1941, the regiment underwent mobilization and training in several locations, and was eventually broken up on 18 March 1943, into the 1106th Engineer Combat Group, the 209th Engineer Combat Battalion, and the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion (Amphibious). The 37th Engineer Combat Battalion was subsequently assigned to the 5th Engineer Special Brigade and participated in Operation Overlord, landing with the initial waves on Omaha Beach. For its performance, the battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. [2]
After the Invasion of Normandy, the battalion spent several months on the beach unloading troops and equipment, clearing roads, and repairing port facilities. For this, the battalion received the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Later, the battalion was detached from the 5th Engineer Special Brigade and moved through Belgium and the Netherlands, supporting the Allied advance. The battalion entered Germany in March 1945, where it remained until its return to the United States in November of that same year. The following month, the battalion was again inactivated.
28 October 1954 – redesignated as 37th Engineer Battalion (Combat).
17 December 1954 – activated in Germany.
31 December 1958 – inactivated.
16 August 1987 – reactivated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade.
13 October 1990 – deployed to Saudi Arabia (Operation Desert Shield; Operation Desert Storm).
27 September 1994 – deployed to Haiti (Operation Uphold Democracy).
11 May 2001 – elements attached to the 11th Engineer Battalion and deployed to Kosovo (Operation Joint Guardian) in support of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
22 September 2002 – deployed 20 soldiers from Vertical and Light Equipment platoons to Kuwait (Operation Enduring Freedom) in support of the Combined Joint Task Force at Camp Doha. Redeployed to Fort Bragg on 22 March 2003. Deployed soldiers received Joint Service Medals and Joint Meritorious Unit Citations (permanent).
22 March 2003 – deployed to Northern Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) in support of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). For its actions in Iraq, the battalion received the Meritorious Unit Commendation (1st Oak Leaf Cluster).
10 March 2006 – deployed to Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) in support of Combined/Joint Task Force 76, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and formed Task Force Eagle, the first US, Joint and Coalition Engineer Task Force in the CJOA. In addition to standard engineer operations, the battalion repeatedly engaged Taliban and other enemy forces and is credited with over 105 enemy killed. Redeployed to Fort Bragg on 11 March 2007.
The Battalion lost First Sergeant Christopher C. Rafferty in support of (Operation Enduring Freedom). He was fatally injured while coordinating a response to a mortar strike July, 21st 2006 in Sharana, Afghanistan. The Battalion held a ceremony on Rafferty Field named in his honor after their redeployment back to Ft. Bragg.
On 5 June 2009 – deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion served as an echelon above BCT unit assigned to the USF-I EN BDE, operating throughout Iraq with missions focused in northern and western Iraq primarily in support of the 1st BCT, 25th Infantry Division and the 3d BCT, 2d Infantry Division in Diyala, the 1st BCT, 82d Airborne Division in Al Anbar and the 3d Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment and 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment in Salah ad Din provinces. The battalion formed the basis of Joint Task Force Eagle Headquartered at Joint Base Balad and composed of over 1000 soldiers and airmen. JTF Eagle elements were also based at Forward Operating Bases Warhorse, Al Asad and Ramadi. The Joint Task Force included the 887th Engineer Company (Support), Fort Campbell, KY; 50th Engineer Company (Multi-Role, Bridge), Fort Leonard Wood, MO; the 739th Engineer Company (Multi-Role, Bridge), Granite City, IL; Terrain Team, 70th Engineer Company (Topographic), Schofield Barracks, HI; Air Force Detachment 6 (TACON); Facilities Engineer Team 2 (DS); 732d Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron and 266th Military Police Company (OPCON), Manassas, VA. Joint Task Force Eagle's mission focused on partnering with Iraqi Army engineers, building capacity, IED defeat operations, construction, bridging, general engineering, and security.
The colors of the 37th Engineer Battalion were inactivated again effective 16 September 2010 when the unit was reflagged as the 307th.
The 37th Engineer Battalion was officially reactivated as part of the 2d Brigade Combat Team, 82d Airborne Division on 16 October 2013. This was accomplished by inactivating and reorganizing the Special Troops Battalion ("Green Falcons")[ permanent dead link ], 2d BCT. A ceremony was held on 15 November 2013 at Fort Bragg, NC, to case the colors of the STB and to uncase the colors and activate the 37th Engineer Battalion ("Eagle Battalion").
The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areas with a U.S. Department of Defense requirement to "respond to crisis contingencies anywhere in the world within 18 hours". Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division. More recently, the 82nd Airborne has been conducting operations in Iraq, advising and assisting Iraqi Security Forces.
The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America's Contingency Corps." Its headquarters are at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II, is an airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, the regiment has two active battalions: the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, and the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The 508th Infantry Regiment is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, first formed in October 1942 during World War II. The 508th is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, and two battalions from the regiment are currently active: the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The regiment served in combat during World War II, and regimental elements have served in combat in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, also known as the Dagger Brigade, is a maneuver brigade combat team in the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas.
The 502nd Infantry Regiment, previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment was established shortly after the American entry into World War II, and was assigned as a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, "The Screaming Eagles", one of the most decorated formations of the U.S. Army. The regiment saw substantial action in the European Theater of World War II and was inactivated in 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Reactivating in a new form in 1956, the 502d Infantry has served in the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. Since 1974, the regiment has been classified as an Air Assault unit. Currently, its 1st and 2nd battalions are active. Both battalions are assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The 20th Engineer Brigade is a combat engineer brigade assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps of the United States Army stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Although the brigade was identified as an airborne unit, not all of its subordinate units were airborne qualified—despite the airborne tab as part of the 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.
The 509th Infantry Regiment is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army. The unit was initially activated as a single battalion, the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in October 1941 at Fort Benning, Georgia. Nicknamed "Geronimo", the 509th conducted the U.S. Army's first combat jump during World War II on 8 November 1942, flying 1,500 miles from England to seize Tafarquay airport in Oran, Algeria. The 509th made a total of five combat jumps during the war.
The 12th Cavalry is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army.
The 325th Infantry Regiment is a light infantry parachute insertion fighting force of the United States Army. The subordinate units of the regiment constitute the bulk of the infantry elements assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
The 12th Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. The 12th Infantry has fought in seven wars from the Civil War to the Global War on Terrorism and has been awarded 19 Presidential Unit Citations, five Valorous Unit Awards, a Joint Meritorious Unit Award, two citations in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army, Nine Republic of Vietnam Crosses of Gallantry, the Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal Third Class, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Belgian Fourragere.
The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, originally the 505th Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, one of four infantry regiments of the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, with a long and distinguished history.
The Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was a multi-functional battalion created on 16 September 2004 as part of the U.S. Army's brigade realignment plan to transform brigades into units of action (UA). It brought together a combat engineer company from the 326th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) and signal and military intelligence companies formerly affiliated with inactivated battalions in the 101st Airborne Division. Although one former member of the battalion recalled that the Rakkasans were "almost like a cult in every sense," the battalion itself was largely an administrative entity rather than a cohesive operational unit. With disparate roles, its component units operated separately outside of garrison, supporting maneuver battalions or the brigade itself during training and deployments.
The 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion is a combat engineer battalion of the United States Army headquartered at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.
In 2009, the United States and NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition, along with Afghan National Army forces, continued military operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. 2009 marks the eighth year of the War in Afghanistan, which began late in 2001. And 75th ranger regiment is also in Afghanistan as of 2018
The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division is an active Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the United States Army based at Fort Drum in New York. The brigade headquarters carries the lineage of the 10th Mountain Division's original headquarters company, and served as such in World War II, and in peacetime at Fort Riley, Fort Benning, and West Germany in the 1940s and 1950s.
The 793rd Military Police Battalion was a battalion-sized unit in the United States Army stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska. The battalion was responsible for all Regular Army Military Police units and operations in Germany and eventually in the state of Alaska.
The 377th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army. A parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, the regiment's 2nd Battalion, 377th Field Artillery Regiment is assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. Elements of the regiment have also served with the 101st Airborne Division and 82nd Airborne Division, and have seen service in World War II, Vietnam, and in both Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror. The 1st and 3rd Battalions as well as Batteries D and E are Inactive.
The 525th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade (Expeditionary) is a unit of the United States Army specializing in the acquisition and analysis of information with potential military value. On 28 October 2014, the unit was reflagged from the "525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade" to an expeditionary military intelligence brigade, the first of its kind.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division is an inactive Airborne Brigade of the United States Army. The brigade was active from 1968-1969, and from 2006-2014. The brigade conducted three rotations to Afghanistan, in 2007 and 2008, 2009 and 2010, and 2012. The brigade's two infantry battalions deployed for a fourth time in 2013-2014, and became part of other BCTs in the division upon their redeployment.
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History document: "37th Engineer Battalion Lineage and Honors".