The 15th Combat
Engineer Battalion has a
proud and distinguished
lineage. From it's auspicious
beginnings in the trenches
and mud of World War I
battlefields of France to the
steaming hot jungles of
Vietnam, the 15th Engineers
maintained their DRIVE ON
spirit.
Constituted on 3 June
1916 as the Fifth Reserve
Engineers (Regiment), the
unit was organized and manned
from 21 May to 6 June 1917 at
Oakmont, Pennsylvania. On 8
August 1917, the Regiment was
redesignated as the 15th
Engineers
(Regiment)(Railway). During
World War I, the Regiment
received battle streamers for
the St. Mihiel and
Meuse-Argonne campaigns.
Deployed to France in July
1917, the 15th planned and
constructed railroads, and
helped build barrack,
hospitals, and supply depots
during the war. The Regiment
was demobilized at Sherman,
Ohio on 15 May 1919.
The 15th Engineers were
reconstituted and placed on
the inactive rolls on 25
August 1921, followed by
assignment to the 9th
Infantry Division on 24 March
1923.
The unit was
redesignated as the 15th
Engineer Battalion in July
1940 and activated at Fort
Bragg on August 1st. During
World War II, the 15th first
saw action in North Africa in
1943, fighting with the 9th
Infantry Division during the
Algerian-French Morocco and
Tunisian Campaigns. Next, the
battalion participated in the
invasion of Sicily, hitting
the beach at Palermo in
August 1943. With Sicily
secured, the 9th Infantry
Division sailed to England
and prepared for the Normandy
invasion. Landing at Utah
beach on 10 June 1944, the
Battalion drove on to
Cherbourg and later took part
in the St. Lo breakthrough.
Fighting it's way across
France earned the Battalion a
battle streamer for it's role
in the Northern France
Campaign. In September, the
Battalion earned the
Presidential Unit Citation
for its actions on the
Siegfried Line. In December
1944, the Battalion helped
defeat Hitler's forces in the
Battle of the Bulge to earn
another battle streamer. In
March 1945, B company earned
the Presidential Unit
Citation for its part in
seizing the Ludendorf Bridge,
crossing the Rhine, and
extending the Remagen
Bridgehead. After the
Rhineland Campaign, the
Division advanced eastward,
fighting through the remnants
of Hitler's army to earn a
battle streamer for the
Central European Campaign.
The war's end brought about
the 15th's inactivation in
November 1946.
Although reactivated on
12 July 1948 at Fort Dix, the
15th remained stateside
during the Korean War,
serving first at Fort Dix,
New Jersey, and later at Fort
Carson, Colorado, from 1954,
until inactivation in January
1962. The Battalion was
reactivated at Fort Riley,
Kansas, on 1 February 1966
and later joined American
fighting forces in the
jungles of Vietnam.
The Battalion twice
earned the Vietnamese Cross
of Gallantry with Palm for
its outstanding military
service and also received a
Civil Action Honor Medal,
First Class, for numerous
civic actions. Alpha and
Charlie Companies were
recognized for their
effective support of the 1st
Brigade, 9th Infantry
Division in 1968: Alpha
Company received the
Presidential Unit Citation
for its valiant actions in
the Dinh-Tuong Province and
Charlie Company earned the
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
for its heroic support of
highly effective search and
destroy operation in the
Long-An Province. The
Battalion rotated to Hawaii
in August 1969, where it
inactivated.
The 15th Combat
Engineer Battalion was
reactivated at Fort Lewis in
June 1972. In 1983, Delta
Company was reorganized as a
General Support Heavy
Engineer Company, and the
Bridge Company became Echo
Company. On 1 April 1984,
Echo Company reorganized to
form to form the 73rd
Engineer Company(Assault
Ribbon Bridge), I Corps, and
attached them to the 15th
Combat Engineer Battalion.
In January 1990, the
Army ordered the 9th Infantry
Division to inactivate.
Charlie Company cased its
guidon on 1 October 1990.
Delta Company inactivated on
14 February 1991, when it
reorganized to form the
nucleus of the 102nd Engineer
Company, 199th Infantry
Brigade(Motorized). Soldiers
and equipment from across the
battalion were used to fill
the new company. The 73rd
Engineer Company, after its
three-month combat tour in
Operation Desert Storm,
returned to I Corps control
and was attached to 3rd
Battalion, 2nd Air Defense
Artillery Regiment, on 1 July
1991. The remaining companies
and the battalion
Headquarters inactivated on 1
August 1991.
The 15th Engineer
Battalion has been
inactivated five times in the
past, only to be
reconstituted at a later
date. Although the unit will
be inactivated today, the
Drive On spirit of the 15th
Engineer Battalion will live
on . The 15th will respond
proudly whenever the nation
next calls.
