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.
