From the front lines opposite the German Army in World War I to the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, the 20th Engineer Battalion has successfully been a part of every conflict. Constructing camps and fighting as infantry they truly have lived up to their motto “Build and Fight”.
The Beginning
“On 15 August 1917, the War Department issued General Order 108 which formed the 20th Engineer Regiment in order to support WWI.” The regiment soon grew to be the largest regiment in the history of the United States Army, consisting of twenty-nine battalions filled with over fourty-six thousand Soldiers. During WWI the regiment covered from the front lines of opposite the German Army to the mountains of the Spanish mountains conducting forestry operations.
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The regiment immediately started to train for the task but while training they also helped construct Camp Shelby and Camp Beauregard. Once complete they were deployed to North Africa where they secured and cleared the port facilities. They were also tasked with fortifying a hotel where President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchhill met for a conference. To leave North Africa they had to travel over a thousand miles to join with Seventh Army, II Corp under General Omar Bradley. While in Tunsia, the regimental commander devised a coded directional marker, The Wavy Arrow, which is still used today to mark all equipment. On July 1943, the regiment and 3rd Infantry Division were part of the spearhead attack of the beach assault in Sicily.
The reflag. After the fall of Sicily, the regiment was broken up into three sections, 2nd battalion was reflagged to the 20th Engineer Battalion. In preparation for the assault on Normandy the battalion was then moved to England to link up with 1st Infantry Division. The battalion was apart of the assault echelon on Omaha Beach during D-Day. After the assault they were soon back on the move as they moved through Europe. The battalion was apart of Hurtgen Forest and Battle of the Bulge. After the war ended the battalion did as it had done after every major war, it deactivated.
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While the battalion was not part of the initial invasion, in 2004 they deployed to Baghdad where they conducted combat patrols, re-construction of civil infalstructor, and cleared areas of munitions. One of the battalions area of responsibilities was Sauder City, the most dangerous area in Bagdad. Shortly after redeploying the battalion was relieved from the 1st Calvary Division and transformed into the first Modular Battalion. By transforming it allows the companies inside the battalion to deploy in its own and be self-sustaining. After the transformation was complete the battalion fell under the 36th Engineer Brigade. In November 2006, the battalion was deployed to Bagdad once again conducting combat theater construction, construction of FOBs during the “Surge,” and anti-IED operations. In November 2007 the battalion redeployed but deployed again in January 2010 to Kandahar, Afghanistan. They were responsible for clearing the routes and de-mining areas throughout the southern region. Two years later they deployed once again to the southern region conducting route clearance, area clearance and construction missions
COL Prescott’s role in the Battle of Bunker Hill, or more correctly know as the Battle of Breed’s Hill, is a great example of how to properly execute mission command. An overview from The Cowpens Staff Ride and Battlefield Tour (Moncure) reveals a number of operation and strategic objectives that the American militia had to consider. In this instance, COL Prescott takes charge of 1200 men with instructions to defend against incoming British forces that were seeking to occupy the surrounding hills during the Siege of Boston campaign. COL Prescott utilized a variety of steps in the operations process that contributed to his expert utilization of mission command over his forces. Through various sources from published works by experts on the subject, COL Prescott’s mission command demonstrates its effectiveness in his understanding of the situation against the British, his visualization to create an end state for t...
The Marine Raider Battalions developed an elite fighting force within an elite service. There still exist today the elite units of the Marine Corps, such as the Force Reconnaissance Battalions and the Special Operation Capable Units, but the Raider Battalions were the first specialist of the amphibious doctrines. Although the amphibious landing has been preformed throughout the ages since the invention of the water-bearing vessels, the Marine Raider Battalions tested and perfected this combat operation. Although the two Raider Commanders had very different views on how to prepare their marine...
With careful planning, co-operation, good leadership and courage, Currie managed to bring out the characteristics of a well thought out success at Vimy Ridge in April of 1917 (Dancocks, 1985). Sir Arthur Currie’s responsibility was to command the 1st Canadian Division (Hyatt, 1987). He pushed his troops to undergo rigorous training and to prepare themselves by using a life-size course, with every trench marked by tape and a flag (Dancocks, 1985). Currie designed very accurate maps and he had a small-scale plasticine model built so that it could be studied by all soldiers. Arthur Currie insisted that his division’s knowledge of the enemy was excellent (Dancocks, 1985).
As the incoming brigade commander, LTC (P) Owens, I see the critical leadership problem facing the 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) is the inability or unwillingness of Colonel Cutler to lead and manage change effectively. In initial talks with Col Cutler and in reviewing the brigade’s historical unit status reports, the 4th ABCT performed as well as can be expected in Afghanistan, but as the onion was peeled back there are numerous organizational issues that were brought to the surface while I walked around and listened to the soldiers of the 4th ABCT, in addition to reviewing the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) report. One of the most formidable tasks of a leader is to improve the organization while simultaneously accomplishing
Frustrated by the commissioning programs of the time, Sledge begins his journey by resigning from the officer candidate program in an effort to more quickly reach combat. He subsequently volunteers to be a sixty millimeter mortar-man and joins Company K, Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment (K/3/5) of the First Marine Division. It is within this command framework that Sledge experiences two of the bloodiest campaigns of the Second World War...
had a full scale model of Vimy Ridge built to train his soldiers. They got the locations
In late October of 1965, troops of the 1st Brigade were sent into the battle. After the enemy was repulsed, the 3rd Brigade replaced the 1st Brigade in early November (X-Ray). After three days of patrolling without any contact, Hal Moore's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was ordered to air assault into the Ia Drang Valley on Nov 14. Moore's plan was to move Bravo and Alpha northwest past the creek bed, and Charlie south toward the mountain. Delta Company, which comprised special weapons forces including mortar, recon, and machine gun units, was to be used as the battlefield reserve. In the center of the LZ was a large termite hill that which was to become Moore's command post.
The 2nd Brigade of 101st Airborne Division found out in the summer of 2004 that they had to prepare for the war in the Middle East more particularly for Iraq. With Colonel Todd Ebel in Command of the 2nd Division with a year to prepare over 3,400 men and woman he got right to work. Colonel Ebel started by choosing his staff and who he thought was fit to take charge and lead this ever more complicated war. It was a huge religious civil war taking place in Iraq at the time with the Sunnis at war against the Shi’ite and after the capture of Saddam insurgency started uprising immediately. This uprising along with the uprising of Muqtada al-Sadr a key leader that had lots of violent followers that soon grew into a form of a militia called Mahdi Army which became another huge problem for the U.S. because the line between a legitamite populist movement and a huge theocratic organized-crime and terror ring was a thin one. The 2nd Brigade Infantry Battalions consisted of 1-502nd (First Strike) and 2-502nd (Strike Force) and 2nd brigade as a whole is known as the “Black Hearts”. Ebel’s mission was to deny insurgent’s access to Baghdad through his AO and as intelligence increased to uproot and destroy insurgent safe havens, while also training the IA so they could ensure the stability of the region later on. Ebel chose Lt. Col. Kunk as commander of “First Strike” 1-502nd and Lt. Col. Haycock as commander of “Strike Force” 2-502nd. By Ebel’s personality evaluations of Kunk and Haycock he decided that Kunk would work in the area that involved him being more engaging where populist centers were and work with local officials and Haycock more in the fighting areas. Kunk was in command of 3 rifle companies, 1 weapons company, 1 logistics company...
They were started on may 9,1861 in Manhattan, New york by successful businessman Abram Duryee with the goal of creating the most proficient troops. “I expect every man to do his duty and I expect to do mine,” Duryee told his troops. They officially assembled in April 1861 with colonel Abram Duryee as their commander. Soon Abram Duryee was promoted general and William Hiram Duryea became commander.The regiment moved toward the Virginia Peninsula on May 24th where they experienced a horrifying defeat and 31 casualties. It was after that defeat, when the troops built up
By the summer of 1943 the Allied Powers had finished their campaigns in North Africa. Their next objective was to move into Sicily and invade Italy to cause the Germans to move northwest from the coast. This came to be known as “Operation Husky which was designed to open the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, eliminate it as an Axis base, and to aid in the fall of Mussolini’s government” (Hickman n.d.). In July 8th, 1943 Mowat, now an intelligence officer was ordered to head to Sicily to participate in Operation Husky. They left the night of the 8th and encountered terribly rough seas due to the sirocco. The sirocco is an intense wind that comes off of the Sahara. It looked as though Operation Husky would be cancelled. Fortunately, later that night the wind slowed and the platoons were able to continue with the operation. The invasion commenced on the night of July 9th, landing on the west side of the Pachi...
Sir, I am honored by the privilege to once again serve in 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). Over of the last 30 days, I had an opportunity to reconnect, and reflect on the current state of the Brigade. The 4th ABCT has a rich history of success and glory. It is my goal to put in place the systems and practices for this great organization to exceed all past and present accomplishments. As a result of my assessment, I identified three areas of focus that will improve our organization: a unit vision, a change in organizational culture and climate, and building organizational teams. I have no doubt that with the implementation of these three areas of focus, I will be the transformational leader that 4th ABCT needs as we prepare for the upcoming National Training Center (NTC) rotation and tackle the task of the Regionally Aligned Forces (RAF) mission.
Leaving Alpha Company as Battalion reserve the remainder of the Battalion began movement up Hill 937. It wasn’t long before Bravo Company began receiving heavy machinegun and RPG attacks from a well-disciplined enemy force in fortified positions. The unit responded again with accurate airstrikes, mortar fire and napalm. American forces set up a hasty landing zone (LZ) to conduct resupply operations and bring in engineer assets. The helicopter inserting these assets was hit by heavy enemy fire and sustained seven casualties to include all engineer assets. The remainder of the day was relatively
Before the 82nd Airborne division was actually considered an airborne division, this division was strictly an infantry division. The 82nd infantry division was formed at Camp Gordon, Georgia on August 25, 1917. This division soon acquired the nickname “All-Americans” as a result of having men from all 48 States, at the time. In 1918 the All-Americans were sent to France to fight in World War I. With only fighting for five months this division was already apart of three major combat battles against the German Army. Soon after World War I was finished the 82nd Infantry division was then deactivated. The All-Americans were now just memories of the First World War.
On December of 1992, U.S. troops landed in Somalia. It was Thomas E. Ricks’ first deployment as a Pentagon Reporter. Opening the beginning chapter, he speaks of his first-hand experience he encountered while traveling with a squad from Alpha Company of the 1st battalion of the 7th Marines. Exceptionally qualified, his work on Making The Corps was cited by Thomas E. Ricks himself. Few events were videotaped, and some related by several participants and observers. Thoughts of Platoon 3086 and military documentations, such as “Recruit Incident Reports” and “Recruit Evaluation Cards”, were used as well to get an inside feel of the way recruits and Drill Instructors see Boot Camp.
I have organized this paper into five distinct sections; mission, task organization, capabilities, limitations, and finally the conclusion. After the reading and comprehension of this paper, you should have gained a basic understanding of the Special Forces (SF) Chemical Reconnaissance Detachments (CRD). The following paper is mixed with Unclassified (UCI) and For Official Use Only (FOUO) information. FOUO is annotated at the beginning of all For Official Use Only information, the rest of the paper is UCI. If you wish to share this information paper with others, please at a minimum; confirm identity of the person prior to providing (FM 380-5, 2000). For further handling instructions please refer to FM 380-5, or contact me, I will gladly answer all questions.