The 18th Engineer Brigade served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from July 1965 until they deactivated in September of 1971. The Brigade’s first responsibility was to oversee all Army Engineering operations in Vietnam until late 1966 establishment of the U.S. Army Engineer Command in Vietnam. The Brigade had many challenges that they needed to overcome. Those challenges included lack of experienced engineers, lack of funding, lack of supplies, as well as overcoming the challenges that the weather created. In 1965 the 18th Engineer Brigade arrived in South Vietnam. Within two weeks of their arrival they set up the headquarters of operation in Tan Son Nhut, and committed to projects in Long Binh and Vung Tau. Their activities centered around development of port facilities, ammunition dumps, base camps and air fields to support the rapid built-up of U.S. combat troops deploying to Vietnam. The Brigade mainly assumed responsibility for the northern part of South Vietnam. The 18th Engineer Brigade faced many obstacles they had to overcome in order to complete their mission. Some of the …show more content…
obstacles included, limited funding for construction materials, the lack of experienced soldiers, transportation of materials, lack of spare parts, as well as the flooding due to heavy rain fall. While the obstacles created limitations on their ability to construct as originally planned, the soldiers worked together to reassess their shortcomings and constructed other measures on how best to complete their missions. One of the first accomplishments for the 18th Engineer Brigade, took almost 2 years to finish, at Camp Rahn Bay, was the ammunition storage facility.
The Facility covered over 191,000 square feet. Simontaniusly, 18th Engineers carried out the highway restoration project, maintained quarries moving over 70 thousand tons of rock a week and 60 thousand tons of asphalt in support of the highway program. Throughout the next 2 years the Brigade worked on the English Airfield, one of the largest airfields the 18th Engineer Brigade had built. The airfield had a runway of 3,600 feet long by 60 feet wide and had a 150 foot turn around area. At that time, this was the largest airfield in the area to use for the U.S. troops. The airfield was completed in March of 1969 near Qui Nhon. Construction was completed in multiple phases and the finish product was able to handle the C-130
transport. May 1970, Major General Henry C. Schrader assumed command of the Brigade. 1970 was a difficult year with many projects to complete and previous ones to maintain. The most difficult project was the Highway QL-11, also known as the “Good View Pass”, the road had to be transformed from a mountain path into a National Highway. QL-11 was 27 kilometer stretch of road that took around one year to complete. The Highway was one of the high points in the 18th Engineer Brigades accomplishments throughout Vietnam War. This tied into the Lines of Communications Project that helped boost to the economic growth by improving the highways over a five year period and 1,500 kilometers. Simontaniusly, the Brigade had a major secondary mission of land clearing for the security of both the civilians and the military against the enemy forces. In order for the 18th Engineers to complete their secondary mission they had to clear over 50 thousand acres, destroy over 300 enemy bunkers and tunnels, in order to deny the enemy the ability to maintain cover and concealment. On 18 April 1971, at Dong Ba Thin, General Schrader saw his Brigade furl its flag. 18th Engineer Brigade was headed back home to Fort Bragg. Later that year, on September 20th 1971, 18th Engineer Brigade inactivated. The Brigade served in Vietnam for six years and was involved in fourteen out of seventeen campaigns. During their service in Vietnam, 18th Engineers were awarded four Meritorious Unit Commendations and the Republic of Vietnam Civic Action Medal First Class. The 18th Engineer Brigade was involved in every large scale project and had its companies in every area of Vietnam. They have helped the civilian contracting companies to finish their project when the war broke out and throughout the war improved the bases, ports, highways, and airfields to help the troops involved in the battles and the safe movement of the local population.
Introduction The Battle of Hue is one of the longest battles within the realms of the Vietnam War. The United States sent two Army battalions and three under strength US Marine Corps battalions, which together with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) defeated ten North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Cong (VC). The battle highlighted the challenges the U.S. Marines faced in an urban battlefield. The NVA and VC forces entered the city of Hue under the cover of darkness on January 30, 1968. Under a unified front, they seized most of the city except two strategic locations: ARVN 1st Division Headquarters and the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) compound.
The award-winning novel by Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, discusses one of the greatest examples of mission command in the form of 1st Lieutenant Richard Winters and his role in the Brecourt Manor Assault. This battle is a textbook example of how to fight against a superior enemy force that outnumbered the unit by four times as much. Facing overwhelming odds with just 16 paratroopers against over 60 German Soldiers, 1LT Winters nevertheless prevails and succeeds in achieving his objective while minimizing casualties to just three Soldiers lost. Looking back further into the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill on the American side is one of the earliest examples of Mission Command under the command of COL William Prescott.
Zerby, Roy M. Interview by author, 10 April 1995. Mail questionnaire. 12th Armored Division Historical Project, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas.
E-History (2012, N.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/essays/battlecommand/index.cfm.
In order to receive a victory in the Battle of the Bulge, General Patton used Mission Command Analysis in order to understand how he can be successful for this mission. The first thing of understanding t...
Captain Riley’s dedication to duty could not be put into words. His self-sacrifice and steadfast performance to stop the North Vietnamese Army were even greater at this time at Dong Ha. He received information about an advance movement from the NVA into southern parts of Vietnam. A key element of this strategic move was the bridge between Dong Ha and the city.
William, M. (1975) The Vietnamese Air Force, 1951-1975: An analysis of its role in combat and fourteen hours at Koh TanWashington: [Dept. of Defense, Dept. of the Air Force]: for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
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.
. F.A. Osmanski, The Logistical Planning of Operation OVERLORD.” Military Review Vol. XXIX No. 8, (November 1949) accessed at http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p124201coll1/id903 (accessed 23 Oct 2013) p.41
COL Freeman’s first step in the operations process was to understand the operational environment and the problem he was facing. The mission of the 23rd RCT at Chipyong-ni was to dominate the road intersection at the center of the village and occupy the high ground ringing t...
On 21 November 1970, a joint Army/ Air force task force attempted to rescue POW’s from the Son Tay prison camp 23 miles west of Hanoi. The task force, comprised of 56 Special Forces soldiers and 13 Aircraft plus crews was commanded by BG Leroy Manor, LTC Leroy Snydor, and COL Arthur “Bull” Simons as deputy commander and ground force commander. Although no POW’s were rescued, the mission is considered a success due to the cooperation of the involved agencies and branches in the planning and execution of the raid.
Staff Sergeant (SSGT) Louis Moeller shaped me into the Recon Marine I wanted to be and the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) that I am now. By embodying the Recon Creed and always setting the example, he made me want to be an NCO that my troops would look up to and want to follow. Even when not in charge he was constantly the one peers and junior Marines alike, turned to for guidance and inspiration. To this day, I still find myself asking “What would Louis do?” when confronted with a leadership dilemma.
Colonel Mathew Moten once said, “Professions are not professions simply because they say they are. Their clients, society as a whole, have to accept their claims and trust the professions with jurisdiction over important areas of human endeavor”.
Revolutionary is defined as “something markedly changed or introducing radical change” ("Related Queries." Revolutionary). Some events that had a radical change was the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution in Europe. These events began when there was a split between the Parliament and King Charles I. Both sides had many arguments, and were not willing to back down over the principles that they had about the manner of the government, and how all those problems could be solved. The country then split into two sides, one was people who supported the Parliament, and then theres people who supported the Royalists, and both sides had fought many wars over the situation. This battle ended by the execution of King Charles I. The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution were truly revolutionary events and these events had many dramatic changes that occurred and changed their society. These dramatic changes changed Europe in it’s social and political ways that the Europeans gained rights and both events had an effect to their economic ways as well.
The Thirty Years War was a series of conflicts, not-knowingly involving most European countries from 1618 to 1648. The war, which was fought mainly in Germany, was started when Bohemian Protestants furiously attacked the Holy Roman Emperor in terms to impose a restriction on their religious and civil liberties. By understanding the Thirty Years War, you will notice the notable religious, political and social changes. The changes paved the religious and political maps of Europe. Not only did this war affect the religious and political demographic, it caused populations to perish and lose large amounts of their goods. What was known as a religious battle, turned out to be a political feud in competition of which state has the greater power affecting men, women, soldiers and civilians. “[The bohemians] had no idea that their violent deed would set off a chain reaction of armed conflict that would last thirty years and later be called Europe’s “first world war” of the modern era.” When the war ended, the lands were defiled and over 5 million people were killed.