15th Combat Engineer Battalion History

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 redesigneated as the 15th Engineers (Regiment)(Railway).  During World War I, the Regiment received battle streamers for the St. Michael 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 de-activeated five times in the past, only to be reconstituted at a later date.  Although the unit is not active today, the Drive On spirit of the 15th Engineer Battalion will live on .  The 15th will respond proudly whenever the nation next calls.

SAPPERS FIRST!

Campaign Participation Credit

WWI
St. Mihiel
Meuse-Argonne

WWII
Algeria-French Morocco
Tunisia
Sicily
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe

Vietnam
Counteroffensive, Phase II
Counteroffensive, Phase III
Tet Counteroffensive
Counteroffensive Phase IV
Counteroffensive Phase V
Counteroffensive, Phase VI
Tet 69/Counteroffensive
Summer-Fall 1969

Decorations
Presidential Unit Citation (Army)
Streamer Embroidered "Seigfried Line"
Belgian Fourragere 1940
Cited in the order of the day of the Belgian army for action at the meuse river.
Cited in the order of the day of Belgian army for action at the Ardennes river.
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, streamer
embroidered "Vietnam 1966-1968"
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, streamer
embroidered "Vietnam 1969".