1st Engineer Battalion
"Always First"
The 1st Engineer Battalion deploys to designated contingency areas and conducts combat and/or stability operations in support of a brigade combat team. The First Engineer Battalion is the oldest Engineer Battalion in the Army. The battalion traces its history to 1846 when elements of what became Company A, were organized at the U.S Military Academy. This company served in both the Mexican War and Civil War. During the Spanish-American War, elements of the battalion deployed to Cuba and the Philippines.
With the start of World War I, the 1st Engineer Battalion was expanded to form the 1st Engineer Regiment and assigned to the 1st Division. They fought in every major engagement in France, earning seven campaign streamers while being cited by the French government with the French Fourragere and two Croix De Guerres. In World War II, the battalion took part in the North African landings and invasions of Sicily and Normandy. For service in this conflict, they were awarded eight campaign streamers, three Presidential Unit Citations, and two French Croix De Guerres with Palm, the French Medaille Militaire, and the Belgian Fourragere.
The battalion deployed to Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division in 1965. For five years, they engaged in combat engineer support of the Big Red One and III Corps. They were awarded eleven campaign streamers, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, and the Vietnamese Civil Action Honor Medal. They returned to Fort Riley in 1970 and over the next two decades took part in deployments to Germany as part of REFORGER exercises as well as conducting training stateside.
In December 1990, the battalion deployed to Southwest Asia as part of Operation Desert Shield-Desert Storm. For this action, they received two campaign streamers and were awarded a Valorous Unit Citation.
