Charlie Company - 20th Engineer Battalion
The soldiers of Charlie Company past and present have served with distinction throughout its proud and rich history. The company was formed on August 15TH, 1917, as part of the 1st Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment. The unit served in France during World War I and participated with valor throughout the theater until the end of the war. The company was called to deploy once again for World War II, conducting assault landings on the beaches of Morocco and Sicily, and on the beaches of Normandy, France on D-Day with the 1st Infantry Division. For its actions on D-Day, the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the French Croix-de-Guerre with Silver gilt Star. The company later helped hold the allied lines during the Battle of the Bulge and then fought its way across Germany into Czechoslovakia. In December of 1965, Charlie Company deployed to the Republic of Vietnam for 6 years, receiving three Meritorious Unit Citations.
In August of 1990, Charlie Company was alerted for deployment as part of Operation Desert Shield. During its tour of duty in the Gulf, the company was instrumental in the construction of the 18th Corps Ammunition Supply Point as well as the construction of hundreds of survivability positions for 18th Corps Artillery. During Operation Desert Storm, Charlie Company again distinguished itself by constructing two Corps level logistical bases. The company also constructed helipads and survivability positions for the 2nd Aviation Brigade, trained French Engineers in the use of the MICLIC, and attacked astride Main Supply Route Texas across hundreds of kilometers of Iraq. Following the end of the Gulf War, Charlie Company redeployed to Fort Campbell in April 1991. While at Fort Campbell, the company remained busy with numerous projects including the construction of a live-fire ambush range. The company deployed in March of 1992 to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, for a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center.
Upon its return to Fort Campbell, the company began its preparations for the move to Fort Hood, Texas, and the transition to become mechanized engineers. Charlie Company moved to Fort Hood, Texas, in July 1992, and immediately began fielding its new equipment and training to become a functioning armored member of the First Team.
The company deployed to Fort Irwin, California in March of 1993 and 1994 for two very successful rotations at the National Training Center. On August 3rd, 1994, the company distinguished itself by being a part of the battalion task force that deployed for one month to the Boise National Forest in Idaho to combat the growing forest fires there. One year later, in July 1995, the company again deployed to the National Training Center and made preparations for the Sea Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise. The SEDRE led into a subsequent deployment to Korea for the Foal Eagle Exercises in October of that same year. In September 1996, Charlie Company deployed again to the National Training Center.
From February 1997 to June 1997, Charlie Company deployed with Task Force 1-7 Cavalry to Southwest Asia for Operation Intrinsic Action 97-01. The company distinguished itself once again by building complex live fire ranges and constructing Task Force 1-7 Cavalry's home in the desert. Upon returning from Kuwait in September 1997, Charlie Company deployed soldiers once again to the National Training Center in support of the battalion's rotation with the First "Ironhorse" Brigade.
On September 18th 1998, Charlie Company deployed in support of 2-8 Cavalry to Bosnia Herzegovina as a part of Operation Joint Forge. The company was based at Camp Bedrock where they were called upon to accomplish an array of engineer missions, including building the longest Maybe Johnson Bridge in Bosnia and building three other bridges jointly with Russian and Hungarian Engineers. Charlie Company also repaired eight bridges and 12 theater Supply Routes. Over the course of their deployment, they logged more than 69,000 convoy miles, installed more then 2000 meters of force protection wire, cleared more than 800 square meters of mined areas and upgraded the force protection of four base camps. Upon return from Bosnia in March 1999, the company began preparation for a successful rotation in January 2000 with the Ironhorse Brigade to the National Training Center. Following its rotation at the National Training Center, the Battalion returned to Fort Hood and assumed Division Ready Brigade Status 1 from April 1st, 2000 until September.
In August of 2000, Charlie Company deployed as part of Task Force Lumberjack to Montana to battle the blazing wildfires that threatened Lolo National Forest. After successfully battling the flames and preventing the spread of the fires, the company redeployed in September and began preparations for the III Corps Phantom Roadrunner River-Crossing exercise. Charlie Company was the first in the Battalion to train on river crossing operations and spearheaded to way for the other companies to train up on this new METL task. In January of 2001, Castle began preparations for a platoon live-fire exercise and for platoon external evaluations. Numerous field exercises led to a highly successful and safe live-fire, which the 20th Engineers had not executed in over five years.
