555th Combat Engineer Group
On order, the 555th Combat Engineer Group deploys worldwide to provide command and control and engineer support for Army and Joint/Combined combat operations.
The 555th Engineer Group was constituted February 1, 1943 as HHC, 1103d Engineer Combat Group. It was activated February 25, 1943 at Fort Devens, Mass. In January 1944, The unit sailed for England from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. During the invasion of Normandy, the unit was assigned to the 1st Army and crossed the English Channel during the period June 20-22, 1944. The 1103d earned its first 5 battle stars landing, clearing and maintaining supply routes at Omaha and Utah beaches.
August 1944, saw the unit's transfer to the 3rd Army under General George Patton. Initial missions involved work in the rear areas and later the protection of captured bridges on the Loire River. As operations continued eastward, engineers of the 1103d were called upon to provide bridging for assault forces crossing many of the major river obstacles. The unit also provided the breaches in the massive and many cubicled Metz forts to enable reduction of severe enemy resistance there. In February 1945, the 1103d was called upon to support the 9th Army in the Ruhr cleanup on the northern sector, then to the Rhineland with the XVI Corps, with whom they remained throughout the rest of the war. The 1103d eventually won 5 battle stars for the Normandy, northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central European campaigns.
The 1103d inactivated on May 8, 1946 in Germany but was reactivated on January 20, 1947 at Russelsheim, Germany. The unit was reactivated and redesignated Headquarters Company, 555th Composite Service Group. Between 1946 and 1947 the unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 555th Engineer Combat Group operating in Kaufbeuren, Ettlingen, and Karlsruhe, Germany.
The 555th was inactivated on 25 June 1969 in Germany. Personnel and equipment from the Group combined with those of the 540th Engineer Group to form the 7th Engineer Brigade, VII Corps.
Personnel and equipment from the 7th Engineer Brigade have redeployed from Germany to provide the foundation for the reactivation of the 555th Combat Engineer Group at Fort Lewis, Washington. The Group began forming in August 1991 with a nucleus of soldiers from the inactivation of the 15th Combat Engineer Battalion, 9th Infantry Division (motorized), and PCSing soldiers assigned to fill the Group Headquarters. The arrival of the 7th Engineer Brigade soldiers and equipment in October and December 1991 completed the Group organization. The 864th Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy) and the 73rd Engineer Company (Ribbon Bridge) were the first units assigned to the Group on 16 November 1991. The 87th Engineer Detachment (Fire Fighters) was assigned on 16 January 1992 and the 54th Engineer Detachment (Topographic) was assigned on 16 January, 1992. October 16, 1993 the Group was assigned the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion (Rugged) which moved from Fort Ord California due to the closure of that installation. The 14th Engineer Battalion combined members of its present organization with the inactivating 13th Engineer Battalion. They are the only wheeled Combat Engineer Battalion on the active duty roles.
