70th Engineer Battalion
On order, the 70th Engineer Battalion deploys, with or without equipment, prepares for, and conducts engineer operations in support of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team or other headquarters, while caring for soldiers and families, and returns safely.
The 70th Engineer Battalion traces its lineage back to 1 October 1933 when it was constituted in the Regular Army of the United States as the 2nd Battalion, 35th Engineer Regiment. The battalion was brought into active service on 15 July 1941 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. It was moved shortly thereafter for initial training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. While undergoing extensive training in Arkansas, the battalion deployed briefly to Jonesboro, Louisiana to participate in the Louisiana Maneuvers. Late in 1941, the battalion relocated their base of training from Camp Robinson to the West Coast. The battalion's trip westward took them through the State of Kansas for a Christmas Day arrival at Fort Ord, California.
Following a brief and busy stay in California, the battalion deployed northward for, in words from the battalion daily logs, a gigantic road building project. The battalion built 250 miles of the Alaska-Canada, or ALCAN, Highway including 15 major bridges with a combined length of over 4,000 feet.
Resulting from the reorganization of engineer forces in 1943, the 2nd Battalion, 35th Engineer Regiment was reorganized and redesignated the 145th Engineer Combat Battalion. Following this reorganization, the battalion remained in the Yukon, concentrating their efforts on improving and maintaining their assigned sector of the ALCAN Highway.
As part of the preparations for Operation Overlord--the cross-channel invasion of Europe--the battalion sailed from Boston to Gurock, Scotland in April 1944. The battalion immediately moved further south to Cheshire, England to undergo training and preparations for combat. The 145th Engineers entered the fray on 7 July 1944 via the Normandy-Utah beachhead. The battalion went on to participate in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns.
After the war, the battalion was returned to the United States to be inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia on 8 January 1946. While in this inactive status, the 145th Engineer Combat Battalion was redesignated the 550th Engineer Combat Battalion and then, on 15 March 1949, the 70th Engineer Combat Battalion.
On 1 April 1949, the 70th Engineers were recalled to active service--this time in Salzburg, Austria. Upon the signing of the Austrian Peace Treaty in 1955, the battalion was given the mission of closing out the US Army presence in Austria. In August of the same year, the battalion made its final crossing of the mountain-topped Austro-German border to make its new home near Stuttgart, Germany. The battalion was on the move again less than two years later when it redeployed to the United States, as part of the Army's gyroscope program. It settled, for a while, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky as part of the 937th Engineer Group.
With the increase of US forces in Vietnam, the 70th Engineers were alerted for another deployment. In August 1965, the battalion arrived at the port of Qui Nhon to become the first US combat Engineer unit in Vietnam. The 70th's mission upon arrival was to prepare for Operation Highland, the deployment of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in position around An Khe. Following two years of carrying out combat engineering tasks around An Khe, the battalion was moved to Pleiku. Here it continued to perform combat engineering tasks under the 937th Engineer Group. The following year, the battalion moved once more, this time to the Ban Me Thuot area where it was primarily concerned with main supply route maintenance and bridge repair, in addition to the construction of six forward fire support bases.
In October 1969, the battalion was alerted for redeployment to the United States as part of the drawdown in Vietnam. The 70th engineers moved to Fort Lewis, Washington, and were inactivated on 30 November 1969.
Under the Engineer Restructuring Initiative, the increase of combat engineering support with the US Army heavy divisions, the 70th Engineer Battalion was once again called to active service. The battalion stood up on 1 June 1993 at Fort Riley, Kansas as a proud member of the 1st Infantry Division.
The 70th Engineer Battalion's honors include the Presidential Unit Citation for operations in the Pleiku Province, the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the ALCAN Highway, and three Meritorious Unit Commendations for operations in Vietnam.
