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15th Engineer Battalion
"Drive On"

The 15th Engineer Battalion was first constituted on 1 July 1916 in the Enlisted Reserve Corps as an Engineer regiment and organized on 5 May 1917 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the 5th Reserve Engineers. It was ordered into active military service between 21 May and 6 June 1917 at Oakmont, Pennsylvania. The unit was redesignated on 9 June 1917 as the 5th Regiment of Engineers. It was redesignated again on 8 August 1917 as the 15th Engineers and allotted to the National Army. The battle record of the unit began during World War I, when it was awarded campaign streamers for the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. After service in World War I, the unit was demobilized on 15 May 1919 at Camp Sherman, Ohio.

In the interwar period, the unit was reconstituted on 25 August 1921 in the Regular Army as the 15th Engineers and assigned on 24 March 1923 to the 9th Division (later redesignated as the 9th Infantry Division). The unit was redesignated on 1 July 1940 as the 15th Engineer Battalion and activated on 1 August 1940 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Battalion was reorganized and redesignated on 1 August 1942 as the 15th Engineer Combat Battalion. The 15th Combat Engineer Battalion landed on the shores of North Africa in September 1942 to provide combat support to the 9th Infantry Division in it's drive to disable the German Afrika Korps. There the unit held US forecs beat and disorganize the German Armies. It subsequently moved on to Sicily, assisting in operations there. From Sicily, the battle weary troops were transported to England where they underwent a rigorous training program in preparation for Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day, the invasion of France.

The day the Battalion had been training for came on 14 June 1944 as they swarmed onto the beaches of Normandy. Their assignment was to clear minefields and build bridges as the infantry pushed the enemy forces out of France and Belgium. They shared the glory of the 9th Infantry Division, as it became the first unit to cross the Seine River and begin the liberation of conquered Belgium, then moving to Aachen and later the Monschau Forest where the Battle of the Bulge saw Germany's final winter offensive of the war fail.

In March of 1945, the Battalion were supporting the 9th Infantry Division as it snuffed out resistance in Bonn. Later that month the Battalion crossed the Ludendroff Bridge and established the Remagen Bridgehead for which Company B was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation. After the end of the Second World War, the 15th Engineer Battalion remained in Germany until it was inactivated on 30 November 1946 in Germany.

The Battalion was reactivated along with other elements of the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 12 July 1948, to become part of the training center at that base. The Battalion was reorganized and redesignated on 25 May 1954 as the 15th Engineer Battalion and inactivated on 31 January 1962 at Fort Carson, Colorado.

A growing commitment of American forces to the war in Vietnam made it necessary to once again to call upon the "Old Reliables," a nickname that had been given to the unit after action around Schwammanauel Dam during World War II. Fort Riley, Kansas was selected as the training center, where the engineers successfully completed a rigorous training cycle to prepare they for the new duties they had been chosen to perform. There the unit was activated on 1 February 1966. Leaving San Francisco, California on 1 October 1966 aboard the USS Sultan, the Battalion spent 20 days at sea and arrived near Vung Tau, Vietnam on 20 October 1966.

Assigned the task of preparing Camp Martin Cox in Long Thanh Province, they set about the job with a determined, aggressive and mission oriented attitude. Working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the Camp was ready for the arrival of the 9th Infantry Division on 29 December 1966. In the short period of 2 months, a determined engineer unit had cleared 720 acres of jungle, built 110,648 feet of road with associated drainage, built 97 latrines, 89 showers and 28 mess halls. The first element to be assigned to a combat mission was the Armored Vehicle Launched Brigade (AVLB) Platoon from E Company, which was deployed in support of the 25th Infantry Division on operation Attleboro beginning in November of 1966.

Along with the expansion of Camp Martin Cox came the planning and construction of a brigade size base camp in the Mekong Delta called Dong Tam. To accomplish this project, Task Force Ripsaw was formed. It consisted of B and D Companies, a detachment from Headquarters Company, an infantry and signal company, and a medical and logistical element. They moved to Dong Tam on 10 January 1967. The 15th Engineer Battalion was again the first in the 9th Infantry Division to move to a new area of operations. They were also the first American forces to move permanently into the Mekong Delta. They accomplished a seemingly impossible task by having Dong Tam ready for the arrival of elements of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division on 25 January 1967.

The 15th Engineer Battalion has been involved in every major operation undertaken by the 9th Infantry Division after it deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. They have provided demolition teams to destroy enemy tunnel complexes and bunkers, mine sweeping teams and road building teams to keep vital roads open and built fire support bases.

The first year in Vietnam was a bountiful one for the Reliable Engineers, with 850,000 man-hours logged during this period. The men built 11 permanent base camps, 2 airfields, 40 fixed bridges, numerous fire support bases and landing zones. An immeasurable contribution was made to the Vietmanese Pacification/Civic Action program with approximately 4,000 civilians treated in MEDCAP operations. Footbridges, playgrounds and roads were also constructed in an effort to win the hearts of the people.

Between March and August 1968, the Battalion was primarily engaged in Operation People's Road, an operation undertaken by 9th Infantry Division units and, in particular the 15th Engineers, shortly after the 1968 Tet Offensive. Operation People's Road consisted of the upgrading, repair and maintenance of Highway QL4 west from My Tho to Cai Lay including some lesser access routes. This valuable stretch of over 30 kilometers of road was the main supply route between the fertile rice paddies of the Mekong Delta and Saigon. The Viet Cong had been successful in disrupting the flow produce and people by blocking, mining and cratering the Delta roads.

Through the efforts of the 15th Engineer Battalion, principally Companies A and B, and with the coordinated effort of the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) and other non-divisional engineers, these roads were mine swept, cleared and repaired on a daily basis. In addition, the roads were shaped and resurfaced to handle heavier traffic. Valuable civic action was also made possible as a result of military operations in this area and the ARVN engineers, as well as the local RF/PF (Regional Forces/Popular Forces) acquired important training and experience in dealing with VC interdictions. The 15th Engineer Battalion also built several fire support bases and outposts in conjunction with this operation.

Of all the operations undertaken after being deployed to Vietnam, undoubtedly the most extensive was the development of the Dong Tam base camp, the final base camp used as a division headquarters in Vietnam. Begun in January 1967, work continued through 1968 utilizing the expertise of the 15th Engineers and 2 other non-divisional engineer units.

The fourth largest dredge in the world, the Jamaica Bay, was brought to Dong Tam and anchored in the My Tho tributary of the Mekong River. It was placed, in 1967, only a few hundred meters from the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division's Dong Tam base camp of concertina wire and tents. The Battalion coupled huge sections of pipe together so the dredge could begin its task of pumping sand into the area behind the small 3rd Brigade camp. The sand was pumped into the area north of the base camp and left to dry, forming the area that would eventually be the home of the 9th Infantry Division.

Disaster struck on 10 January 1968 when a saboteur climbed along the pipeline and eventually place a satchel charge on the Jamaica Bay. The resulting explosion sent the vessel to the bottom of the river and halted the work on the new base camp. In March 1968, 2 dredges, the Hung Dai from Korea and the New Jersey from the United States arrived to continue preparing Dong Tam.

Dong Tam, for a time referred to as "tent city," gradually became the home of the 9th Infantry Division. With additional elements arriving as the base camp was extended, the move was nearly complete with the arrival of the 9th Infantry Division Headquarters in August 1968. E Company, 15th Engineers was one of the last units to arrive, having stayed behind at Camp Martin Cox as a rear detachment and using it's 5-ton bridge trucks for hauling equipment for some of the other battalions.

During the 1968 wet season, generally between May and November, the main engineer effort was directed towards the following: Maintaining passable roads, keeping water from inundating fire support bases and completing the base camp at Dong Tam. Once the wet season started to ease, the Battalion started opening roads, which had become inaccessible during the wet season. Some were opened easily, but for the majority, the Viet Cong made the Battalion earn each mile. Access to more roads gave all units of the 9th Infantry Division quicker land access to all areas of the Delta and aided in the rapid Vietnamese resettlement of the Delta.

Earthen work was the prime means of building fire support bases. As the rice paddies dried and the water level lowered, fill was bull dozed into base camps and fire support bases. Berms of earth were built high enough to limit small arms, RPG and B-40 rounds from entering the bases. Earthen pads for artillery, heli-pads, bunkers and interior roads had to be built and stabilized. Living quarters, bunkers and permanent fighting positions had to be constructed. Accommodations were provided for the 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division as they left the ships positioned in the My Tho segment of the Mekong River.

During the 1969 dry season, the 15th Engineer Battalion constructed 7 fire support bases, repaired 4 bridges, cleared 2050 acres of jungle, and repaired 88 kilometers of previously impassible roads. This was in addition to providing combat support for the infantry brigades. That support was comprised of detecting mines and booby traps, destroying enemy bunkers and arms caches.

Several new concepts were introduced through an engineer airmobile effort. Personnel bunkers and guard towers were built in relatively secure areas and transported by helicopter to new fire support bases thereby providing timely security to those bases. Similarly, bridges were constructed and quickly moved into areas that were inaccessible to heavy vehicles.

On of many the important tasks performed on a year round basis was the daily mine sweep conducted to, and along, Highway QL4, TL22, TL212 east and west, TL210 and TL175. Using hand held mine detectors, each morning those roads were swept for mines and booby traps.

On 25 September 1969, after returning from service in Vietnam, the 15th Engineer Battalion was inactivated in Hawaii. The Battalion was reactivated on 21 June 1972 at Fort Lewis, Washington.

In 1983, D Company was reorganized as a General Support Heavy Engineer Company, and the Bridge Company became E Company. On 1 April 1984, E Company, 15th Engineer Battalion was reflagged as the 73rd Engineer Company (Assault Ribbon Bridge), which was concurrently activated. Part of I Corps, the 73rd Engineer Company was attached to the 15th Engineer Battalion.

In January 1990, the Army ordered the 9th Infantry Division to inactivate. C Company, 15th Engineer Battalion cased its guidon on 1 October 1990. D Company, 15th Engineer Battalion was 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 15th Engineer Battalion were used to fill the new company. The 73rd Engineer Company, after its 3-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 15th Engineer Battalion Headquarters began to be inactivated on 1 August 1991. The Battalion was inactivated on 15 April 1991 at Fort Lewis, Washington, and relieved from assignment to the 9th Infantry Division.

Headquarters and Headquarters Company was activated on 16 July 2008 in Germany, with a support company concurrently constituted and activated. There it joined the 18th Engineer Brigade, part of the 21st Thater Sustainment Command, US Army Europe.