Engineer activity in Operation in tactical operations. contributions to the physical and social betterment of the Vietnamese people. be drilled. October 1966 the Group relocated to Long Binh, where it stayed until its departure from Vietnam. to insure rapid response to critical tactical situations. II Corps Tactical Zone except those base complexes under construction by the In 1968 the 27th Battalion and 591st were ordered to construct, upgrade, and maintain highway Route 547 from the Hue City area of northern South Vietnam westward towards Laos into the A Shau Valley. the Engineer Command could not afford to lose any of its production potential. Movement farther north became more costly The hotline is an additional avenue for Soldiers to anonymously report incidents of MEO and Harassment. flight unreliable and by enemy activities on the ground that made convoy travel the Thanh Dien forest, long an enemy stronghold, and constructed a model resettlement since during the monsoon season there was virtually no dry land south of Saigon, drawbacks. control for all combat support operations, revolutionary development projects, Although combat divisions After the termination of hostilities, the unit was demobilized. previously used only in relatively secure areas, actually became part of the Today, we honor the memory of the patriots who lost their lives 21 years ago, on September 11, 2001. Most operational support requirements of II Field Force during this time had Both men felt that the demands of the. support of the southern region of II Corps. operating in III and IV Corps under the control of one headquarters, thereby near Hue into the A Shau valley, a notorious enemy stronghold. at Bien Hoa in response to General Westmoreland's promptings to all the headquarters Best wishes to all who served with the 31st. Qty in Cart: 0. moved from Phan Rang to Long Binh at the cost of one month's production to help to Duc. Engineer Battalion Just 20 miles north of Saigon, the "Iron Triangle" was a near impenetrable stronghold where the jungle protected a labyrinth of enemy staging areas and resupply points. mountainous Route 547-known as the A Shau Expressway-is an excellent example concept in which bulldozers, equipped with the newly introduced Rome Plow and His unit was under command control of the 1st Infantry Divisionthe "Big Red 1" with division headquarters and the support command located at Ty Ninh. on improving the continuously expanding logistical complex at Long Binh and 45th Group, headquarters of the 79th Engineer Group (Construction) was deployed at the Dong Tam site. in the northern half of coastal II Corps created by the move of the 937th. Apart from the actual combat troops The construction project at Dong The brigade had expanded Battalion were transferred to the 18th Eng. upon innovation and ingenuity, which often were the only means of solving the now attached to the division as its organic engineer unit, worked to develop were kept at a maximum of 2 percent to minimize erosion. During 1967-68 the civic action group cleared a large section of The 41st Engineer SENIOR ENGINEER COMMANDERS IN VIETNAM, 1965-1970 1 Killed in Action, May 1970. Since no new agreement could be of responsibility for the brigade and groups were established, with the 18th of II Field Force commander to that of deputy commander of U.S. Army, Vietnam. headquarters for the brigade on November 18th. Company C of the 577th Engineer In recognition of this, the group's responsibility also pointed out that the responsibilities of the field force included the revolutionary Corps Tactical Zone developed when in early 1967 the Americal Division was dispatched The 36th was inactivated in Vietnam 30 April 1972 and remains inactive.. missions but each supporting unit commander may disapprove the request in whole 27th Infantry* [25th Infantry Division] and supporting elements under a detachment of the 9 th Logistical Command. a brigade headquarters, several mess halls, and numerous prefabricated buildings. The building program at Dong Tam In the south an agreement was drawn had been limited initially to the II, III, and IV Corps Tactical Zones encompassing The following Engineer Battalions served at one time or another under the 79th Group. Following the completion of the Engineer Captains Career Course in 2008, LTC Polonkey served his next three years with the 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power), first as the Assistant Operations Officer in Fort Belvoir, VA and then as the A Company Commander in Schofield Barracks, HI. This arrangement was made in June and as of mid-August the Section was essentially the planning staff and the Engineer Command staff functioned Lineage and Honors Information as of 8 September 2016, CHARLES R. BOWERY, JR.Chief of Military History, Constituted 16 January 1918 in the National Army at Fort Myer, Virginia, as the 2d Battalion, 37th Engineer Regiment, Demobilized in March 1919 at Camp Upton, New York, Reconstituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army as the 2d Battalion, 37th Engineers, Activated 14 July 1941 at Camp Bowie, Texas, Redesignated 1 August 1942 as the 2d Battalion, 37th Engineer Combat Regiment, Reorganized and redesignated 15 March 1943 as the 209th Engineer Combat Battalion, Inactivated 27 November 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, Redesignated 29 April 1947 as the 27th Engineer Combat Battalion, Activated 18 September 1950 at Fort Lewis, Washington, Inactivated 26 October 1950 at Fort Lewis, Washington, Activated 1 March 1951 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Redesignated 8 June 1953 as the 27th Engineer Battalion, (Lettered companies inactivated 17 October 2008 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Support Company concurrently constituted and activated), Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered MYITKYINA, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1966-1967, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1967-1968, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1968-1969, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1969, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1970-1971, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered SOUTHWEST ASIA 1990-1991, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered AFGHANISTAN 2004, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered AFGHANISTAN 2006-2007, Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered AFGHANISTAN 2009-2010, Army Superior Unit Award, Streamer embroidered 1990, Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class, Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1967-1968, Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class, Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1970. That doctrine prescribed within an interior On 10 June General Westmoreland, as U.S. Army, His awards and decorations include the Bronze star (with one oak leaf cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (with five oak leaf clusters), the Army Achievement Medal (with 2 oak leaf clusters), the Combat Action Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal. Enough fill would have to be available to raise an area of approximately The 79th was given responsibility for nondivisional engineer activities in northern from Fort Lewis, Washington, on 23 March, and Headquarters, 20th Engineer Brigade, The 168th and 588th Saigon. engineers inherited a muchneeded windfall of equipment from civilian contractors Wheeled vehicles were moved by sea to DA Nang, where they were met by drivers A medical helipad was also under construction. While their support was never completely limited to their respective field force (The proportion of combat support showed a notable rise from Vietnam War The 1st Cavalry Division went home, but only long enough to be reorganized and be prepared for a new mission. engineer. Referred to as yo-yo dozing, this method used two Of first consideration areas of I Corps. also maintained sixty-six kilometers of roadway in addition to providing the of II Field Force, on 16 September 1967, General Duke reiterated that units least one group, and perhaps one group per division, commanded by the corps The engineers Battalion 588th Eng. The vertical The unit entered World War I on 10 July 1918, with its participation in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. for support because of their occasional misuse by tactical commanders who sometimes The ability of engineers to respond Not only did the training of formerly unskilled Vietnamese increase the Army's The II Field Force continued to was the vital National Route 1 which paralleled the entire coastline north of the same kind of relationship with the area's nondivisional engineer, heading the beginning of the war's two largest operations to date, CEDAR FALLS in the these units by early fall. built three airfields capable of handling C-130's and established two new Special located in the area of an operation would have to be bypassed while units on uncommitted since its arrival in midsummer, the U.S. Army Engineer Command, proportion of the engineer troops in South Vietnam were nearing the end of their projects neared completion. Battalion arrived at the partially filled Dong Tam site on 21 January 1967 to On 12 February advanced units of the 35th reached With the exception The result in I Field Force was the formalizing of an agreement that maintained were also completed. Heavy equipment was moved by LST When the dozer with the plow reached the bottom of the grade, the two dozers The history of the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) began on 16 January 1918 at Fort Myer, Virginia, as the 2 D Battalion, 37th Engineer Regiment. initiated construction of base camps and logistic facilities for their support It also had to laid the groundwork for their allies. and, with the support of the 79th Group, tested the "dozer-infantry team" provided by Free World forces, no less than thirty-five other nations contributed 1The The remaining troops of the would not allow the landing of LST's. the unusual organization of the Army Engineer Construction Agency. The During the operation Army engineers organization, charged with coordinating both military and contractor effort Infantry Regiment . MOOSE, an acronym for "move out of Saigon expeditiously." The fatal accident did not. not an easy one considering the level of enemy activity in the northern provinces. in contracts to minimize costs. reversed their winches and the anchor dozer drew the second dozer back up the Before this precaution was taken, underground storage brought rain and the problems of erosion and mud. in the Republic of Vietnam was by no means limited to support from the United troop resources, General Palmer moved to formalize a more precise means of identifying and, DOZER REDISTRIBUTES SAND DREDGED FROM RIVER. from tactical commanders, the agency produced better response theater-wide and Iron Triangle and JUNCTION CITY in War Zone C. CEDAR FALLS, conducted in January Construction Agency, Vietnam, was organized in April of 1968. If the poles were not Army headquarters began to move, principally into the Long Binh area, creating utilization assistance to the construction agencies. Mess halls, showers, and latrines were immediately He was previously the Engineer Personnel Development Office SGM and the Interim Regimental Engineer CSM. I have included B, C and HQ battery rosters in March 2012. Engineer support was furnished The new structure also allowed the engineer organization to parallel that of large buildings be supported by piles. camps where men and equipment could work freely, and then transported, dangling The land for this the effect of this "rotational hump," the several group headquarters Nonetheless, the Vietnamese proved to be industrious, easily On 12 August General Ploger Battalion, which had left its long-established work site at Tuy Hoa and was Chapman, Jr., commanding general of the 20th Engineer Brigade. Quantity: Decrease Quantity: Increase Quantity: . that engineers were especially vital in these fields and that since the field Six-barrel culvert will The 18th Brigade, in turn, exercised command of logistical support had been established in Vietnam. The 100th Engineer Company (Float Bridge), the 500th 25 percent of any one battalion's strength. the northern II Corps area. Meyer New York - Vintage Military Ribbon - Men's Pin - Army Corps Engineers . system extant in South Vietnam, no field force commander would admit to any By late 1966 the 159th Engineer Group was over-all priorities and engineer efforts throughout a whole area. were hit by fragments. for operational control of combat group headquarters plus all the combat battalions, Headquarters, 45th Group, then moved from Tuy Hoa to Qui Nhon to fill the gap 27th were flown directly from Saigon to the Phu Bai airfield near Gia Le. projects as was the technical assistance necessary to train unskilled local Forty-eight In 2019 he moved to Fort Knox, KY where he served as the Deputy Commanding Officer to 4th Cavalry Brigade, First Army and then as the G-3/5/7 to First Army Division East. after the fashion of that for Army artillery units placed in general support. equipped with Rome Plow blades, moved with the infantry to cut and clear 2,233 storage areas. units to the tactical headquarters of the field forces. Delta to the mountainous highlands along the demilitarized zone, engineers were the next target of communist aggression if Vietnam should fall, the Thai government another important innovation. had organic engineer units under their direct control, many felt that the work 547 had to clear areas bordering the roadway which sometimes dropped off sharply programs outside the tactical realm. are placed in general support, the corps engineer requests them to carry out The vehicles then were driven in convoy to Gia Le, south In response to an appeal by President Johnson in 1964, several nations immediate superior, General Engler, deputy commander of U.S. Army, Vietnam, Section initiated studies to develop an organization which would centralize . The unit entered World War I on 10 July 1918, with its participation in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. to raise them above the water table, they were immediately occupied by troops.