9 June 1917     Redesignated as Fifth Regiment Engineers

            8 August 1917     Redesignated as 15^th Engineers (Railway) in the National Army

              15 May 1919     Demobilized at Camp Sherman, Ohio

          25 August 1921     Reconstituted as 15^th Engineers in the Regular Army

           24 March 1923     Assigned to the 9^th Infantry Division

                 1 July 1940     Redesignated 15^th Engineer Battalion

            1 August 1942     Reorganized and redesignated as the 15^th Combat  Engineer Battalion

     30 November 1946      Inactivated in Germany

               12 July 1947     Activated at Fort Dix, New Jersey

             27 April 1954     Redesignated as 15^th Engineer Battalion

          31 January 1962     Inactivated at Fort Carson, Colorado

         1 February 1966     Activated at Fort Riley, Kansas  

The battle record of the Battalion started during World War I, when it was awarded campaign streamers for the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns.  

The 15^th Combat Engineer Battalion landed on the shores of North Africa in September of 1942 to provide combat support to the 9^th Infantry Division in it’s drive to disable the “Afrika Korps”. The German Armies were beaten and disorganized, as it was also in the next campaign in Sicily. From Sicily the battle weary troops were transported to England where they underwent a rigorous training program in preparation for D-Day.

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   15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

The day the Reliable Engineers had been training for came on June 14^th, 1944 as they swarmed onto the beaches of Normandy just four days (editors note: D-Day was 6 June 1944 not 10 June 1944) after the first infantrymen waded ashore. Their assignment was to clear minefields and build bridges as the infantry brigades pushed the enemy forces out of France and Belgium. They shared the glory of the 9^th 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 Reliable Engineers were supporting the 9^th Infantry Division as it snuffed out resistance in Bonn; later that month they crossed the Ludendroff Bridge and established the Remagen Bridgehead for which Company B was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.  

After an armistice has been signed, the 15^th Engineer Battalion remained in Germany until inactivation in January 1947. Following approximately 6 months of inactivation, the Battalion was reactivated along with other elements of the 9^th Infantry at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to become part of the training center at that base.  

A growing commitment of American forces to the war in Vietnam made it necessary to once again to call upon the “Old Reliables”. (This nickname was given to it 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. Leaving San Francisco, California on 1 October 1966 aboard the USS Sultan they 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, seven days a week, the camp was ready for the arrival of the 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.

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  15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

The first element to be assigned to a combat mission was the AVLB Platoon from E Company, which was deployed in support of the 25^th 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 15^th was again the first in the 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 3^rd Brigade on 25 January 1967.  

The 15^th Engineer Battalion has been involved in every major operation undertaken by the 9^th Infantry Division since its deployment 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 major operations of the 9^th Division and the associated elements of the 15^th Engineers are:  

              DATES                          OPERATION               15^TH UNITS  

31 Oct ’66 – 20 Nov ’66                 Attleboro                 E Co.  

  20 Nov’66 – 30 Dec ’66                Cedar Falls              E Co.  

30 Nov ’66 – 30 Apr ’67                  Fairfax                   A, C, D, E Co.  

    29 Dec ’66 – 4 Jan ’67                  Canar                    E Co.  

       9 Jan ’67 – 19 Jan 67              Silver Lake               HHC, B, C Co.  

    20 Jan ’67 – 28 Jan ’67                  Coley                    HHC, A, C, E Co.  

  28 Jan ’67 – 31 May ’67                   Iola                      HHC, A, C, E Co.

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  15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

              DATES                          OPERATION               15^th Units  

   1 Feb ’67 – 15 Feb ’67                 Palm Beach              HHC, D Co.  

   6 Feb ’67 – 24 Feb ’67                 Big Spring               A, B Co.  

  16 Feb ’67 – 30 Apr ’67                 Greenleaf                 HHC, B, C Co.  

23 Feb ’67 – 10 Mar ’68                 Enterprise                HHC, B, C Co.  

   25 Feb ’67 – 3 Mar ’67                 Chapman                 B, C Co.  

    3 Mar ’67 – 29 Mar’67                 Pittsburgh                HHC, A, E Co.  

   3 Apr ’67 – 15 Apr ’67                 Junction City            HHC, A, E Co.  

18 Apr ’67 – 20 May ’67                 Port Sea II               HHC, A Co.  

  19 Apr ’67 – 15 Feb ’68                 Manhattan                A Co.  

  8 May ’67 – 14 May ’67                 Kittyhawk                E Co.  

          1 Jun ’67 – Present                 Nirvana                    A Co.  

          1 Jun ’67 – Present                 Hoptac                    D Co.  

          9 Jun ’67 – Present                 Coronado                HHC, D Co.  

          9 Jun ’67 – Present                 Akron                      HHC, A, B, E Co.  

  13 Jun ’67 – 16 Aug ’67                 Great Bend              D, E Co.  

       3 Jul ’67 – 9 Apr ’67                 Riley                        HHC, A, B, E Co.  

     10 Jul ’67 – 27 Jul ’67                 Paddington              HHC, A, B Co.  

     21 Jul ’67 – 3 Aug ’67                 Emporia                   All

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15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

              DATES                          OPERATION               15^th Units  

    20 Oct ’67 – 7 Apr ’68                 Narasuan                 HHC, A Co.  

      3 Nov ’67 – 5 Jan ’68                 Santa Fe                  HHC, A B, E Co.  

16 Nov ’67 – 18 Nov ’67                 Kien Giang               C Co.  

     7 Mar ’68 – 3 Aug ’68                 People’s Road         HHC, A, B, C Co.  

   11 Mar ’68 – 7 Apr ’68                 Quyet Thang            A, C, D Co.  

17 Mar ’68 – 22 May ’68                 People’s Road I       HHC, A, B, C Co.  

         8 Apr ’68 – Present                 Toan Thang I,II,III   A, B, C, D, E Co. 

  1 May ’68 – 20 Nov ’68                 Kudzu                     HHC, A, B, D Co.  

    29 Nov ’68 – 1 Apr 69                 Speedy Express       HHC, A, B, D, E

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 eleven permanent base camps, two 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.

              
Webmaster's note: The Old Reliable newspaper articles shown above give details of the 15th CEB and 9th ID during 1967 not detailed in this article. Thank you Richard Walczak, D Company

From March through August 1968, the 15^th was primarily engaged in Operation People’s Road, an operation undertaken by Divisional units and, in particular the 15^th 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 and with ambushes along those roads.

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                            15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

Through the efforts of the 15^th 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), better known as Rough Puff, acquired important training and experience in dealing with VC interdictions. The 15^th Engineer Battalion also built several fire support bases and outposts in conjunction with this operation.  

Of all the operations undertaken since being deployed to Vietnam, undoubtedly the most extensive has been the development of the Dong Tam base camp, the final base camp used as Division headquarters in Vietnam. Begun in January 1967, work continued through 1968 utilizing the expertise of the 15^th Engineers and two 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 3^rd Brigade Dong Tam base camp of concertina wire and tents. The 15^th coupled huge sections of pipe together so the dredge could begin its task of pumping sand into the area behind the small 3^rd Brigade camp. The sand was pumped into the area north of the current base camp and left to dry, forming the area that would eventually be the home of the 9^th 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 two 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 9^th Infantry Division. With additional elements arriving as the base camp was extended, the move was nearly complete with the arrival of

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                                                                                                                   15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

 Division Headquarters in August 1968. E Company, 15^th Engineers was one of the last units to arrive, having stayed behind at Camp Martin Cox as a rear detachment and using it’s five ton bridge trucks for hauling equipment for some of the other battalions.  

During the 1968 wet season, generally from May through 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 15^th started opening roads, which had become inaccessible during the wet season. Some were opened easily but for the majority, the Viet Cong made us earn each mile. Access to more roads gave all units of the 9^th ID 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 B40 rounds from entering the bases. Earthen pads for artillery, heli-pads, bunkers and interior roads had to be built and stabilized. Living quarters (okay, they weren’t THAT great), bunkers and permanent fighting positions had to be constructed. Accommodations were provided for the 2^nd Brigade as they left the ships positioned in the My Tho segment of the Mekong River.  

During the 1969 dry season, the 15^th Engineer Battalion constructed seven fire support bases, repaired four 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.

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                                                               15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

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.  

The history of the 15^th Engineers has been one of continued support of the 9^th Infantry Division brigades from World War I, World War II, Vietnam and beyond. A legacy of devotion to duty and bravery is a product of the past and a serves as a direction for the future. What more needs to be said, we are “Reliable”. And we were  

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    15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

15^TH COMBAT ENGINEER BATTALION

SUCCESSION OF COMMAND

VIETNAM ERA

                LTC C. R. Supplee                   23 Apr ‘66 – 6 Aug ‘66  

             LTC William E. Read                   6 Aug ’66 – 30 Sep 67  

           LTC Thomas C. Loper                   30 Sep ’67 – 25 Aug ‘68  

                 LTC Guy E. Jester                   25 Aug ’68 – Present

CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION CREDIT

World War I – St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne  

World War II – Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe, Ardennes-Alsace

DECORATIONS: World War II

Distinguished Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered SIEGFRIED LINE  

Belgian Fourragere:

Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the MEUSE River

Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the ARDENNES

Company B entitled:

Presidential Unit Citation,

                    Streamer embroidered REMAGEN BRIDGEHEAD

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15^th Combat Engineer History, 1969

DECORATIONS: VIETNAM

Vietnamese Cross-of Gallantry, with Palm,

                   Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1966 – 1968  

                            Dates: 1 Dec '66 - 30 Jun '68

Vietnamese Cross-of Gallantry, with Palm,

                   Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1969  

                            Dates: Jan - Jun '69 

Vietnamese Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class,

                   Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1966 – 1969

                            Dates: 19 Dec '66 - 28 Jun '69

Company A entitled:

                   Presidential Unit Citation, Steamer embroidered

                   DINH TUONG PROVINCE

                              Dates: 7 Mar - 22 Jun '68

Company C entitled:

                   Vietnamese Cross-of Gallantry, with Palm,

                   Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1968  

                               Dates: 1 Jul - 13 Nov. '68

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The above history transcribed and adjusted, 3/22/00 by:1Lt. Richard T. Coogan, 15^th Combat Engineer Battalion - Companies A and B (Sep '68 - Aug '69)