) , colors = The wavy arrow , colors_label = Unit Identification , march = , mascot = , battles =

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

Afghanistan War , anniversaries = , decorations = Presidential Unit Citation , battle_honours = , current_commander = , current_commander_label = , ceremonial_chief = , ceremonial_chief_label = , colonel_of_the_regiment = , colonel_of_the_regiment_label = , notable_commanders = , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label =

Distinctive Unit Insignia A distinctive unit insignia (DUI) is a metallic Heraldry, heraldic badge or device worn by soldiers in the United States Army. The DUI design is derived from the coat of arms authorized for a unit. DUIs may also be called "distinctive insignia" (D ...

, identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = The 20th Engineer Battalion is a combat engineer battalion of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, headquartered at

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is assigned to the 36th Engineer Brigade and

III Armored Corps III Corps or III Armored Corps is a corps of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a major formation of the United States Army Forces Command. Activated in World War I in France, III Corps oversaw US Army divisions a ...

. The battalion continues the lineage of the 20th Engineer Regiment. The 20th Engineer Regiment was formed in 1917 as the United States prepared to enter

. It was established as a Forestry Regiment that grew to consist of 29 battalions and over 46,000 soldiers—the largest regiment in the

history of the United States Army The history of the United States Army began in 1775. From its formation, the United States Army has been the primary land based part of the United States Armed Forces. The Army's main responsibility has been in fighting land battles and military ...

. It conducted forestry and ancillary operations throughout France, from the Spanish and Swiss borders to the very front lines in Ardennes. The 20th Engineer Combat Regiment was activated in 1942 with two organic

combat engineer battalion An Engineer Combat Battalion (ECB) was a designation for a battalion-strength combat engineer unit in the U.S. Army, most prevalent during World War II. They are a component of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Also known as "Combat ...

s. After assault landings in Morocco and Sicily, the regiment was reorganized. The 1st Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment was renamed the 20th Engineer Combat Battalion as it prepared for assault landings on

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

, for which it received a Presidential Unit Citation. The battalion fought across Normandy and northern France and then into Germany, with its final battles in Czechoslovakia. The 20th Engineer Battalion (Combat) conducted operations throughout Vietnam from 1966 to 1971. It was part of the defense of Saudi Arabia and participated in the assault into Iraq in 1990-1991 during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The 20th Engineers were deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan as part of the

War on Terrorism The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...

History

World War I

The 20th Engineer Regiment was organized with the mission to provide lumber for combat and support operations for the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

and its allies, thereby earning the name "Lumberjacks". The US Forestry Service was largely in charge of recruiting for the regiment and was able to fill the first few battalions with men from within the Forestry Service and the civilian forestry industry. In November 1917, the first two battalions of the 20th Engineer Regiment arrived in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

, France. As additional battalions flowed to France, the 6th Battalion of the 20th Engineers suffered a major catastrophe as ninety-one soldiers of the battalion were killed when their ship, the SS ''Tuscania'', was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Scotland. The regiment had battalions stationed throughout France, in some places immediately behind the front lines, and in other places as far away as the mountains near the Spanish border. The 20th Engineer Regiment was demobilized upon returning to the United States in 1919 after it helped re-construct French infrastructure.

World War II

The 20th Engineer Regiment was reactivated in 1940 at

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, Georgia, as the United States prepared to enter

. In 1942 the 20th Engineer Regiment sailed to the

French protectorate in Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

where the 2nd Battalion carried out an assault landing on the beaches of

Fedala Mohammedia ( ar, المحمدية, al-muḥammadiyya; ber, ⴼⴹⴰⵍⴰ, Fḍala), known until 1960 as Fedala, is a port city on the west coast of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat in the region of Casablanca-Settat. It hosts the most impo ...

. The regiment cleared and secured local ports and then fortified the hotel where President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

met for the

Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were ...

. The 20th Engineer Regiment marched across North Africa to join the command of General

Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. Bradley ...

and the II Corps in the

French protectorate of Tunisia The French protectorate of Tunisia (french: Protectorat français de Tunisie; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في تونس '), commonly referred to as simply French Tunisia, was established in 1881, during the French colonial Empire era, ...

. There the regimental commander ordered the use of a directional marker, the Wavy Arrow, as a symbol for 20th Engineer equipment and signage; the Wavy Arrow has continued to be used by the 20th Engineers through current-day operations. In Tunisia, the regiment cleared thousands of mines that the Germans had planted throughout the country. The 20th Engineer Regiment sailed from Tunisia with the 3rd Infantry Division on 6 July 1943. The regiment conducted a first wave assault landing on the beaches of Sicily and cleared lines of communication to complete the occupation of the island. After the fall of Sicily the 20th Engineer Regiment sailed to Scotland and was reorganized. The regimental headquarters was redesignated as Headquarters of the 1171st Engineer Group; the 1st Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment was designated the 20th Engineer Battalion; and the 2nd Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment was designated as the 1340th Engineer Battalion (now the 54th Engineer Battalion). The reorganized units then moved to England to prepare for the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. On

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

the 20th Engineers landed in the assault echelon of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, on

for which it was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the

French Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first aw ...

. The battalion went on to fight across France, Belgium, and Germany in engagements such as the

Battle of Hürtgen Forest The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (german: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) was a series of battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944, between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II, in the Hürtgen Forest, a are ...

and the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

, and ended the war in Czechoslovakia. The 20th Engineer Battalion was preparing to travel to Asia to carry out an attack on the Japanese home islands when the war finally ended. The battalion was inactivated in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany on 30 March 1946.

The Cold War

The 20th Engineer Combat Battalion was reactivated on 18 September 1950, at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. In 1956, it was transferred to

Fort Devens, Massachusetts Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...

. In the wake of the Berlin Crisis, the 20th Engineer Battalion was deployed to Germany in 1961, with Company A stationed in Berlin to reinforce the Berlin Brigade. The battalion returned to Fort Devens, Massachusetts in 1963.

Vietnam War

The 20th Engineer Battalion was transported to

Cam Ranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay ( vi, Vịnh Cam Ranh) is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilom ...

, Vietnam in 1966. The battalion was attached to the 18th Engineer Brigade for most of the war. With its organic and attached special companies, the battalion constructed airfields and basecamps, conducted land clearing and route clearance operations, built roads and bridges, and supported Special Forces operations. On 20 August 1971, the 20th Engineer Battalion returned to the United States, to

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee, Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). F ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Desert Shield and Desert Storm

The 20th Engineer Battalion deployed to Saudi Arabia for

Operation Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

in October 1990. It conducted counter mobility and survivability operations for the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

and

XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America ...

. In

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the battalion attacked 300 miles into Iraq with the mission to support the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and

French 1st Armored Division The 1st Armored Division (french: 1re Division Blindée, 1re DB) is a unit of the French Army formed during World War II that took part in the Liberation of France. The unit was dissolved for the first time in 1946, and was recommissioned in 1948 ...

to secure the far western flank of the assault (the "big left hook"). During the attack, the 20th Engineers assaulted enemy fortifications, cleared areas of obstacles and unexploded ordnance, and built logistics bases. The battalion returned to

in April 1991.

Early 1990s reorganization

The 20th Engineers moved to

to reorganize in June 1992 and became an organic part of the Engineer Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division. The battalion was deployed as the core of a task force to the

Boise National Forest Boise National Forest is a National Forest covering of the U.S. state of Idaho. Created on July 1, 1908, from part of Sawtooth National Forest, it is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as five units: the Cascade, Emmett, Idaho City, Low ...

, Idaho to fight forest fires in August 1994.

Korea

In 1995 he 20th Engineer Battalion headquarters and Company C were deployed in support of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division and 2-8 Cavalry to the mountains of Korea to participate in Operation

Foal Eagle Foal Eagle ( ko, 독수리 연습) is a combined field training exercise (FTX) conducted annually by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the United States Armed Forces under the auspices of the Combined Forces Command. It is one of the largest ...

. The task force participated in simulated war games and reconnoitered key Korean infrastructure.

Kuwait

In February 1997, Company C along with the divisional cavalry squadron, was deployed to Kuwait on a mission to deter Iraqi aggression.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The 20th Engineer Battalion was deployed to

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

as part of the NATO mission to conduct peacekeeping operations for

Operation Joint Forge The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. I ...

. It participated in civil infrastructure reconstruction and de-mining projects, and contributed to maintaining social order. The battalion worked with both

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and non-NATO allied forces in operations such as bridge construction, route reconnaissance, and general mobility operations.

Iraq War

In 2004, the 20th Engineer Battalion was deployed to Iraq, first in support of the 1st Armored Division and later as a part of the 1st Cavalry Division. The battalion's area of operations was centered on the city of Baghdad. The 20th Engineers conducted combat patrols, helped re-construct civil infrastructure, and cleared areas of munitions. The unit returned to

in 2004, where it was relieved from the 1st Cavalry Division. The 20th Engineer Battalion was reorganized and assigned to the 36th Engineer Brigade in 2006. The battalion was transformed according to the Army's new concept of modularity: it consisted only of a multi-functional headquarters and a forward support company for combat service support. Separately numbered, specialized companies and detachments (sapper, route clearance, bridging, mobility augmentation, diving, etc.) were assigned to the battalion based on a specific mission. In late 2006, the 20th Engineer Battalion was again deployed to Iraq in support of the 1st Cavalry Division. This time the battalion carried out the mission under the command of the 1169th Engineer Group (

Alabama National Guard The Alabama National Guard is the National Guard of the U.S State of Alabama, and consists of the Alabama Army National Guard and the Alabama Air National Guard. (The Alabama State Defense Force is the third military unit of the Alabama Milita ...

), which functioned as the Engineer headquarters for the 1st Cavalry Division. Major missions of the battalion included route clearance, combat construction, rapid construction of forwarding operating bases during the

Surge Surge means a sudden transient rush or flood, and may refer to: Science * Storm surge, the onshore gush of water associated with a low-pressure weather system * Surge (glacier), a short-lived event where a glacier can move up to velocities 100 ...

, and anti- IED operations. The battalion returned to

in November 2007. On November 5, 2009, an Arab terrorist shot, wounded, and killed soldiers at Fort Hood as they prepared to deploy to Afghanistan. Four soldiers were killed and eleven soldiers were wounded from the 20th Engineer Battalion.

War in Afghanistan

The 20th Engineer Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 as part of the

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

(ISAF), a component of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO). The battalion was responsible for clearing routes and areas of explosive devices, primarily in the provinces of

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

Zabul Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabu ...

, and

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

. They were visited by the

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: app ...

during their deployment. The battalion returned to Fort Hood in January 2011. The 20th Engineer Battalion was redeployed to Afghanistan in October 2012 as a multi-functional task force for conducting combat missions, clearing routes, and participating in construction missions. Many and diverse engineer companies, including National Guard units from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and an active-duty company from

Fort Campbell, Kentucky Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Divi ...

, were assigned to the task force. The task force spent a considerable amount of time training engineers of the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

. The battalion returned to Fort Hood in July 2013.

Current and future

The 20th Engineers at Fort Hood train for major, near-peer land combat. Its companies have begun to receive modern equipment such as

M2 Bradley The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense. The Bradley is designed for ...

Engineer Fighting Vehicles and

M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) is a U.S. military mine- and explosives-clearing vehicle, based on the M1 Abrams chassis, equipped with a mine plow and line charges. Its first large scale use by the US Marines was in the joint ISAF-Afg ...

Decorations and awards

Campaign Participation Credit

Unit decorations

The 20th Engineer Battalion's decorations are as follows.

Publications

Veterans of World War 2, the 20th Combat Engineer Association of World War II, published a newsletter, ''The Wavy Arrow,'' until 2013. The 20th Engineer Battalion published their activities in Iraq in a monthly newsletter named ''Lumberjack Ledger''.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.20thengineers.com/, name=Unit historical website 020