The 46th Engineer Battalion ("Steel Spike") is a

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

unit in 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 ...

that was formally established in 1917.

Mission

On order, the 46th Engineer Battalion deploys to command, to control, and to execute combat and/or general engineering in support of

U.S. 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 ...

, Joint, and Coalition Forces.

Organization

The Battalion consist of the following units: *HHC *FSC *22nd S+D DET (Inactivated) *93rd EN CO (VERT) (Inactivated) *178th EN CO (VERT) (Inactivated) *524th EN DET *573rd EN CO *687th EN CO *642nd EN CO (Fort Drum, NY) *814th MRBC (moved to Korea under 11th EN BN)

Lineage

Constituted 7 December 1917 in the National Army as the 46th Engineers Organized March–April 1918 at Camp Sheridan, Alabama Converted and redesignated 18 September 1918 as the 46th Regiment, Transportation Corps Regiment broken up 12 November 1918 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows: *Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company disbanded *Companies A, B, and C redesignated 12 December 1918 each as the 29th, 30th, and 31st Companies, Transportation Corps, respectively 29th Company, Transportation Corps, demobilized 13 July 1919 at Camp Devens, Massachusetts; 30th and 31st Companies, Transportation Corps, demobilized 2 July and 11 July 1919, respectively, at

Camp Gordon Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...

, Georgia Regiment reconstituted 1 October 1933 in the Regular Army as the 46th Engineers Activated 14 July 1941 at

Camp Bowie Camp Bowie is a United States National Guard training center located in west central Texas on the southern outskirts of Brownwood, Texas, Brownwood. History Camp Bowie, named in honor of the Texas patriot James Bowie, was a military training fac ...

, Texas Redesignated 18 March 1943 as the 46th Engineer General Service Regiment Reorganized and redesignated 22 April 1944 as the 46th Engineer Construction Battalion Reorganized and redesignated 15 June 1947 as Headquarters and Headquarters and Service Company, 46th Engineer Construction Battalion (organic elements concurrently absorbed) Inactivated 15 March 1950 in Japan Redesignated 22 September 1950 as the 46th Engineer Construction Battalion and activated at

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

, Oklahoma (organic elements concurrently reconstituted and activated) Reorganized and redesignated 23 November 1953 as the 46th Engineer Battalion Battalion departs the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in 1971 and is assigned to

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and ...

, Alabama under the 18th Engineer Brigade. The battalion deploys to the Republic of Honduras in the fall of 1983 to construct base camp facilities and airfields as part of Operation Ahuas Tara II before returning to Fort Rucker in the spring of 1984. The battalion deploys to Operation Desert Shield in the fall of 1990, serving in Operation Desert Storm and returning to Fort Rucker in May 1991. In late 1993, segments of the battalion deployed to Colombia, South America to participate in the construction of several community and infrastructure projects. Those segments returned to Fort Rucker in early 1994. In mid-1994, the battalion is relocated to Fort Polk, Louisiana due to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and to support the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). This relocation did not include Bravo Company. 1996: Deployment to Haiti in support of NATO mission under President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. 16 October 1999: Battalion reorganized as a multi-component unit; Company C concurrently inactivated. The 890th Engineer Company (

Tennessee Army National Guard The Tennessee Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one ...

) reorganized and redesignated as Company C, 46th Engineer Battalion. This company was also located at Ft. Rucker Alabama. It was deactivated and moved to Ft. Polk La. October 2005: the battalion was deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. During the one-year deployment, A Company and C Company were based from Al-Taqqadum with elements near Syria and Ramadi. B Company and HHC were primarily operated from Camp Ramadi. Elements of the battalion participated in the

Battle of Ramadi (2006) The Battle of Ramadi was fought during the Iraq War from March 2006 to November 2006, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A joint US military force under the command 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Di ...

establishing combat outposts (COPs) and patrol bases throughout the city. These operations were often executed under

direct fire Direct fire or line-of-sight fire refers to firing of a ranged weapon whose projectile is launched directly at a target within the line-of-sight of the user. The firing weapon must have a sighting device and an unobstructed view to the target, w ...

and/or

indirect fire Indirect fire is aiming and firing a projectile without relying on a direct line of sight between the gun and its target, as in the case of direct fire. Aiming is performed by calculating azimuth and inclination, and may include correcting aim by ...

. Four members of the battalion were

KIA Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

during the duration of the deployment—two due to mortar attacks and two to

improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

. October 2006: the battalion returns to the United States. February 2010: B Company deactivated while still garrisoned at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The battalion is transformed from legacy to modular battalion on 16 February 2010.

Campaign Participation Credit

World War I *Streamer without inscription World War II *East Indies *Papua *New Guinea *Leyte (with arrowhead) *Luzon Vietnam *Defense *Counteroffensive *Counteroffensive, Phase II *Counteroffensive Phase III *Tet Counteroffensive *Counteroffensive Phase IV *Counteroffensive Phase V *Counteroffensive Phase VI *Tet 69/Counteroffensive *Summer-Fall 1969 *Winter-Spring 1970 *Sanctuary Counteroffensive *Counteroffensive Phase VII *Consolidation I Southwest Asia *Defense of Saudi Arabia *Liberation and Defense of Kuwait *Operation Iraqi Freedom

Decorations

* Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for PAPUA *

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

(Army) for LEYTE *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for PHILIPPINE ISLANDS *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for VIETNAM 1966–1967 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for VIETNAM 1967 *Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA *

Army Superior Unit Award The Superior Unit Award is a decoration of the United States Army which is awarded in peacetime to any unit of the Army which displays outstanding meritorious performance of a difficult and challenging mission carried out under extraordinary circum ...

for 1995–1996 *

for 2011–2013 (DCRF mission) *

Philippine Presidential Unit Citation The Philippine Presidential Unit citation BadgeThe AFP Adjutant General, ''Awards and Decorations Handbook'', 1997, OTAG, p. 65. is a unit decoration of the Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to certain units of the United States mil ...

for 17 OCTOBER 1944 TO 4 JULY 1945 *

Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal The Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Medal ( vi, Dân-Vụ Bội-Tinh) also known as the Vietnam Civil Actions Medal or Civil Actions Medal, is a military decoration of the former South Vietnamese government (1955–75). The medal was created ...

, First Class for VIETNAM 1967–1970

References

{{reflist 046 Military units and formations established in 1944