The 3rd Engineer Battalion is a unit of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

that deploys to designated contingency areas and conducts

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

and/or stability operations in support of a

brigade combat team The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic Military deployment, deployable Military unit, unit of maneuver in the United States Army, U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver Brigade (United States Army), b ...

. It is composed of two

combat engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, Tunnel warfare, tunnel and l ...

companies, one signal, one

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

, and a headquarters company. Its mission is to provide assured mobility, counter-mobility, general engineering, survivability support, military intelligence, and connectivity support to deploy anywhere at any time. The unit has a history dating to 1901.

Symbolism

The battalion's insignia was approved 11 February 1921. It consists of a white shield with the Roman numeral III and a splash of red with an indented border of gold. The crest that sits on the shield consists of a wreath of the same colors with a beaver crouched at the foot of a palm branch. The beaver is the symbol of New York and nature's engineer, the palm branch represents tropical service, the red and white are the engineer colors and the indented border alludes to the work of the engineers in constructing field fortifications.

Unit history

The 3rd BEB was initially organized as the 3rd Battalion of Engineers on 25 March 1901, at Fort Totten,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. On 1 July 1916, the battalion was reorganized as the 3rd Engineer Regiment, with portions serving in the Philippines, Hawaii, and Panama. In April 1921, the regiment assembled in Hawaii and became the engineer component of the

Hawaiian Division The Hawaiian Division was a division of the United States Army, dedicated to the defense of Hawaii. This division was named rather than numbered, as were the Philippine, Panama Canal and Americal Divisions. It was first activated under the peac ...

; the 3rd Engineers did most of the military construction on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. In July 1950, the battalion moved to Korea to serve in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

with the 24th Infantry Division. The 3rd Engineer Battalion was responsible for improving most major thoroughfares and bridging most rivers in Korea. The battalion stayed in Korea until November 1953. The 3rd Engineer Battalion remained assigned to the 24th Infantry Division at

Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long, and Tattnall Counties. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It deployed with the division in 1990 for Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, as well as with the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in ...

to Somalia in 1993. The 3rd Engineer Battalion has also served in Germany, Lebanon, Poland, Finland, Bulgaria, Kuwait, Iraq, and Syria.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official announcement of re-flagging ceremony

The Institute of Heraldry: 3d EN BN, 3 ABCT, 1 CD

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other related blood type alleles in the AB ...