The 9th Engineer Support Battalion (9th ESB) is a general and direct engineering support unit of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and is headquartered at

Camp Hansen Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the northern shore of Kin Bay, and is the second-northernmost major installation on Okinawa, with Camp Schwab to the nor ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan. The unit is subordinate to the

3rd Marine Logistics Group The 3rd Marine Logistics Group (3rd MLG) is the Logistics Combat Element (LCE) for III Marine Expeditionary Force currently headquartered on Camp Kinser, Marine Corps Base Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. 3rd MLG provides combat service supp ...

and the

III Marine Expeditionary Force III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and ...

Mission

Provide General and Direct Engineering Support of a Deliberate Nature to the MAGTF, to include survivability, countermobility and mobility enhancements, and explosive ordnance disposal; and general supply support incident to the handling, storage and distribution of bulk water and bulk fuel.

Subordinate units

* Headquarters and Service Company * Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company * Engineering Support Company * Engineer Company A * Engineer Company B * Bulk Fuel Company

History

Vietnam War

The 9th Engineer Support Battalion of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group was once titled the 9th Engineer Battalion. The 9th Engineer Battalion was activated on 1 November 1965 at the

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

and was under the operational control of the Commanding General Force Troops, located at

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), also known as 29 Palms, is the largest United States Marine Corps base. The base covers a total area of 1,102 square miles. It was a census-designated place (CDP) officially known as Twentynin ...

. On 2 May 1966, elements of the battalion began deploying to the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

and by 17 June 1966 all of the battalion had arrived in the country and were located in and around

Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Khu Kinh Tế M� ...

. There they repaired vital road networks and reconstructed many villages south of Chu Lai. 29 June 1966 found Alpha Company departing for

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

under the operational control of the 7th Engineer Battalion. While in Vietnam the 9th Engineer Battalion was responsible for the repair and mine sweeps of many of the major highways and bridges, for camp construction, for building ferries and for supporting the army and many foreign units on the battlefront. The Battalion participated in operations such as Colorado, Fresno, Nappa, and Golden Fleece. On 2 March 1970; Hawaii became the next duty station for Company A, while the rest of the battalion was returned to Camp Pendleton by 11 September 1970. At Camp Pendleton the battalion became part of the 5th Marine Amphibious Brigade until it was deactivated and retired its colors on 30 October 1970. The 9th Engineer Support Battalion was activated on 1 May 1976 on

, Japan. Since activated,

has served as home for the battalion.

The 1990s

Company A, 9th ESB was the lead element in planning and conducting humanitarian construction operations in

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

from September to December 2000. Additionally, they have completed several

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

projects in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Global War on Terror

9th ESB provided real-world operational support to Joint Task Force 510 (Special Operation Command),

Basilan Island Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan (; ; ; ), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Basilan Island is the largest and northernmost of the major islands of the Sulu Archipelago ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

from April to July 2002. By improving 81 kilometers of roads, creating helicopter landing zones, and opening an overgrown airfield, the Battalion improved the mobility of U.S. forces on the island during the Global War on Terrorism. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Platoon continues to supports de-mining efforts throughout the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and provides technician in support of Presidential Operations as required. 9th Engineer Support Battalion earned the Marine Corps Engineer Association award for the best engineer support battalion of the year for 2000, 2001, 2007, and 2012. 9th ESB deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) from February 2006 until March 2007. During this deployment, they were based out of Camp Taqaddum in

Al Anbar Province Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

and built/repaired roads, cleared the roads of

Improvised Explosive Devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

, repaired buildings and constructed observation posts and command outposts for the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

and Coalition Forces. In September 2008, 9th ESB deployed for a second tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (seven months long); they returned in March 2009. During the deployment, the battalion repaired roads, built working spaces and performed force protection construction and upgrades. 9th ESB's most recent deployment (and second tour) was to Helmand Province in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) which occurred from November 2011 to June 2012. During this deployment, the battalion performed its assigned mission of repairing and constructing roads as well as providing fuel.

References

;Notes : ;Web * th ESB official web site http://www.3rdmlg.marines.mil/Units/SubordinateUnits/9thEngineerSupportBattalion.aspx

External links

{{US Marine Corps navbox ESB9