54th Engineer Battalion Unit Crest (Essayons Et Faisons)

54th Engineer Battalion
The 54th Engineer Battalion was constituted in December 1917 as the 42nd Engineer Battalion. Reorganized as the 20th Engineer Regiment in 1918, it deployed to France during World War 1 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, performing tasks from mine emplacement to bridge installation. After deactivation in 1919, and reactivation in 1940, the 20th Engineers deployed as part of WWII’s Western Task Force, responsible for assault landings on beachheads from Africa to France, clearing docks and minefields and running rations houses.[6] In 1944, the 2nd Battalion, 20th Engineers became the 1340th Engineer Combat Battalion. During the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the 1340th Engineers constructed Bailey bridges, breached obstacles under fire, and experienced high casualties being committed as infantry.

As U.S. Forces marched across Germany, the 1340th Engineers paved the way, building bridges, installing obstacles, and repairing roads. Following Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the unit inactivated, and reactivated in Germany as the 54th Engineer Battalion (Combat). During the Berlin Crisis in 1961, the unit deployed to Germany once again, supporting the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and 14th Armored Cavalry Regiments (ACRs) in the Fulda Gap, defending the west from potential Soviet advance.

In 1986, the unit became the first Mechanized Combat Engineer Battalion, and in 1991, the 54th supported the 1st Armored Division during Operation Desert Storm. As the ground war commenced, the 54th provided mobility support, reducing bunkers and marking the route into Iraq. As the war raged on, the 54th conducted countless extensive denial missions in Kuwait and Iraq, and constructed redeployment areas in Saudi Arabia.

Later that year, the 54th redeployed to Germany in support of the 11th ACR as a mobile U.S. Army European force. The 54th was inactivated in 1994 and reactivated in 1997 as part of the 130th Engineer Brigade. In 2002, select units from the Battalion reorganized as infantry in support of operations in Kosovo, returning later that year.

In February 2003, the 54th deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division to support the Liberation of Iraq. The unit controlled the initial breach into Iraq and installed assault bridges for the invasion. After shifting to stability operations, the 54th found and destroyed weapons caches and conducted engineer reconnaissance. In 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2011, the 54th continuously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, responsible for assured mobility and training partner forces. Maneuver commanders insisted on having “Dagger” at the front, as they cleared over 200,000 km of roads, detected thousands of IEDs, and constructed miles of barriers. The 54th returned to Germany and was inactivated in 2014.