As the organic engineer battalion of the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 7th Infantry Division we exist to rapidly deploy alongside the Ghost Brigade to fight and win the nation’s wars. The 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB) team consists of our Headquarters Company (HHC); two engineer companies (Alpha and Bravo); our signal company (Charlie) and our Field Support Company (E Co, 296 BSB
). We reactivated 15 September, 2015 at Joint Base Lewis McChord, WA and have been making a name for themselves for almost a century. HISTORY:
The 23rd Engineer Regiment was constituted on 15 August 1917 at Camp Meade, Maryland, just months after the United States entered World War I. By February 1918, the 23rd Engineers were on the French frontlines as the “Road Builders of the AEF.” That September, the 23rd Engineers earned their first campaign streamer performing a critical role in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. This was the first completely US-led operation of WWI and the American Expeditionary Force’s success, under the leadership of GEN Pershing, solidified the United States of America as a world power. The 23rd Engineers continued to play a decisive role in the operations that followed the Battle of St. Following WWI, the 23rd Engineer Battalion was again activated 15 April 1941 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana as an element of 3rd Armored Division. The Spearhead Engineers entered WWII on Omaha beach. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the bridging of the Seine, Marne, and Aisne Rivers, Spearhead Engineers paved the way for 3rd Armored Division’s march into Belgium. At Mons, they traded their bridges for machine guns and fought as Infantry. Continuing towards Germany, Soldiers from the 23rd Engineers built two bridges at Namur, one across the Meuse, and one spanning the Sambre Canal under the hazardous fire of the enemy. They mastered the dragon’s teeth of the Siegfried Line by clearing thousands of mines, destroying pillboxes, and clearing road blocks. During the fierce fighting for the Ardennes, the Battalion aided in the defense of Hotten and then took part in the battles at Lierneux, Cherain, and Sterpigny. As 3rd AD continued to march eastward, the Battalion built four bridges across the Erft River and Canal. In the final offensive, the 23rd Engineers again played a crucial role and bridged the Rhine near Bonn. During WWII, the 23rd added to their proud history earning campaign streamers for Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. The unit was awarded the Belgian Fourragere and cited twice in the Orders of the Day of the Belgian Army. Following WWII, the 23rd Engineers played a crucial role in defending Europe from Soviet aggression during the Cold War. As the Cold War ended with the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the nation quickly called on the 23rd Engineers to fight against aggression in the deserts of Iraq. Spearhead Engineers led the 3rd Armored Division’s envelopment of the Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait. For actions during Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm, the battalion earned the Valorous Unit Award and campaign streamers for the Defense of Saudi Arabia, Liberation and Defense of Kuwait, and the Cease-Fire. Following the Gulf War, the battalion was reassigned from 3rd to 1st Armored Division and then inactivated in Germany on 15 February 1997. True to their motto, NOUS SERVIRONS de NOUVEAU “We will serve again,” the 23rd Engineers activated 15 September 2015 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord as the 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB), 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team under 7th Infantry Division. UNIT CREST:
The 23rd Engineer Battalion’s distinctive unit insignia was approved in April 1934. A green oak tree against a white rock on a silver shield with a red background. The red background represents the colors of the Corps of Engineers. The white rock is borrowed from the arms of St. Mihiel and the green oak tree sits emblematic of the Meuse-Argonne campaign. The silver shield represents service in the Lorraine Defensive during World War I.
