7th Engineer Battalion (United States)

7th Engineer Battalion

Coat of arms
Active 1861
Country  United States
Branch US Army Corps of Engineers
Size Battalion
Garrison/HQ Fort Drum
Nickname(s) Hammer
Motto Seven Times Tested By Fire
Commanders
Current
commander
LTC Paul Culberson
Notable
commanders

Michael N. Clancy
Mark Quander
Christopher Barron
Richard Pannel
Don T. Riley
Hugo J. Stark
Clement Flagler
Meriwether Lewis Walker
Lewis M. Adams
Daniel D. Pullen

Wildurr Willing

The 7th Engineer Battalion is a unit of the United States Army located at Fort Drum, New York. This battalion falls under the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team.

The 7th Engineer Battalion was reactivated on 27 October 2006 at Fort Drum, New York under the 20th Engineer Brigade. The Battalion and its assigned companies deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009, for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In Iraq, the battalion provided tactical construction in support of United States Division - South, partnered with the Iraqi Army's 10th and 14th Field Engineer Regiments, and enhanced the civil capacity of Iraq via technical support for reconstruction projects. In Afghanistan, battalion soldiers conducted route clearance operations and provided firefighting support in the southern and eastern provinces, in support of NATO security operations. The battalion deployed again to eastern Afghanistan to conduct route clearance operations from October 2011 to October 2012.

On 17 October 2014, the 7th Engineer Battalion converted to become the 7th Brigade Engineer Battalion. This task organization includes the 630th Clearance Company, the Brigade's Military Intelligence Company, and the Brigade's Signal Company.

Lineage

The battalion traces its history to a unit organized on 31 December 1861 in the Regular Army at Washington D.C., from new and existing companies of engineers as a provisional engineer battalion (constituted 28 July 1866 as the Battalion of Engineers)

Distinctive unit insignia

A Silver color metal and enamel device 1 inch (2.54 cm) in height overall blazoned: Sable, an anchor debruised by two oars saltirewise between in fess two increscents all Argent; on a chief of the last embattled a cross Gules.

Black and white were the old colors of the Engineer Corps. The anchor and oars device was the badge of the Engineers and Pontoniers of the Army of the Potomac where the old units of the regiment did such gallant service. The crescents are the device of General Winfield Scott and represent the service of the old company in 1846-1848 in the Mexican War. In France, the regiment served with great gallantry in the 5th Division. The crossing of the Meuse near Dun is indicated by the device in chief of the shield which is not only a cross for the crossing of the river but the device of the lords of Dun.

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 7th Engineer Regiment on 27 August 1926. It was redesignated for the 7th Engineer Battalion on 7 March 1940. It was redesignated for the 7th Engineer Combat Battalion on 13 May 1940. The insignia was redesignated for the 7th Engineer Battalion on 6 July 1954.

Coat of arms

Sable, an anchor debruised by two oars saltirewise between in fess two increscents all Argent; on a chief of the last embattled a cross Gules.

Campaign participation credit

Civil War

War with Spain

World War I

World War II

Vietnam

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Operation Enduring Freedom

Operation Inherent Resolve

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Institute of Heraldry document "7th Engineer Bn.".

External links

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