113th Engineer Battalion (United States)

113th Engineer Battalion

coat of arms
Active 1917
Country  United States
Branch Indiana Army National Guard
Type Echelons Above Brigade
Role Mobility, Counter-Mobility, Survivability, General Engineering
Size Battalion
Motto(s) "Service and Fidelity"
Commanders
Current
commander		 LTC John E. Pitt
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
113th Engineer Camp site
113th Engineer Camp
Calvin Darnell
Camped on the rifle range

The 113th Engineer Battalion is an Echelons Above Brigade (EAB) Army Engineer battalion of the Indiana National Guard. Their missions include construction effects and combat effects. Units of the 113th are found in Northwest Indiana (Gary and Valparaiso) and Central Indiana (Franklin and Edinburgh (Camp Atterbury)).

History

On 16 September 1917, Company M (minus Officers) of the 3rd Infantry, Kentucky State Militia was designated the 113th Engineer Battalion and assigned to the 38th Infantry Division.[1] The Company was quickly mobilized, trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and sent overseas during World War I. Arriving in France on 28 September 1918, the engineers saw duty in construction missions, chiefly in the building of a large base camp near Brest. The engineers served in the Army of Occupation at Konz, Germany. The 113th Engineers returned to the United States in the spring of 1919.

The 113th Engineers served during the Ohio River flood of 1937 and again in Wisconsin during the "Big Rain" of 1940.

The 113th Engineers were mobilized on 17 January 1941, for World War II. They were deployed on Leyte in December 1944 with their basic load of engineer equipment consisting of 400 tons of assault and pioneer equipment, 140 tons of 30-day engineer supplies, and a complete "Bailey Bridge" unit weighing over 89 tons. After Leyte came Luzon, ZigZag Pass, Corregidor, Caballo Island, and Zambales.

For most of it's history, the 113th Engineer Battalion, Indiana Army National Guard, was a subordinate unit of the Engineer Regiment and Brigade, 38th Infantry Division. After the deactivation of the Engineer Regiment and Brigade, the 113th Engineer Battalion was designated a separate Heavy Combat Battalion, assigned to the 38th Infantry Division. Around 2003, the battalion was realigned directly under the Military Department of Indiana's 81st Troop Command, where it remained until 2015.[2] In October of 2015, the 113th Engineer Battalion was realigned under the newly-designated 219th Engineer Brigade, which had been formed from the 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, as the Army divested itself of Battlefield Surveillance Brigades.

Units as of 2016: Headquarters and Headquarters Company and Forward Support Company (Co A) are both located in Gary, IN. The 713th Engineer Company (Sapper) is located in Valparaiso, IN. The 1313th Engineer Company (Horizontal Construction) and 1413th Engineer Company (Vertical Construction) are located in Franklin, IN. The 1413th EN CO is temporarily assigned to the CERF-P (Search and Rescue) mission. The 719th Engineer Detachment (EN DET) (Firefighter Headquarters), 819th EN DET (Firefighter Truck), 919th EN DET (Firefighter Truck), 1019th EN DET (Firefighter Truck), 1319th EN DET (Well Drilling Headquarters), 1331st EN DET (Well Drilling Team), and 1213th EN DET (Survey and Design) are all located on Camp Atterbury, in Edinburgh, IN. The 919th EN DET (Firefighter Truck) will be stationed at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex in Butlerville, IN, upon full activation in 2017.

The 113th Engineer Battalion was deployed in northern Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They conducted Soldier Readiness Processing at Camp Atterbury late in 2004. The elements of the 113th arrived in country from mid-December 2004 to early January 2005. They were engaged in a 12-month deployment in Ninewah province, Iraq where they engaged in many types of combat missions. The 113th was equipped with the M-113 APC, and later with M-1114 Up-Armored Humvees. 113th was home by the end of the year, 2005 with no deaths during that deployment.[3]

In March 2012, the Battalion was awarded the Valorous Unit Award for their performance during the "Operation Founding Fathers" mission during Iraq's elections.[4]

Distinctive unit insignia

A silver color metal and enamel device 1 5/32 inches (2.94 cm) in height consisting of the shield, crest and motto of the coat of arms.

The silver triple-towered castle, taken from the arms of St. Dizier in France, denotes the World War I service of the organization. The shield is red and the charge is white, the colors of the Corps of Engineers. The crest is that of the Indiana Army National Guard.

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved on 26 May 1928, for the 113th Engineer Regiment, Indiana National Guard and consisted of the shield and motto of the coat of arms. The design was changed to include the shield, crest and motto on 5 June 1936. It was redesignated for the 113th Engineer Combat Battalion on 19 November 1943. The insignia was redesignated for the 113th Engineer Battalion, Indiana Army National Guard on 23 September 1963.

Coat of arms

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Annual Reports of the War Department, Volume 1: Report of the Chief of the Militia Bureau. United States War Department. (Jan 1, 1919) p. 1189, Table 29. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=yWFGAQAAMAAJ&rdid=book-yWFGAQAAMAAJ&rdot=1
  2. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/113eng.htm
  3. ↑ "Stryker Brigade News: Welcome home for the 113th". Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  4. ↑ http://www.armedforces.com/113th-engineers-receive-long-awaited-award/
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