FAREWELL REVIEW FOR TI.IE GROUP COMMANDER AT !-1ANAW.

GERM,$NY, 1957

A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH

0RGANIZ.ED T FIGHT O
. - Although young in
-

age, the 63& IZngineer Battalion (Combat) I old in ewes

r k m . It's youthfulnew d a b ba& t o ita birth at Fort h i s , Washington on

. Yellowing

mmth it was activated and assigned to ihe 44th Infantry D vMon. The f

ab3rd Engheers was cpmmitted to WW II action when only a Little more than one

. . +.

CT,ASS

GO BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION NEAR SCHWEINFURT. GERMANY

3rd from left: Sgt. O'Hara, B Company; 4th from left: 1st Lt. Campbell, A Company

BAILEY BRIDGE CONSTRUCTJON NEAR MANAU. GERMANY

THE G O
The batlalion was reactivated on 30 March 1955 and was rcdesignated as t h e
63rd Engineer BailaIion (Cornbat) at Fort Leonard Wood, Missourj R'lost of tlie

personnel of the battalion transferred in from the inactivated 2Olst Engineer

Battalion (Combat) at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The battnjion, inheriting the wandering ways of the Z O l s l Engineers. picked up

the nickname "Gypsy" i n Septcinber 1955. Starling its roaming while still the

201+1 Engincers. the unit was split u p and t h e c o m p a ~ i e s scattered to various states of the Fifth Artnv Area. Companies A and B constructed quonsct huts.
roads, sewer lines, radar and anti-aircraft artillery sites. and moved 150.000
cubic yards of earth a l Camp Claybanlcs, Michigan. I-Jeadquarters and Service Company supported airfield construction at Forl Sheridan, Illinois. Companies

A and C constructed quonset huts, parlting lots, field mess buildings. a dispensary, and extended the post electrical facilities at Camp Ilaven. Michigan.

Returning t o Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, just long enougli to repaint its
burnper markings, t l ~ c (i3rd Engineer Battalion moved to Louisiana in September 1955 l o participatr in "Operation Sagebrush", the largest peacetime maneuvers

ever held in tlzc United Slalcs. The battalion returned to Fort Leonard Wood

lor Christmas 1955, and remained tl~crcthrough 1956 while cngaged in post
projects, unit training. annd support of ROTC Sumrne~Camp.

OPERATION G Y R O S C O P E
in June 1956, tlie 63rd Enginc~iBattalion (Combat) received word that it wnuld

transfer to Europe with "Operation Gyroscope" in February 1957 tu exchange

duty stations with the 5th Engineer Battalion (Combat) at Giesscn. Germany.
Advance dclacl~nzcntswere cxchchanged betwcc-n the 5th and 63rd Engineer

Bnttalions in Hovernbcr 1959. The bnttallon departed Fort Leonard Wood by

Irnop I r a n on G February 1957, arriving at the Brooklyn Army Terminal two

days later. On 9 February 1957, the battalion left the Unikd SStal[xs aboard the
U S N S Simon 8.Bucknw arriving at Brerncrlinven, Germany on 18 February 1957. Company C moved to McPheelors Barracks, Bad Hersf'eld, Germany.

The 63'6 Engineers were sponsored bv the

18111 Engineer

Battalion (Combat) and

\~eIcomedto tlteir new heme, t h t ~ sbecoming the first battalion size u n i t l a

gyroscope to t h e Gicsscn Sub-Area. l t was the first Raltalinn-size w i t 20

Gyroscope from Fort Lconard Wood. Missouri-

P A R T OF 'NATO
Upon arrival in Germany. Ihc G3rd Engineer Battalion became a parl of NATO,
and i t s missioi? became the defe~lse the free wvrld. The battalion i s a parl of

of the SevenU~US .4rmv and is attached to the

n part of the V United States Corps.

:1'FI11

Engineer Gratlp (Combat),

ACTIVITIES IN ELIROPE
The first major inspeclion i Europe was the Annual General Inspection conn

ducted by Headquarters V Carps in August 1957. The battalion reccived an

overall rating of "high esccllent". Company C and Ihc Medical Dctachrnenl

received a rating of superior.

In October 1957. Catnpany C won Ihc 47111 Engineer Group (Combat) Floating

Bridge Competition. bridging the Main River near Hanau. Germany, with a
Class GO Floating Bridge of approximatelv lour hundred f e e l long.

In Oclulser the Battalion underwent its Army Training Tcst, this lest began a t Wildflecken and endcd a t Hanau, Germany. 'Che purposc of the test was l o
d ~ t e r m i n cthe training proficiency of Ihc batta!ion fur t h e year. The unit obtained a score of "high csccllcnt". As part of tllc test, tllr: unit consirucled a

mine Acld, a timber treslle bridge, an M-2 Panel Bridge* a Class GO Ferry and
Floating Bridge. I t rcnrganized as infalltry, siezed and laeld a 900 meter

hill. 1. also repaired mud roads to keep the military traffic moving smoolhlg. 1
,4 parl of tlzc battalion's NATO mission is the fostering 01 iavorable German-

A,merican Relations. The battalion works on frequent projects constr'ucling

sports asens, excavation. and earthmoving jobs, thereby saving the G e r ~ n a n s the

expenses involved in these projects.

The battalion has sponsored, by vo1unt:ary contributions of the individunls, a

German K i n d ~ r h c i m (Children's Home) which cares f o r approximately one
hundred children.

'The 63rd Engineer Battalion is proud t o bc a part of Ihe NATO team and

always stands ready to dcfend the free world against the enemies of frcedom.

THE B A T T A L I O N C R E S T
The 63rd Engineer Battalion (Combat) celebrates its organization on t h e 30111 of
March. a month that has played an important role in the historv of the ballaIion, for it was in March of J 943 lIinl the distil?stive ci-est of the battalion was approved.

This coat of arms thal we proudly wear consists of a shield below which is
~rnblnzoned inotto " NON SINE INDUSTRIA". which means "NOT WITHQUT the

INDUSTRY". The shield has a Isnrry (divided into bars) of six, argcnl (silvery

o r silver) and gales (red) tlaree piles on Ulc last. that portion over the second,
Limbrated (a fringe border) of t h e first. I t is fitting Ihat this should be o u r crest. f o r

it is lrulv "NOT WITHOUT INDUSTRY" that produccs a superior coinbat

rlnginecr unit.

T H E ENGINEER C A S T L E
:%nother insignia symbolic of the military engineer. and wovc1.l closcly into o u r
history, is thc Engineer Castle. In heraldry. the castle and the tower were often
used in coats-of-ar111s. Displayed upon the shield, they signified the victorious

assault of these fortjfications. Tbr ~ncdievalcastle has altvaj-s been associaled

with fortifications and architcctul-c. It is appl-opriate thal in 1839 it was officially

adopted as an insignia of thc Corps of Engineers and was worn on the belt

plate. During this time all West Point Cadets were considered a part of the
Corps of Engineers and so the castle was worn on the cap plate. Additional r~gulations provided that the uniform for the Corps of Engineers

would includc a turreted castle of silver within Ihc crecent of the cravette. In
1857 the castle came into use as a hat ornament, and subsequently appeared on

Ihc shoulder Irnot. the saddle cloth, as a collar ornament! on the buttons, and

Iater on the forage cap. Thc change from the silver castIe to the gold was made
in 1921. and from t h a t lime to the present the gold castle has remained the distinctive symbol of the Corps o Engineers of the United States Ann!. f It is intercsting to note that of all the officers of our arincd forces, I h o s ~T t h e o
Corps of Engineers are the only ones authorized to wear a distinguishing branch bullon

on their blouses. This individual lsl~lton which dates back to

1814 is a matter of pride l o every engineer olliccr. The device displays the

lnasonry 01 the bastion a a marine baltcrv, ernbrasured, case~natedand creC

nellndet. I t is sul-rounded Isv water over which is a rising sun with its raps.
Surmounting Ihc whole is a soaring caglc bearing in its bcalr a streamer dis-

playing the motto "ESSAYONS", w*hicl~ means. "WE WILL TRY".

CONSTRUCTION OF M4.T 6 BRIDGE A T CARlPC POND, HANAU, GER.i\qANY

1st from left: Pvt. Hatfield; 2nd from left: Pvt. Defoe