BOTHELL, Wash. - The colors of the 380th Adjutant General Battalion, a U.S. Army Reserve unit here, were cased for the last time, March 9.
The battalion had seen many changes during its existence. Formed as the 92nd Replacement Battalion during World War II, the unit saw heavy service across Europe, moving with Allied forces during some of the toughest fighting of the war: Normandy, the Rhineland, and the Ardennes Forest.
"The after-action review on the battle of the Huertgen Forest showed the historic, key role this battalion has played in the nation's defense," said Col. David Ling, commander of the 654th Regional Support Group, the 380th's higher headquarters.
"Imagine how those infantry regiments would have suffered if they [the 92nd Replacement Battalion] had not been there," Ling said.
The battalion was inactivated at the close of World War II, and became the Army Reserve's 380th Replacement Battalion in 1947. The unit was posted to Springfield, Mass., and Norfolk, Conn., before being inactivated again in 1950.
The 380th was placed onto the active rolls again in 1985, this time on the West Coast, at Seattle's Fort Lawton. It moved to Redmond, Wash., in 1988, and finally to its home at Bothell's Staff Sgt. Joe R. Hooper Army Reserve Center in 1993.
"I want to thank all of the soldiers of the 380th Adjutant General Battalion, past and present," said Lt. Col. Erik Benson, the battalion's final commander.
The battalion was called to active duty in support of current operations twice in recent years, in 2003-2004 and at Fort Benning, Ga., from September 2011 to September 2012.
The drill hall had a hushed silence as Benson and Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Biermann cased the unit's colors for the final time.
As with all inactivated units, its colors and other historical property will be shipped to the Center of Military History in Washington, D.C., for archival and safekeeping.
For, who knows - the 380th Adjutant General Battalion may someday be called upon again to provide soldiers for America's fighting forces.
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