The mission of the 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion is to develop full spectrum Engineer capabilities, which include command and control, mobility, and counter-mobility. The 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion consists The Battalion consist of two Engineer Companies, Alpha Company (Sapper) and Bravo Company (Breacher); a Signal Company, Charlie Company (Mercury); a Military Intelligence Company, Delta Company (Dagger); a Forward Support Company, Echo Company; a Chemical Company, the 95th Chemical Company (Arctic Dragon); a Military Police Company, the 545th Military Police Detachment (Arctic Defender); the BN Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Hammer); and the BCT Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Titan).
The 6th Engineer Battalion was first organized on 31 December 1861 in the Regular Army at Washington, DC, from new and existing companies of engineers as a provisional engineer battalion, which had been first constituted on 28 July 1866 as the Battalion of Engineers. As a result it gained these lineages and honors account for 10 campaigns of the American Civil War: Peninsula, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Appomattox, Virginia 1863.
The unit was expanded between 14 March and 7 June 1901 to form the 1st and 2nd Battalions of Engineers, with 2nd Battalion of Engineers thereafter having a separate lineage. 1st Battalion of Engineers was expanded, reorganized, and redesignated on 1 July 1916 as the 1st Engineer Regiment. The 1st Regiment of Engineers was expanded on 15 May 1917 to form the 1st, 6th, and 7th Regiments of Engineers, with 1st and 7th Regiments of Engineers thereafter having separate lineages. 6th Regiment of Engineers was redesignated on 29 August 1917 as the 6th Engineers and assigned on 1 October 1917 to the 3rd Division. As part of the 3rd Division the 6th Engineers served in 6 campaigns of the First World War: Somme Defensive, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Champagne 1918.
The Regiment was broken up on 12 October 1939 and its elements reorganized and redesignated. 1st Battalion was reorganized and redesiganted as the 6th Engineer Battalion, an element of the 6th Division (which was later redesignated as the 6th Infantry Division). The Headquarters and Headquarters and Service Company was disbanded, while the 2nd Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 10th Engineer Battalion, which thereafter had a separate lineage.
The 6th Engineer Battalion was reorganized and redesignated 9 April 1942 as the 6th Engineer Motorized Battalion. It was reorganized and redesignated again on 1 May 1943 as the 6th Engineer Combat Battalion. The unit served in two campaigns in the Second World War: New Guinea (with arrowhead indicating participation in the initial assault), and Luzon (also with arrowhead). Following the end of the Second World War, the unit was inactivated on 10 January 1949 in Korea.
The Battalion was reactivated on 4 October 1950 at Fort Ord, California and inactivated on 3 April 1956 at Fort Ord, California. It was redesignated on 15 May 1958 as the 6th Engineer Battalion, relieved from assignment to the 6th Infantry Division, and concurrently activated at West Point, New York. There it served until it was inactivated on 1 May 1966.
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 6th Engineer Battalion was redesignated on 15 June 1967 as the 6th Engineer Company. The Company was assigned to the 11th Infantry Brigade, and activated at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 15 January 1968 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and relieved from assignment to the 11th Infantry Brigade.
The 6th Engineer Company was redesignated on 17 August 1988 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 6th Engineer Battalion, assigned to the 6th Infantry Division, and activated at Fort Wainwright, Alaska with its organic elements concurrently activated. It was inactivated on 15 June 1994 at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and relieved from assignment to the 6th Infantry Division.
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 6th Engineer Battalion was reactivated on 16 October 2008 at Fort Richardson, Alaska with a Support Company concurrently constituted and activated. It was assigned to the 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, US Army Alaska.
In September 2013, the Battalion was instructed to prepare to convert from a Brigade Special Troops Battalion to a Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB), no later than 15 October 2014. This conversion will greatly expand and reshape the Battalion structure. The Battalion consist of two Engineer Companies, Alpha Company (Sapper) and Bravo Company (Breacher); a Signal Company, Charlie Company (Mercury); a Military Intelligence Company, Delta Company (Dagger); a Forward Support Company, Echo Company; a Chemical Company, the 95th Chemical Company (Arctic Dragon); a Military Police Company, the 545th Military Police Detachment (Arctic Defender); the BN Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Hammer); and the BCT Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Titan).
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