The 92nd Engineer Battalion is a unit of the United States Army with a record of accomplishment in both peace and war; an organization that provides sustained engineer support across the full spectrum of military operations.
The 92nd Engineer Battalion Headquarters provides training and readiness assistance to six companies and two detachments located on Fort Stewart, Georgia, Fort Gordon, Georgia Charlie Company. The battalion formation includes two horizontal construction companies, one vertical construction company, one forward support company, one route clearance company, headquarters and headquarters company, a survey detachment, and a firefighter detachment prepared to deploy in support of contingency operations worldwide.
The 92nd Engineer Battalion is one of the Army’s first modular engineer battalion headquarters. The unit’s history of service begins in 1933 with deployments to Britain, North Africa, Italy during World War II, Vietnam War, hurricane relief efforts, road construction i Honduras. Desert Storm/Shield and numerous deployments in support of the global war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The battalion nickname is "Black Diamonds".
Unit crest The distinctive unit insignia (DUI) is directly related to the battalion's history. The four points of the diamond represent the four campaigns in which the battalion participated during World War II. The cross is symbolic of the royal arms of Italy, the country in which the four campaigns took place. The colors of the crest, scarlet and white, are the colors of the Army Corps of Engineers. GLORIA AD CAPUT VENIRE is the battalion motto and translated means GLORY IN ACHIEVEMENT.The Battalion Insignia, Headquarters, History of 92D Engineer Battalion (Construction) Fort Bragg, NC – March 1967
Approved on 19 January 1956, the Coat of Arms consists of two crossed bamboo poles, an upright sword as well as a green disk with gold star in the center, placed above the scarlet and white shield with the black diamond symbol in the center. This represents the unit's war service in Vietnam. According to The Institute of Heraldry, "The crossed bamboo poles symbolize the general support, rebuilding and construction projects of the 92d Engineer Battalion. The green disc alludes to the tropical region and the five-pointed star represents the four Meritorious Unit Commendations and the Vietnamese Civil Action Medal awarded the unit."The Institute of Heraldry. United States Army / U.S. Army Heraldry / Unit Insignia / Distinctive Unit Insignia, Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, Coat of Arms / Engineer / 92 Engineer Battalion / Coat of Arms
Battalion motto Glory in Achievement – LTC Harry W. Lombard, Commander of the 92D Engineer Battalion, in 1967, recorded this definition in the battalion records, of the meaning associated with the motto. "A word is shallow, a promise unfullfilled, a battle never won until the object we have sought is ours. Then there is success, and glory in achievement. This is our goal: Our words, commands; each promise is kept; the battle won. In peace and war it is not the task at hand that matters but the manner in which it is undertaken. When any group puts forth their all in a combined effort, and by so doing accomplishes its mission, it has attained the highest honor – Glory in Achievement."Harry W. Lombard, LTC, CE, Commanding 92D Engineer Battalion (Construction) – March 1967
Unit history The 92nd Engineer General Service Regiment was constituted an inactive unit of the Regular Army, effective 1 October 1933, as the 51st Engineer Battalion (Separate). The unit was redesignated on 1 January 1938, as the 92nd Engineer Battalion and activated on 1 May 1941 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The enlisted cadre for the 92nd Engineer Battalion was furnished by the 41st Engineer Regiment and numbered 49 men. The unit was manned with Black soldiers. The officers were drawn from the Regular Army and members of the Officers Reserve Corps on active duty.George W. Bennett, LTC, 92nd Engineer Regiment, Commanding, Headquarters, History of 92D Engineer General Service Regiment – December 1944 to May 1945
In March 1942, soldiers of Company D assigned to Camp Joseph T, Robinson, Arkansas got into an altercation with white Military and Little Rock policemen. The civilian police shot and killed Sergeant Thomas P Foster who was attempting to investigate a previous police beating of one of his engineers. A grand jury declined to charge anyone for the killing.
The unit was reorganized and redesignated, effective 22 May 1942, as the 92nd Engineer Regiment (General Service).CPT Scott Schutzmeister, 92nd Engineer Battalion Unit History – August 1990–April 1991 On 1 July 1942, the organization sailed aboard the USAT Thomas H. Barry from the New York Port of Embarkation. Landing in Scotland on 13 July, the regiment was assigned to Southern Base Section of SOS, ETOUSA, with station near Taunton, Somerset, in southwestern England. The regiment was the first American unit in that part of Britain. On 1 August 1942, the unit designation was changed to 92nd Engineer General Service Regiment.
Elements of the 92nd Engineers were assigned to General Depot G-14, Liverpool, England. This depot was part of Western Base Section, SOS ETOUSA. On the 23 September 1942, they undertook rubble clearance from a blitzed area of dockland in order to provide G-14 Depot with additional external storage space.
The regiment sailed from Scotland arriving at Oran, Algeria, in French North Africa on 16 February 1943, and was assigned to the Mediterranean Base Section. In April the unit was attached to the Fifth Army Invasion Training Center in preparation for the Sicily and Salerno operations.
World War II On 14 November 1943, the unit sailed from North Africa and landed at Naples on 17 November. The 92nd Engineers deployed to Italy earning four campaign streamers during World War II:
♦ Naples–Foggia – For reconditioning the port as well as repairing and maintaining bridges. On one occasion, the night of 12 Feb 1944, the river rose to flood height and the rising water and floating debris seriously endangered the bridge at Capua. During the night, while the fate of the bridge hung in the balance, the aggressive action of members of Company B, under 1st Lieutenant Lester M. Kostenski, cleared wreckage from the understructure, enabling the bridge to be saved and kept the Army’s main supply line intact. Two enlisted men were awarded the Soldiers Medal for their actions during that operation. During the winter when all units were fighting rain and mud, the Regiment operated five quarries and gravel pits to supply rock, for roads to hospitals, water points, dumps and other Army installations, as well as material for the main roads;
♦ Rome–Arno – In the rapid advance after the Hitler line was broken the Regiment operated in the rear of the Army area. In general, its duties were to keep the supply roads open for high speed traffic, dismantle tactical bridges, and build fixed bridges. For its work during this phase of operations, the Regiment was awarded the Fifth Army Plaque and Clasp for August 1944;
♦ North Apennine – Working 24 hours a day, dump trucks poured crushed rock onto the main supply route and Soldiers stood knee deep in mud and snow digging out drains so the water would flow off the surface. Highway 67 provided a sizeable job with a "dip" in the road 400 feet long and 7’6" deep in the center where German demolitions had cut the roadway;
♦ Po Valley – For maintaining a railhead for supply routes to the Po River. Observed artillery fire exploded in the vicinity and two men received wounds and Purple Hearts as a result, PVTs Parky Durham and Cleavon Lark. The surrender of first the German armies in Italy and then the entire German army on 8 May 1945, made little difference to the operation of the Regiment; work continued without interruption.
The four points of the black diamond on the unit crest represent these four campaigns. During this time the regiment became known as the "Can Do Regiment."
Due to the reduction in military strength following World War II, the regiment was deactivated in Italy 20 April 1946; the unit remained inactive for eight years. While still in an inactive status – Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company, and Companies Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie were redesignated as the 92nd Engineer Battalion on 25 February 1954. The remainder of the regiment was disbanded.
Reactivated on 9 February 1955, as the 92nd Engineer Battalion (Construction) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the unit was attached to 20th Engineer Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps. Reorganization added Company Delta and redesignated Company A as an Equipment and Maintenance Company.
Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Dianne (1955) left the beaches of South Carolina scarred and bruised, Company C was sent with its personnel and equipment to restore the beaches in the stricken areas. After 90 days of operation the unit returned to Fort Bragg.
On 7 June 1965, Company C reinforced plus a Battalion Headquarters Planning Section deployed to the Dominican Republic to support the Inter American Peace Force during the Dominican Republic Crisis. Within the combat area the Construction Force built a logistical complex to support all the forces in Theater. The unit returned 8 February 1966, after having been designated the most outstanding engineer unit within the Continental United States.
On 15 June 1965, Company D moved to Fort Rucker, Alabama to support the United States Army Aviation Center. This company deployed separately from Fort Rucker to Southeast Asia on 30 January 1967.
Vietnam War On 27 May 1967, the rest of the battalion was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam. During the Vietnam War the "Can Do Regiment" became known as the "Black Diamonds" for their distinctive unit crest. Once in country, the battalion quickly demonstrated the high levels of enthusiasm and professionalism which had characterized their actions in previous times of crisis. The battalion constructed warehouses, motor pool sheds, chapels, airfields, pipeline systems, barracks and a 1000-foot MLC 50 bridge. Additionally, the 92nd, maintained supply routes and operated a rock quarry. It was stationed at Long Binh under the 159th Engineer Group throughout its service in Vietnam.Shelby L. Stanton (1981). Vietnam Order of Battle U.S. News Books. Washington, D.C. From 2 May 1967 through 27 July 1972, the battalion distinguished itself in 14 campaigns:
1. Counteroffensive Phase II 2. Counteroffensive Phase III 3. Tet Counteroffensive 4. Counteroffensive Phase IV 5. Counteroffensive Phase V 6. Counteroffensive Phase VI 7. Tet 69/Counteroffensive 8. Summer–Fall 1969 9. Winter–Spring 1970 10. Sanctuary Counteroffensive 11. Counteroffensive Phase VII 12. Consolidation I 13. Consolidation II 14. Cease Fire
The battalion received four Meritorious Unit Commendations for the periods 1967, 1968–69, 1969–70, and 1970–71. The unit also received the Vietnamese Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class for the period 1967–70. On 26 July 1972, the 92nd left Vietnam and returned stateside to Fort Stewart, Georgia. Delta Company was reformed at Fort Gordon, Georgia.
All of the engineer support for the security forces sent to Florida for the National Political Nominating Conventions was supplied by "Chargin’ Charlie Company" (C Company) at Homestead Air Force Base. In March and June, 1972, the unit received the "Bloodhound Award" in recognition of its exemplary participation in the quarterly Bloodmobile visit to the Hunter/Stewart Complex. This was the first time a unit had won three consecutive "Bloodhounds" (C Company won its first in December, 1971). In June 1976, the unit was redesignated as the 92nd Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy).