The 8th Engineer Battalion ("Trojan Horse") is a brigade engineer battalion (BEB) of the United States Army, which traces its history back to 1916. The battalion is based at Fort Cavazos, Texas, as part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division.

History

Establishment and Pancho Villa Incursion

The 8th Engineer Battalion was born, in part, due to the Mexican Revolutionary General Pancho Villa. Trouble between the United States and Villa increased in October 1915, when the United States government officially recognized Villa's rival Venustiano Carranza, as head of the Mexican government. Additionally, the U.S. provided transportation to over 5,000 Carrancistas from Eagle Pass, Texas to Douglas, Arizona for them to fight Villa's forces at the Second Battle of Agua Prieta. As a result, Villa's forces were defeated. Feeling betrayed, Villa began attacking U.S. nationals and their property in northern Mexico. On November 26, 1915, Villa sent a force to attack the city of Nogales and in the course of the ensuing battle, engaged with American forces before withdrawing.

On March 9, 1916, General John J. Pershing, commanding the district headquartered at Fort Bliss, Texas, received word that Villa's men were on the border prepared to make an attack that would embarrass the Carranza government and force the United States to intervene. Raids were so commonplace that the rumor was not seen as credible. However, all of the changed at approximately 4:00 am on March 9, 1916. Villa's troops attacked Columbus, New Mexico, and Camp Furlong, a U.S. Army post, where 240 soldiers from the 13th Cavalry Regiment were stationed. Ten civilians and eight soldiers were killed in the attack. Six soldiers and two civilians were wounded. Villa's troops burned the town, stole horses and mules, and seized machine guns, ammunition and merchandise, before fleeing to Mexico.

The next day, Southern Department Commanding General Frederick Funston recommended an immediate pursuit into Mexico. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson concurred, designating General Pershing to command the force.

On 1 July 1916, the 1st Battalion Mounted Engineers was established in the United States Army, which was the precursor to the 8th Engineer Battalion.

On 27 July 1921, the battalion was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. In 1923, the 1st Cavalry Division assembled at Camp Marfa, Texas to stage its first Divisional level exercise. Though the maneuvers covered 900 square miles, the 8th Engineer Battalion mapped and marked the entire area.“8 ENG History”. Retrieved on 15 December 2018.

Korea In 1964, the 8th Engineer Battalion was in Korea, where they were involved in multiple training exercises and construction projects. They built 64 reinforced concrete bunkers in very difficult terrain, as well as a 48-foot-long steel stringer bridge, two bailey bridges, and installed a large culvert. But they did not just conduct military operations. They were also one of the principle sponsors of the Pak-Ai Orphanage, supporting it with monetary contributions, gifts of clothing/ school supplies for the children, and volunteer work, including teaching and physical labor during their off-duty hours.

Vietnam War

On 1 July 1965, the 11th Air Assault Division at Fort Benning, which tested the new idea of airmobile operations, was redesignated as the 1st Cavalry Division. The 1st Cavalry Division in Korea was redesignated as the 2nd Infantry Division. Along with that, the 127th Engineer Battalion was reflagged as the 8th Engineer Battalion. However, they had a vigorous challenge before them, as almost 40% of the soldiers were new to the battalion. In the Fort Benning heat, they immediately began training, including rappelling, aerial mine-laying, and sling loading. They were motivated by the knowledge that they would likely play a part in the growing conflict in Vietnam. Further, in order to be fully prepared, MAJ Virl N. Daas, along with several other competent assistants, began packing their equipment under the guise of training exercises, while the rest of the battalion finished up their qualifications.

Therefore, when President Johnson announced on July 27 that he was going to send the Airmobile Division to Vietnam, they were ready. On 15 August, the battalion packed up and rode in buses to Charleston for their flight to Asia.

The battalion arrived in Vietnam by mid-September and oversaw the construction of Camp Radcliff, the base camp of the 1st Cavalry. In addition to base construction, in which they were assisted by the 70th Engineer Battalion, the battalion also leveled the top of Hon Cong Mountain, which overlooked Camp Radcliff, so that a signal relay station could be established there. After levelling the top of the mountain with a single Caterpillar D6B bulldozer and explosives, the engineers set up a security fence around the station and constructed bunkers for it. While engaged in the development of the signal station, which was completed within a month, the battalion exchanged fire with Viet Cong forces over several nights. At Camp Radcliff, together with the 70th Engineer Battalion and 2,000 Vietnamese laborers, the battalion constructed perimeter defenses, which ultimately included four lines of barbed wire, Claymore anti-personnel mines, and inner and outer cattle fences; these extended to a depth of beyond the camp.

While this construction was ongoing, several members of the battalion participated in an infusion program, where they spent two weeks with other units to become familiar with operations in the country. Captain Richard R. Weisner, an ex-Ranger instructor and commander of the 8th Engineer Battalion HHC, was with a unit of the 173rd Brigade when it became engaged in a furious firefight. A number of US soldiers were wounded by the intense enemy fire. In spite of the deadly barrage, Captain Weisner, as an attachment with no other responsibilities, voluntarily made several trips carrying the wounded to the rear, returning with their ammunition and distributing it among the men on the firing line. He then took charge of the unit's demolition personnel and cleared a Landing Zone (LZ) to evacuate the wounded soldiers. For his actions he was awarded the Bronze Star.

The battalion's first major action started in late October, when they supported the relief of the beleaguered Special Forces Camp at Plei Me by enlarging airfields, clearing landing zones, and destroying captured enemy materiel and bunkers. When the camp was relieved, two platoons moved in to repair the airfield, which had been cratered by a 750-pound bomb.

Members from “Charlie” Company now rotated into the battle area with 3rd Brigade, and immediately began clearing landing zones and supporting the infantry with demolitions. Two demo teams were involved in the now immortalized fighting in the Ia Drang Valley. Sergeant Nye was the team leader of the seven-man demolition team on the ground with (then) Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore throughout the fighting at LZ X-Ray. In the intense fighting that day, Hal Moore notes that he needed to clear out a secondary landing zone due to the heavy fire on the main LZ. In his book, We Were Soldiers Once... and Young, he describes: “I turned to my demolition-team leader, Sergeant George Nye of the 8th Engineer Battalion, and told him to get those trees down.” Sergeant Nye recalls that “[a]ll of a sudden the fire became heavier and heavier and the perimeter just seemed to erupt into a melee of constant fire. You could see the enemy, and suddenly we were part of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry. It's tough to try to be an infantryman and a demolitions specialist at the same time, but we did it. We blew those trees; no sawing. The intensity of the fire made working with a saw tough, working without a weapon. By blowing the trees we could spend more time fighting.” This scene is depicted in the film We Were Soldiers, where the secondary landing zone is cleared with demolitions. Here, the engineers provided both their primary function as combat engineers, and their secondary function as infantrymen. In their efforts at that battle, two men of the team gave their lives.

While providing combat support to the front lines, the 8th Engineer Battalion also provided construction support, constructing a 20 kilometer long, 100 meter deep obstacle of barbed wire and mines to encircle the Division base camp. Three platoons were used at a time, augmented by 60 local Vietnamese. Further, they also did initial work for the construction of a Battalion-size camp near Pleiku. This was the preferred assignment, as there was a large lake nearby, which was excellent for swimming, as well as being close to Pleiku itself.

In the last major operation of 1965, they supported 3rd Brigade in Operation “Clean House”. In this operation, they were used extensively as infantrymen. They did demolition work, and maintained roads. Also, the Battalion S2, Major Zolnowski, coordinated engineer reconnaissance of all the major roads in the II Corps area. These reconnaissance missions were conducted by helicopter at treetop level, and involved landing at each bridge to record the data necessary for classification. This was another major way in which the 8th provided effective support to the Corps.

Additionally, the 8th also voluntarily helped the Vietnamese around them, such as Captain Meisner, the battalion surgeon, who held sick call in the refugee village nearby several times a week. He was compassionate to the suffering, but threw those feigning illness out of his office and back to work. Major Zolnowski also helped design and supervise construction of a playground for the refugee village. However, few worked harder than the battalion maintenance team, led by CWO Kristol, who led a never-ending struggle to keep the 8th Engineer's vehicles and equipment running. Additionally, they did the welding on all construction projects, and still found time to construct a 55-gallon drum concrete mixer.

In the beginning of 1966, the battalion supported Operation Matador by providing demolitions and landing zone clearing teams to the infantry battalions, as well as clearing roads and minefields. From late January to June, they took on the additional duty of airfield construction, constructing seven new airfields, doubling the length of two others, and repairing other airfields. In these operations, they utilized D6B dozers, tractor-scrapers, graders, rollers, dump trucks, and the first ever use of the rubber/nylon T-17 runway surfacing material. In multiple instances, because of a short timeline and the inaccessibility of the location, all the personnel and equipment were airlifted in, and the airfields were completed. These were the first fully airmobile airfield construction operations of the war.

One example of this is during Operation Masher, where the battalion was tasked to construct a C7A airfield a few kilometers north of Bong Son. Company A (-), with an attached equipment platoon, moved overland to their assigned location. They arrived on 28 January and began work on the same day. After working around the clock for 70 hours, they completed their mission. However, in what was to become characteristic of the men of the 8th, they did not stop working, but continued on their own initiative for another day until the airstrip was capable of handling C-123 aircraft.

In another instance, while providing their own security, the engineers of the 8th constructed the required runway, but then continued to work, providing a parking apron of 10 aircraft and 3 kilometers of access and service roads, making the airfield much more usable. They did not settle for the minimum, but insisted on excellence.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of this period was the way in which the units conducted operations over a wide area with short reaction times, and completed their tasks efficiently and effectively.