Battalion History

The 35th Engineer Battalion traces its history to the 35th Engineer Combat Regiment, a unit that was first activated on 15 July 1941 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. After training there, at Camp Joseph Robinson, Arkansas, and at Fort Ord, California, the regiment moved in March 1942 to British Columbia, to work on the Alaskan highway. One of seven engineer regiments working on the highway, the 35th developed the very difficult stretch through the Muskeg of northern British Columbia from Fort Nelson west to a point some 50 miles east of Watson Lake. The 35th also built a 1,270-foot long pile bent bridge across the Liard River for the highway.  The battalion was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation.

During the Autumn of 1942 and the winter and spring of 1943, the regiment built a winter road from Fort Nelson to Fort Simpson and part of an all season road from Whitehorse to Norman Wells, all on the Mackenzie River. There, American forces were tapping Canadian oil reserves.

Returning to the United States in July and August 1943, the regiment was next stationed at Camp White, Oregon. The regiment was broken up at Camp White on 25 September 1943. Its HQs became the headquarters of the 1122d Engineer Combat Group, and its 1st and 2nd Battalions became the 35th and 145th Engineer Combat Battalions, respectively. 

The 35th trained at Camp White until April 1944, and then served in Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and central Europe campaigns of World War II and received a Croix de guerre from the government of Luxembourg. The battalion returned to the United States in September 1945 and was inactivated on the 17th of that month at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

The 35th Engineer Battalion was next activated on 1 April 1951 at Fort Lewis, Washington. It sailed to Germany in March 1952 and served there for five years, returning to Fort Lewis in April 1957. On 5 June 1953 the unit was redesignated as the 35th Engineer Battalion (Combat).

It went to Vietnam in November 1966 and remained there until mid-September 1970. It served near Qui Nhon, Bong Son and Da Nang under the 45th Engineer Group for its first two years in that country and at Binh Thuy in the Mekong Delta under the 34th Engineer Group during the last two years. The battalion was awarded a Valorous Unit Award, a second Meritorious Unit Commendation, and a Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal.

On 20 September 1970, the battalion was inactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington. The headquarters was transferred on 30 September 1986 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and reactivated at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as the 35th Engineer Battalion.