A National Guard unit stationed in Columbus, Ohio, the 16th Engineer Brigade was originally birthed as a combat unit—the 62nd Field Artillery Brigade in the 37th Division, to be precise. As such, it deployed to France in 1918 and received credit for participation in the Lorraine campaign and a Presidential Unit Citation.
Inducted into active service in 1940, it was redesignated the 37th Division Artillery in 1942 and deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations. Before its subsequent 1945 inactivation, the unit had taken part in the Northern Solomons and Luzon campaign, earning a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for the latter. Sixty years later, now designated under its current name, the brigade deployed to Iraq, where it ensure troop mobility over an area of more than 17,000 square miles and disposed of more than 800 IEDs. (Its specific campaign credit is yet to be announced.)
In its peacetime role in the National Guard, the brigade offers assistance with construction and design for nations around the globe, including both traditional training and aid to civilian authorities. Given its history and dual roles, the unit's motto of "Blast, Build, Battle" could not be more appropriate.
The combat aspects of the 16th Engineer Brigade’s mission are on display in its CSIB in the form of two crossed towers that form a saltire, an emblem that indicated someone had scaled a city’s walls during the Crusades. The support provided by a brace is implied by the imagery, as well as the notion of an “X” used as a symbol for brigades on military maps. Lastly, the Roman numeral “X” formed by the saltire, when combined with the three merlons on each of the towers, it denotes the numerical designation of the unit.
Related Items
16th Engineer Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)
16th Engineer Brigade Patch (SSI)