Since its organization in the Organized Reserve Corps in 1950, the 416th Theater Engineer Command has been ordered into active military service on three occasions. The first was during the Berlin Crisis, which was initially kindled by the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, but was almost set ablaze the following October when East German police began attempting to limit American personnel’s access to East Berlin. As the only Army Reserve Engineer Brigade called to service during the crisis, the 416th was deployed to Camp Polk in Louisiana from October 1961 to August 1962.
Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the launch of Operation Desert Shield led to the unit’s second deployment as it was called to active duty on 15 October 1990. In all, the Command spent 11 months in Southwest Asia, first carrying out large-scale battlefield engineer operations, the focusing on restoration and humanitarian efforts. The latter included support for Operation Provide Comfort to assist Kurds targeted by Saddam Hussein’s regime for their clamorous attempts at forming an independent state. The Command was demobilized in May 1991.
In 2004, the United States Army again called on the Command to provide support for the War on Terrorism, and the 416th responded by sending many of its elements to Iraq and Kuwait in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, where the motto of "Serving By Building" translated into scores of projects aimed to improve the lives of Iraqis dramatically impacted by the contingency operations designed to eliminate Saddam Hussein as a threat to the region and the world.
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416th Theater Engineer Command Unit Patch (SSI)
416th Theater Engineer Command Unit Crest (DUI)