The 7th Engineer Brigade is linked closely with both 7th Army and VII Corps, but finding out just how the unit came into being and where it served can be a bit daunting for the casual researcher.
When the 7th Army was activated in the Fall of 1950 with headquarters at Stuttgart, it marked the first time in three-and-a-half years that a fully operational field army was present in Germany. Naturally, modern armies need air support, and to that end the 7th Engineer Brigade was organized—but it was immediately redesignated the 7th Engineer Aviation Brigade as a SCARWAF (Special Category Army With Air Force) unit. The 35,000 troops in the brigade, which was stationed at Rhein-Main Air Base close to Frankfurt, were responsible for all U.S. military aviation construction that took place in Italy, France, and Germany.
On June 14, 1969, the 7th Engineer Brigade relocated to Ludendorff Kaserne ("kaserne" is a loanword from German that means "barracks") in Kornwestheim to join VII Corps, at which time the Brigade activated six battalions under its headquarters. Both men and equipment for the brigade were taken from the 540th and 555th Engineer Groups, which in turn were inactivated.
The 7th Engineer Brigade deployed to Iraq for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm along with other VII Corps units. After the whirlwind victory over Iraq in a 100-hour campaign, the unit redeployed directly to the United States and was inactivated on January 16, 1992, then immediately reactivated as the 555th Engineer Group.
The red and white of the shield that forms the basis for the brigade's Combat Service Identification Badge (CSIB) are the traditional colors associated with the Engineer Corps. A black saltire, the name for a diagonal cross used in heraldry, is used by the military as a symbol for brigades. The number of red and whites is seven, the numerical designation of the unit.
Related Items
7th Engineer Brigade Unit Patch (SSI)