USAREUR Units - 168th Engr Bn

The wartime mission of the 168th was to provide direct combat engineer support to the 24th Infantry Division as part of the VII Corps defensive plan. The specific missions were primarily squad size, consisting of bridge demolition, road cratering, abatis creation, and small scale minefields. Because the 24th Infantry Division was then organized under the "Pentomic" concept, it had five Battle Groups, each commanded by a full colonel. Each battle group had five line infantry companies. There were no infantry battalions in the division at that time.

To support the five battle groups of the 24th Division, the 168th Engineers had five line companies, A through E, and under NATO standardization of the phonetic alphabet, they were known as Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. The battalion also had a Headquarters Company. It was not called "H&S" although it performed the same functions.

The line companies each had three platoons and a company headquarters. Each squad had an authorized strength of twelve, but seldom exceeded eight or nine. Each squad had its own dump truck, initially 2 1/2 ton, but by 1961 they were 5 ton dumps. Each pulled a cargo trailer or pole trailer loaded with explosives and ammunition. Platoon leaders had jeeps with trailers and platoon sergeants had 3/4 ton utility trucks with trailers. The basic weapon was the M-1 .30 cal rifle, but these were replaced in 1960 by the M-14, which was similar but fired the standard NATO round of 7.62mm, used magazines of 20 rounds rather than the 8 round clip of the M-1, and could be fired on full or semi-automatic. Each squad was equipped with a 3.5 inch rocket launcher (bazooka). Two of the squads had .30 caliber machine guns and the third had a .50 caliber, all with tripod ground mounts.

At that time, the line company headquarters had two D-6 bulldozers and two scoop loaders. The battalion's heavy equipment platoon had three additional dozers, several scoop loaders, three road graders, and three truck mounted 20 ton cranes.

Like other combat engineer battalions, the 168th had a nuclear capability. It was trained to assemble and emplace Atomic Demolition Munitions. While small in yield, they were highly accurate, unless the emplacing officer could not read a map. Initially, each company had an ADM team consisting of an officer and several NCOs. By 1961, a special ADM platoon was created in each combat engineer battalion so that the specialized and sensitive training could be more centrally conducted and controlled.

In addition to minefield and demolition training directly related to its wartime mission, the battalion trained continuously on the range of combat engineer missions to include bridging of all types, but particularly floating bridges. It also trained for its secondary mission to fight as Infantry when required. Company-size bridge training typically took place on the Danube near Ingolstadt where the span required was about 250 feet. Most often, the Class 60 steel treadway bridge was used, which required the use of cranes to place its 15 ft long sections. Companies of the battalion also trained on the M4T6 aluminum balk bridge which was hand erectable.

Each year, the entire battalion spent an entire week training together to bridge the Rhine using Class 60 treadway bridge. The bridge sites used were just south of Speyer, or at Leeheim near Nierstein where Patton's troops first crossed in 1945. The spans here are 1,000 to 1,200 feet. Everyone looked forward to the Rhine bridging week because it was done in summer when weather was nice, the bivouacs were administrative, and the troops were permitted passes at night to visit the local gasthauses and nearby festivals. On Sunday, when the German government permitted full closure of the Rhine for brief periods for military training, the battalion tried each year to outdo its previous record, as well as that of its rival battalion, the 237th, in completing the bridge. All units, including the float bridge companies began in their bivouac areas. At a time given, carefully coordinated convoy movements began toward the river. Timing began when the first powered bridge construction boats hit the water and bridge assembly began. Typically, the bridge would be completed in slightly more than two hours. A few vehicles would make a ceremonial crossing, then the bridge had to be taken apart, the huge rubber pontons deflated, and all equipment reloaded on to bridge trucks.

During its time in Germany, the 168th played important support roles during such large scale field training exercises as Free Play in 1959 and Wintershield I and II in late January of 1960 and 1961. These exercises pitted VII Corps against V Corps. In the opening phases of Wintershield I and II, the 168th built Class 60 bridges under near blackout conditions to support VII Corps assault crossings over the Danube near Kelheim and Regensburg and each time received high praise for its work.

In the summer of 1962, the 168th was the first engineer battalion chosen by Seventh Army to spend a month at Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels performing badly needed maintenance and repair to tank trails, firing ranges, and other training facilities.

As a result of the Berlin crisis of 1961, U.S. forces in Germany were beefed up to include the addition of another combat engineer battalion in VII Corps. This unit, the 82nd Engineer Battalion (Combat) was stationed at Bamberg north of Nürnberg. Consequently, in 1963, when tensions eased somewhat and some of the reinforcing forces were returned to the U.S., the 168th was chosen to return instead of the 82nd Engineer Battalion at Bamberg, because the 82nd was much closer to initial wartime positions.

After six years in Germany as part of VII Corps and Seventh Army, the 168th departed Nellingen in August 1963 and returned aboard the USNS General Maurice Rose for its new station at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Only two years later, it was deployed to Vietnam.