229th Brigade Engineer Battalion activated
Lt. Col. Charles B. Martin, Jr. and Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey S. Voelkel uncase the colors of the Fredericksburg-based 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion during a ceremony that marked the unit's transformation from the 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion Oct. 15, 2016, at Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia. Prior to uncasing the colors from the 229th BEB, Martin and Voelkel, the 229th's battalion command team, cased the colors of the 116th BSTB. The transformation is part of the U. S. Army’s reorganization of brigade combat teams to provide more engineer capabilities, and the 229th BEB will provide additional engineer capabilities for the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
We’re excited to gain the 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion designation,” said Lt. Col. Charles B. Martin, Jr., commander of the battalion. “The 229th Engineer Battalion has such a proud engineer heritage within the Virginia Army National Guard, and it is where I began my officer career as a platoon leader. I know that our Soldiers today will carry on the proud tradition of the 229th Engineer Battalion as we transform.”
The Fredericksburg unit traces its lineage and honors to 1858 and its service as a militia unit in the Army of Northern Virginia, explained Capt. W. Chandler Pearson, battalion operations officer. In 1985, the 229th Engineer Battalion was formed, and units in the battalion saw multiple overseas deployments to Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The 229th was reorganized in 2005 to the 116th BSTB in an Army-wide reorganization of brigade combat teams.
The battalion’s current structure has Company A, a combat engineer company; Company B, a military intelligence company; and Company C, a signal company. With the transformation, the military intelligence company will be redesigned as Company D, and an additional engineer company will be added as Company B. The transformation also brings a forward support company that provides sustainment support like transportation, maintenance and food service.
The 189th Engineer Company was reassigned from the 276th Engineer Battalion to the 116th last year, and those Soldiers will form the core of Company B and the 189th will be inactivated.
“Both companies are similar but ultimately provide different specialized capabilities,” Pearson said. “Company A will have a larger section of combat engineers and Company B will have a route clearance platoon. These additions enable the BEB to more adequately support the brigade commander’s intent and provide mobility, counter-mobility and survivability to units on the battlefield.”
Most of the battalion is headquartered in Fredericksburg with the military intelligence company stationed in Manassas and the new engineer company based in Bowling Green.
Read more about the 116th BSTB at go.usa.gov/xkVrK.
