HISTORY AND LINEAGE
235th ENGINEER COMPANY (SAPPER)
The following is a brief history of the 235th Engineer Company (Sapper). The unit is credited with participation in the following campaigns as Company D, 579th Engineer Battalion:
-War with Spain (Manila)
-Philippine Insurrection (Manila)
-World War I (St Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne)
-World War II –EAME ( Central Europe)
-World War II – AP (Bismar
k Archipelago, Luzon, Southern Philippines)
The unit is credited with participation in the following campaign as Company A, 579th Engineer Battalion:
-Operation Iraqi Freedom
-Unit Citations: Valorous Unit Award, Iraqi Freedom Campaign Streamer
The unit is credited with participation in the following campaign as the 235th Engineer Company (Sapper)
-Operation Enduring Freedom
Unit Citations: Valorous Unit Award, Combat Action Company Streamer, Afghanistan Campaign Streamer
Beginning in the early to mid-1980s, the National Guard was modernizing. Training became more realistic and in 1988, Overseas Deployment for Training (ODT) was available. A composite Battalion made up of a Squad from every Company in the 579th Engineer Battalion including members of A/579 and a small HQ element from BN traveled to South Korea for two weeks of training. During their time there, the Soldiers of the 579th completed real-world missions, performing reconnaissance on roads, bridges, routes and tunnels in preparation for the Olympic traffic forecast for Korea. Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990 was a drastic wake-up call. Everyone in the Battalion assumed that they would soon be going to the Gulf, but that call was not to happen. Instead, the companies of the 579th sat out Desert Shield/Desert Storm and continued training, but at a much more focused level than ever before. By 1993, the A/579th was ready for another ODT. This time, the unit split up and sent two contingents out, one to Bangladesh and one to Honduras. The Soldiers in both locations built schools in the host country. In 1995, Team 579 was deployed to Honduras again. This time, for five months, units from Ohio and the 579th including members of A/579 rotated through, every two weeks, supplying the manpower for school construction in El Progreso and Nacaome, Honduras. In 1996 and 1997, deployments to Panama and Costa Rica continued, supporting Nuevos Horizontes or New Horizons, a nation-building mission. Schools, clinics and farm-to-market roads through the Panamanian jungle areas near Changuinola, Bocas del Toro and Almirante. By 1999, A/579 and other units from the BN had completed several rotations through the National Training Center (NTC) at Ft Irwin, CA. This training would prove to be extremely valuable in the decade to come. On 11 September 2001, everyone’s world changed. Almost immediately after 9/11, Soldiers from A/579 mobilized for Operation Noble Eagle I, including Operation Aerosafe (airport security mission) and Operation Bridge Watch (CA Bay Area bridge security, primarily the Golden Gate Bridge). Later, for Operation Noble Eagle II and III, including a year-long deployment to Tooele, Deseret and Dugway, Utah for Soldiers comprised of the 579th and 132nd Engineer Battalions. In 2003, A/579 deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II with the 81st Brigade and was the first company sized element from the 579th to deploy to Iraq. A/579 was awarded the Valorous Unit Award for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy. In late 2004, B/579 was mobilized and deployed with 3-160IN to the Sinai desert for a year as part of the Multi-National Forces and Observers (MFO) 48th rotation. Several Soldiers from A/579 were attached to B/579 for the duration of the deployment. In 2006, the Battalion was re-organized as part of the National Guard transformation into a Modular Force. A/579 was re-flagged as the 235th Engineer Company (Sapper). Along with this new designation, the company’s mission changed from one of a mechanized force, into one of a “light/wheeled Sapper unit.” During this time the 579th Engineer Battalion and all its subordinate units were re-assigned to the 49th Military Police Brigade. 2006 also saw the 235th receive training and certification as a Search and Extraction (S&E) unit, in support of FEMA Region IX, under the title CERFP (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package), which continues to this day along with their Sapper mission. Right on the heels of Force Modularity the newly designated 235th Engineer Company (Sapper) had progressed through the Army Force Generation cycle and was identified in 2007 for deployment to Afghanistan with the mission of Route Clearance. The 235th deployed as a Route and Area Clearance company to Afghanistan in 2008/2009. The unit was broken down into a Headquarters element, an Area Clearance Platoon (ACP) and three Route Clearance Packages; RCP3, RCP10 and RCP 14. RCP 14 was attached from the 1431st EN CO, Michigan Army National Guard. The unit was awarded the Valorous Unit Award for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy as well as the Combat Action Campaign streamer for 100% of the assigned soldiers being engaged or were engaged by the enemy, and the Afghanistan Campaign streamer. All of which are proudly displayed on their guidon. In August 2010, the 235th as the Search and Extraction capability along with the rest of the CA CERFP completed a joint CERFP training mission with the Hawaii CERFP in Guam. Also in 2010 the 235th S&E took part in an air mobile CERFP training event. The entire CA CERFP with all of its equipment flew from Travis AFB to Volk Field, WI. This was the first air mobile event of any CERFP. In October 2010, the 235th was called upon to assist in the training of an Active duty Combat Engineer Company that was deploying to Afghanistan for a Route Clearance mission. The ODT took place in Hohenfels, Germany for 1 month. The Sappers of the 235th played the part of an Afghanistan Kandak and also as mentors. In March of 2012, the Search & Extraction capability was deemed, “The best S&E capability in the nation” by the National Guard Bureau and Joint Interagency Training and Evaluation Center (JITEC)
The 235th Engineer Company (Sapper) was slated to deploy back to Afghanistan in mid-2013 as a Route Clearance Company but were “off-ramped” in March, 2013 and immediately assumed the role as the Search and Extraction capability for the 49th MP BDE Homeland Response Force (HRF), under FEMA Region IX.
“SAPPERS LEAD THE WAY!”
