Constitution and Organization
The 91st Engineers traces its origins to 1 October 1933, when the 50th Engineer Battalion (Separate) was constituted in the Regular Army. Prior to its activation, the unit was redesignated as the 91st Engineer Battalion (Separate) on 1 January 1938. With the buildup of military forces to support World War II, the battalion was activated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on 10 February 1941. The battalion was assigned to the 3rd Army and attached to the V Army Corps for training.
The majority of the Soldiers had experience and service in other branches other than engineers. On 21 April, soon after the arrival of the first selective service men, a training program was initiated. On 20 July, the battalion left Camp Shelby, Mississippi for the maneuver area and arrived at the bivouac site near Lake Charles, Louisiana. From 1 August to the end of October, the battalion engaged in site preparation, airport maintenance, road and culvert construction and railhead construction. On 20 October, the battalion moved to an area near Camp Claiborne, Louisiana along a proposed rail terminal and was given an assignment to construct a new railroad between Camp Polk and Camp Claiborne.
On 16 October 1992, the 91st Engineer Battalion was activated from a zero balance at Fort Hood, Texas and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division to form a part of the Divisional Engineer Brigade. The battalion provided combat engineer support to the 2nd “Blackjack” Brigade through four National Training Center rotations and one joint Readiness Training Center Rotation. In August 1994, the battalion augmented the Brigade with three companies and over 240 Soldiers to fight forest fires in Idaho. In August 1995, the battalion deployed a reinforced company to Kuwait in support of Task Force 1-5 during
“We built bridges, roads, and airstrips. That was our job.”
Lawrence Brooks
On 8 July 2005, the 91st Engineer Battalion was inactivated following the inactivation of the Engineer Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division as part of the transformation of the Division to the modular force structure. Assets of the Battalion were made organic to those brigades previously served.
Engineer elements were integrated into the Special Troops Battalions of each Brigade and the Division itself. In the process, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 91st Engineer Battalion was reflagged as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. The 91st Engineer Battalion was reactivated and assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division on 16 October 2013.
