A Brief History of the 177th Engineer Battalion

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

The distinctive unit insignia of the 264th Coast Artillery Battalion with the 1914 Drill Regulations for Coast Artillery. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Introduction

The Georgia Army National Guard’s 177^th Engineer Battalion is based in Statesboro  with Companies A through D based in Glennville, Douglas, Macon and Fort Gillem, respectively. The 177^th BEB provides engineering, signal and military intelligence capability to the Macon-based 48^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

Unit History

Headquarters Company, 177^th BEB was originally constituted in the Ga. ARNG in Statesboro, Ga. as Battery A, 264^th Coast Artillery Battalion, March 14, 1930.[1] On Oct. 1, 1939, the 264^th CAB was reorganized as the 1^st Battalion 214^th Field Artillery Group[2] with Battery A reorganized as Battery C. The 214^th FA Group was mobilized to the Pacific Theater of Operations and underwent reorganization in November 1943. The 1^st Battalion 214^th was redesignated the 528^th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion with the Statesboro unit redesignated as Battery C. The unit maintained this designation through the war and was inactivated in December 1945 at Camp Stoneman, Calif.

 

The 528^th AAA was reestablished July 11, 1946 by the Allotment of National Guard Ground Force Units for the State of Georgia. In October, the 528^th was consolidated into Headquarters Battery, 101^st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and the resulting unit was designated Headquarters Battery, 101^st Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.[3] The unit was reorganized and federally recognized June 17, 1947 in Statesboro.

 

On August 14, 1950, the unit was ordered into federal service due to the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. As part of the 108^th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade, the unit was initially mobilized to Camp Bliss, Texas. The 108^th provided air defense over industrial areas from Chicago to Philadelphia until released from federal service in April 1952.[4]

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the 101st AAA Battalion stand in the frigid cold of a Chicago Winter while waiting for their C-47 transport plane to refuel and bring them home for Christmas in 1951. Georgia National Guard Archives.

 

On Oct. 1, 1953, the unit was redesignated as Headquarters Battery, 101^st Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.[5]

 

On July 1, 1959, the unit was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters Battery, 2^nd Gun Battalion, 214^th Field Artillery. This unit was converted and redesignated as Headquarters Company, 265^th Engineer Battalion May 1, 1962.

 

Distinctive unit insignia of the
648th Engineer Battalion

The unit was consolidated with Company A, 265^th Engineer Battalion Jan. 1, 1968 and the units were converted and redesignated as Headquarters Battery, 2^nd Battalion 214^th Field Artillery.

 

On Sept. 1, 1993, the unit was converted and redesignated as Detachment 1, 848^th Engineer Company. Thirty days later, the unit was expanded, reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters Company, 648^th Engineer Battalion.[6] Assigned to the 48^th Infantry Brigade the 648^th mobilized to Iraq in 2005 and returned the following year.

 

The 648^th  was redesignated as the 48^th Special Troops Battalion September 1, 2007.[7] The 48^th BSTB was ordered into active Federal service April 21, 2009 at home stations for service in Afghanistan with the 48^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The 48^th BSTB was released from active federal service May 25, 2010 and reverted to state control.

 

Headquarters Company, 48^th BSTB was converted and redesignated Sept. 1, 2015 as the HHC, 177th Engineer Battalion, an element of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.[8]

Soldiers of the 177th BEB accompanied the 48th IBCT during its 2019 deployment to Afghanistan and assisted during the Ga. DOD's coordinated response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

DUI of the 48th BSTB 
and 177th BEB

 Subordinate Units:

• Company A: Glenville. Federally recognized June 17, 1947
• Company B: Organized September 1, 2015 in Douglas.[9] Federally recognized December 1, 2015.[10]
• Company C: Macon. Federally recognized February 26, 2008.
• Company D: Organized September 1, 1996 in Forest Park as the 248^th Military Intelligence Company[11] and federally recognized December 6, 1997. The 248^th was activated in March 2005 with the 48^th Brigade for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit returned in September 2006. The 248^th MI Co was redesignated Company B, 48^th BSTB September 1, 2007.[12] On September 1, 2015, Company B, 48^th BSTB was converted and redesignated as Company D, 177^th BEB.[13] 

 

Local History

 Statesboro has been home to a Georgia National Guard unit since 1903 and the founding of the Statesboro Volunteers.[14] The contract for the Statesboro Armory was awarded May 29, 1961.[15] On May 20, 1962, The Statesboro Armory was dedicated to the late Prince H. Preston, Jr., a former member of the Ga. National Guard and member of Congress from Georgia’s 1^st District from 1947 to 1961. At the time of the Armory dedication, Statesboro was home to the 265^th Engineer Battalion.[16] In 2006, the armory was rededicated in memory of Brig. Gen. Terrell Reddick, a resident of Statesboro who served as deputy commander of the Ga. ARNG and commander of the 78^th Troop Command.

The Statesboro Armory, home of the 177th BEB Sept. 5, 2020. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

 

CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION CREDIT

 

War on Terrorism

Campaigns to be determined.

 

Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Statesboro) and Company A (Glennville) each additionally entitled to:

 

World War II

East Indies

Papua

New Guinea

Luzon

 

War on Terrorism[17]

Campaigns to be determined.

 

                    Company D (Forest Park), additionally entitled to:

 

War on Terrorism[18]

Campaigns to be determined.

 

DECORATIONS

 

Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered AFGHANISTAN 2009-2010

 

Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Statesboro) and Company A (Glennville) each additionally entitled to:

 

Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered PAPUA[19]

 

Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered 17 OCTOBER 1944 TO 4 JULY 1945[20]

 

 

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[1] Pictorial Review, National Guard of the State of Georgia, 1939, 215

[2] 214^th Lineage and Honors

[3] 214^th  

[4] 214^th

[5] 214th

[6] Lineage and Honors Certificate, 648^th Engineer Battalion

[7] OA 112-08

[8] OA 434-14, Corrected Copy 1, 3 February 2015.

[9] OA434-14 Corrected Copy 1, February 3, 2015

[10] OA 50-16 March 15, 2016

[11] OA 73-96, May 9, 1996

[12] OA 112-08 May 1, 2008

[13] OA434-14 Corrected Copy 1, February 3, 2015

[14] Annual Report of the National Guard of Georgia, 1916

[15] Annual Report of the Georgia Department of Defense, 1962, Sec XIV

[16] Georgia Guardsman Magazine May, June 1962, 6

[17] Earned as HHC, 648th Engineer Battalion.

[18] Earned as the 248th Military Intelligence Company.

[19] (HHC [then HHC 101st Coast Arty BN cited for period 23 Jul 1942 - 23 Jan 1943; WDGO 17, 1945)

[20] (HHC [then HHC 101st Coast Arty BN] cited; DAGO 47, 1950)