An Army Reserve unit based in Bryan, Texas, the 420th Engineer Brigade was originally organized and activated in the Organized Reserve Corps (Army Reserve after 1952) as Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 420th Engineer Aviation Brigade in February 1951. It was redesignated as HHC, 420th Engineer Brigade in 1953, only to be redesignated as the 420th Engineer Aviation Brigade again from November 1955 to January 1957. It was redesignated as the 420th Engineer Brigade on 15 January 1957 and has served under that designation ever since. A major subordinate command of the 416th Theater Engineer Command, the Brigade comprises four battalions in addition to a HHC.
Scarlet and white are the predominant colors employed in the color version of the 420th Engineer Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, to reflect the unit’s status as part of the Corps of Engineers; a gold circle and gold disc reflect the higher level of command as a Brigade. The shield is quadrated by white center lines, with the gold ring and disc centered over the intersection of the lines, to symbolize the Brigade’s composition of a various number of units of different configurations and sizes.
The large gold circle represents the planning and supervision functions performed by the Brigade to organize its disparate component elements into a single, functioning unit. The combination of the lines and circles stands for the dual mission of the unit—engineering and military—by recalling an both an optical measuring device and a weapon sight.
The 420th Engineer Brigade unit patch was approved on 18 December 1967.
Related Items
420th Engineer Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)
420th Engineer Brigade Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)