Authorized for wear by officers (commissioned and warrant) in the Army Corps of Engineers, our shoulder straps are manufactured to meet or exceed Army specifications. The Corps of Engineers’ branch colors of Scarlet and White are bordered by gold braid.
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Almost from its inception, the Army Corps of Engineers was tasked with non-military projects, many of them designed to promote economic growth and encourage Westward expansion. The Corps of Topographical Engineers, established in 1838, conducted an astounding number of expeditions in which they conducted land surveys, determined suitable paths for transcontinental railroads, verified territorial boundaries, and kept records of the characteristics and attributes of the vast American West. Topographical Engineers were absorbed into the Corps of Engineers in 1863.
Many are familiar with some of the more famous civil engineering projects successfully tackled by the Army Corps of Engineers, such as the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914 or the massive role it played in the Manhattan Project. But probably far fewer are aware that the Corps also helped erect two of our nation’s most memorable landmarks: the Washington Monument and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
Efforts to erect a monument to George Washington had begun in 1832, the centennial of the Founding Father’s birth, but work on the foundation did not begin until 1848 and political turmoil in the 1850s followed by the Civil War effectively stalled the construction process until 1879. Directing the monument’s construction was Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Casey from the Army Corps of Engineers, who wisely noted the foundation was too weak to support the monument as designed and appropriately strengthened it. Under Casey’s guidance, work on the historical structure was completed in just over four years after he took control.
The construction of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was authorized by Congress in July, 1794, but it was not erected in 1802—the same year the Army Corps of Engineers was officially formed by Thomas Jefferson. Dubbed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” the treacherous waters off Cape Hatteras made a lighthouse an essential component of safe oceangoing navigation; unfortunately, the lighthouse had degenerated over the course of a few decades to a point where it was almost useless to sailors.
Congress sought to remedy the problem by allocating $80,000 to the Light-House Board to install a new beacon at Cape Hatteras in 1868; the Board comprised two Army Corps of Engineers officers, two Navy officers, a pair of scientists from the civilian sectors, and two secretaries (Army and Navy officers). The Navy officers would decide where a lighthouse was needed, the Army Engineers would perform site selection and construction, and the civilian experts would provide the latest in beacon technology.
It was a winning formula. The lighthouse was completed in two years at a spot just 600 feet from the old one and standing over 70 feet taller. The new lighthouse was visible up to 22 miles out at sea, and the black-and-white spiral daymark was unique at the time.
Important : The Bullion shoulder straps are custom hand-embroidered per order and take about 10 business days to be ready. As such, past 24 hours of placing the order, the bullion shoulder straps are no longer cancelable.