German-Based 54th Engineer Battalion Returns Home from Ramadi

The 54th Engineer Battalion has come home.

While most units spend their time in Iraq staying as far as possible from roadside bombs, the 54th spent a year actively seeking them out.

And they found them. More than 1,000 of them, said Command Sgt. Maj. Terry L. Defenbaugh, the battalion’s sergeant major.

Rolling up and down the streets of Ramadi and the volatile Anbar province, performing most of their missions at night, the 54th “provided freedom of maneuver for I Marine Expeditionary Force” and other elements in Multi-National Force-West, Defenbaugh said.

“We were extremely successful. I don’t really know how to put it, except to say that it was a privilege to serve with this group of heroes,” he said, praising the soldiers and platoon leaders.

“All the credit goes to the soldiers of the battalion and task force who rolled every night knowing what was waiting for them. And they did it night after night after night.”

Well Done and Welcome Home!!