Home

Welcome to the 20th Engineer Brigade!

Mission

Our mission is to provide proactive, timely, and essential expeditionary engineer support to the XVIII Corps, the Army, and when directed, joint and special operations forces. 

The 20th Engineer Brigade is a combat engineer brigade assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps of the United States Army stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  The 20th Engineer Brigade currently consists of four engineer battalions headquartered throughout the eastern United States.  The Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) as well as the 27th Engineer Battalion (A) are headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 19th Engineer Battalion (Construction Effects) is located at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the 46th Engineer Battalion is located at Fort Johnson, LA and the 92nd Engineer Battalion is located at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Soldiers of the 20th Engineer Brigade provide various supportive duties to other Army units, including construction, engineering, and mechanical work on other Army projects. 

20th Engineer Brigade Units 

Leadership

Brigade Commander, COL Jefferson D. Burges

Colonel Jefferson D. Burges is from Castroville, TX. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and was commissioned as an Engineer Second Lieutenant from the United States Military Academy in 2003. He is a graduate of the Engineer Officer Basic and Captains Career Courses, the Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies, and the US Army War College. He has a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas.

COL Burges’ assignments include Engineer Task Force Senior, Joint Multinational Readiness Center; Commander of the 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 173rd IBCT (A); Engineer Task Force Executive Officer, Joint Readiness Training Center; Battalion Executive Officer of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 3rd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division; Company Commander in the 4th Engineer Battalion; Company Executive Officer and Platoon Leader in the 27th Engineer Battalion (ABN).

COL Burges had multiple combat deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 27th Engineer Battalion and 4th Engineer Battalion. He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve as a J35 planner on the 82nd Airborne Division Staff. His awards include the Combat Action Badge, Expert Soldier Badge, Master Rated Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Air Assault Badge, Ranger Tab, and Sapper Tab. COL Burges is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and a Project Management Professional.

Brigade Command Sergeant Major, CSM Robert De Lira

CSM Robert De Lira enlisted in the United States Army, September 2003, from Chino, California. He attended Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri as a Combat Engineer. Immediately after that, he completed Basic Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

CSM De Lira served in many capacities leaAding up to Command Sergeant Major. The units that he served in are Alpha Company, 37^th Engineer Battalion (Combat Airborne), Los Angeles Recruiting Battalion, 95th Engineer Clearance Company, 15^th Explosive Hazards Team, Sidewinder and Dragon teams of Operations Group at the National Training Center, and then the 37^th Brigade Engineer Battalion, where he served as the First Sergeant for Bravo Company and the Battalion Operations NCOIC. After the Sergeant Major Academy, he served as the 8^th Brigade Engineer Battalion Operations Sergeant Major, for the 1^st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, TX. He served as the Command Sergeant Major for the 6^th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 11^th Airborne Division at JBER, AK and 1^st of the 410^th Regiment Brigade Engineer Battalion, First Army, Fort Knox, KY.

CSM De Lira is a graduate of the Sergeants Major Academy (CLASS 71), Cold Weather Leaders Course, Advanced Airborne School, Sapper Leader Course, Observer Controller Academy, Air Assault Course, Master Counter Improvised Explosive Device course, Senior Leader Course, Explosive Ordnance Clearing Agent course, Advanced Leader Course, Army Recruiting Course, Basic Leader Course, Route Reconnaissance Clearance Course (Leader), Javelin Training Device course.

His awards and decorations are as follow; the Bronze Star medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf cluster, the Army Accommodation Medal with Valor Device, Combat Device, one silver leaf clusters, and one oak leaf cluster, the Army achievement medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal (6th award), the National Defense service medal, the Global War on Terrorism medal, The Afghanistan Campaign medal with two bronze stars, the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal, the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (5th), the Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon (4^th), the Non-Article 5 NATO medal, and the Meritorious Unit Citation (two oak leaf). CSM De Lira also earned the Combat Action Badge, Sapper tab, Master Rated Parachutist badge, Air Assault Badge, Drivers badge (wheeled), Gold Recruiter Badge with three Sapphires, and Parachutes wings of the Irish Defense Forces. CSM De Lira is a Sergeant Audie Murphy Member, has a Bronze De Fleury medal, Knowlton Award, and the Order of Saint Michael-Airborne (Guardian).

CSM De Lira is a graduate of Webster University with a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from Post University.

Incoming Soldiers

Welcome to the 20th Engineer Brigade! 

Inprocessing 

Welcome to the 20th Engineer Brigade! 

Please see the attached welcome packet, and inprocessing packet  for an easy transition to the 20th Engineer Brigade.  We look forward to meeting you! 

Welcome to the Team! 

GET THERE! ESSAYONS! SLTW! 

History

History of the 20th Engineer Brigade

     The lineage and honors of the 20th Engineer Brigade date back to the Civil War when it was first organized December 31, 1861 in the Regular Army as a provisional engineer battalion. Unit designations have changes many times since then as predecessors of the 20th Engineer Brigade served in the War with Spain, the Philippine insurrection, the Mexican Expedition and World War I and II. 

     On August 16, 1950, the brigade was first designated as the 20th Engineer Brigade and activated at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. In November 1952 the brigade deployed to France where it was assigned to the European Theater Communications Zone and provided engineer construction support in the area of southwestern France. Upon redeploying back to the United States, the brigade colors were first unfurled at Fort Bragg, NC on September 10th, 1954. From that time until its inactivation on December 12, 1958, the brigade provided engineer support to XVIII Airborne Corps operations in and around Fort Bragg and the southeast United States. 

     The Brigade Headquarters was reactivated on May 1, 1967 at Fort Bragg and deployed to Vietnam in early August. During the Vietnam Conflict, the brigade consisted of over 13,000 soldiers organized into three engineer groups having 14 battalions and 31 separate companies and detachments. During its time in Vietnam the brigade provided all non-divisional engineer support in military Regions III and IV through eleven different campaigns. The brigade was inactivated in Vietnam on September 20, 1971.  On June 21, 1974, the 20th Engineer Brigade was again reactivated, this time as an “Airborne” engineer brigade, and was assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps. In the early years, the airborne brigade provided rapid engineer response to both national and international military contingencies and disaster relief missions while supporting XVIII Airborne Corps operations with critical combat engineer, construction, topographical and bridging support.  

     On August 2, 1990 the brigade was called upon to support the multinational response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The Brigade grew to a 7,700 soldier fighting force composed of three groups, ten battalions, four separate companies and 8 detachments in support of Operation Desert Shield and Storm. The brigade provided mission essential combat engineering and topographical support to XVIII Airborne Corps. The Brigade completed 1,500 combat heavy day of work constructing roads, airfields, heliports, ammunition/fuel/water storage points, life support areas and forward landing strips, distributed over ten million maps, trained over 5,00 coalition engineers, and supported the French attack on Assalman airfield. During follow-on missions the Brigade destroyed over 6,000 enemy bunkers and one million tons of munitions. 

     Throughout the years the brigade has deployed in support of operations across the entire spectrum of conflict from disaster relief to combat operations. In 1992, the brigade provided relief in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, and in September 1994, the brigade deployed to Haiti in support of Operation Uphold Democracy.  As the Global War on Terrorism connected the brigade deployment elements to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom where they conducted mobility, constructed roads, airfields and base camps, and provided vital geospatial missions. In November 2004 and July 2007 the brigade headquarters was deployed to Iraq where it served as the Multi-National Corps – Iraq engineer headquarters exercising command and control over all non-divisional engineers throughout Iraq. 

     On September 16, 2009 the 20th Engineer Brigade transformed to its new MTOE with the headquarters being removed from airborne status, but the brigade’s mission to support XVIII Airborne Corps and the Army with trained and ready airborne engineers continued. In January 2010 the brigade deployed the Assault Command Post to Haiti in support of Operation Unified Response, and 12 months later, in January 2011, deployed the brigade headquarters to Iraq in support of operation New Dawn. There it served as the U.S Forces – Iraq theater engineer brigade headquarters for all non-divisional engineers throughout Iraq. 

     Today the 20th Engineer Brigade consists of four battalions and multiple separate companies and detachments numbering over 3,000 soldiers across seven different installations.  The battalions include the 19th Engineer Battalion located at Fort Knox, the 27th Engineer Battalion located at Fort Bragg, the 46th Engineer Battalion located at Fort Polk, and 92nd Engineer Battalion located at Fort Stewart. The 20th Engineer Brigade also contains four dive detachments located at Joint Base Langley Eustis, three engineer companies located at Fort Campbell and one engineer company located at Fort Drum.  On August 31st, 2021, 46th Engineer Battalion 20th EN BDE, first U.S Army active-duty hurricane response force, deployed from Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, to support Hurricane Ida response operations. The 46th mobilized more than 150 Soldiers and 51 pieces of equipment in 48 hours. Their ability to assemble and deploy is a testament to the ongoing cooperation between civil and military forces across the total Army.

     The 20th Engineer Brigade continues to stand ready to provide rapid engineer support in response to any worldwide contingency mission. The brigade holds true its long and distinguished history of service to the XVIII Airborne Corps, the Engineer Regiment, our Army and Nation participating in 33 campaigns and earning 8 Meritorious Unit Commendations.    

For More Information: 

Links & FAQ's

Helpful links: 

FAQ: