PHILADELPHIA, Pa. –
One of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s most historic units was inactivated during a ceremony March 6 at Fort Mifflin here.
The 103rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, part of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, was inactivated as part of the 56th SBCT’s Army-mandated conversion to a mobile brigade combat team.
But, while the 103rd BEB will no longer exist in name, its elements are being reorganized and redesignated or consolidated with other units, so the 103rd BEB’s long and storied history will carry on.
“Today, we are not just deactivating a unit; we are honoring a lineage that is woven into the very fabric of our nation,” said Pennsylvania Adjutant General Maj. Gen. John Pippy. “The story of the 103rd does not begin in the 21st century, or even the 20th. It begins in 1747, in Philadelphia, when a statesman and inventor named Benjamin Franklin gathered a group of Associators to provide for the common defense. That small band of citizen-soldiers is the direct ancestor of the battalion before us today.”
With the 103rd BEB inactivated, its Headquarters and Headquarters Co. and B Co. will consolidate with HHC, 337th Engineer Battalion, and the 103rd BEB’s lineage and honors and battle streamers will pass to HHC, 337th Engineer Battalion.
Additionally, A Co. will be reorganized and redesignated as part of the 856th Combat Engineer Co.; C Co. will be reorganized and redesignated as the 656th Signal Co.; D Co. – minus Detachment 1 – will be reorganized and redesignated as the 556th Military Intelligence Co.; and Detachment 1 of D Co. will be reorganized and redesignated as Detachment 1, M Co., 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
“Although we are casing the colors of the 103rd BEB, we are not casing its legacy,” said Lt. Col. Adam Love, the 103rd BEB commander. “The Soldiers who stood in this formation, will carry the standards of this historic battalion into every formation they serve in next.”
The 103rd BEB’s lineage dates back to 1747 when Franklin established the Associators to provide a common defense of Philadelphia. It was founded on Nov. 21 of that year and constituted on Dec. 7 when it was officially recognized by the Military Association of the City of Philadelphia.
The unit was organized on Dec. 27, 1747, as the Train of Artillery, from new and existing elements. It was reorganized and redesignated May 26, 1748, as the Train of Artillery, to consist of the Associator Fort Company and the Grand Battery Company.
It was reorganized, redesignated and expanded between May and August 1775 as the Philadelphia Artillery Battalion, to consist of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Companies.
Over the next 150 years, the unit was reorganized and redesignated several times. Notably, after the Civil War, it was designated as the 1st Regiment Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania. At the time, it was one of the most well-equipped and well-uniformed units of the NGP, and it eventually became known as the “Dandy First,” a nickname that stayed with the unit until present day.
The unit first started using the 103rd designation on April 1, 1921, when it was converted and redesignated as the103rd Engineer Regiment, an element of the 28th Division.
The unit was redesignated as the 103rd Engineer Battalion on Feb. 17, 1942. It was expanded and reorganized on March 1, 2017, and assigned to the 56th Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division.
The unit’s Soldiers have participated in nearly every major engagement in the nation’s history, including the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Though we case these colors today, the history they represent is not erased,” Pippy said. “It is absorbed into the permanent legacy of the Pennsylvania National Guard and the U.S. Army. The lineage of this battalion is a testament to the enduring strength of the citizen-Soldier.”
Love, who will move on to serve as the 28th Infantry Division’s division engineer, said he is proud of how the battalion’s Soldiers have handled the situation.
“Deactivating a battalion is not easy, but the Soldiers of the 103rd BEB approached it like any other mission: deliberately, professionally, and with pride in doing it right,” Love said.