35th Engineer Brigade ( United States ) The 35th Engineer Brigade is a combat engineer brigade of the United States Army National Guard of Missouri based at Fort Leonard Wood . Originally constituted as an infantry regiment , the brigade has undergone several changes before reaching its current state . It deployed once during Operation Iraqi Freedom . Units within the brigade have deployed multiple times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom . Organization . As an active army national guard unit , the 35th Engineer Brigade is not a permanent formation , instead only being called upon when needed . It has a lineage to the 35th Infantry Division , which is also a reserve unit , but it is not a part of the division at this time . The brigade currently consists of two engineer battalion s as well as several other units , in addition to its Headquarters and Headquarters Company . These units include the 1140th Engineer Battalion based in Cape Girardeau , Missouri and the 203rd Engineer Battalion , based in Joplin , Missouri . History . Originally constituted as the 138th Infantry Regiment in 1928 , the unit was reorganized and reconstituted several times , and did not receive its Shoulder Sleeve Insignia until 1984 , and its Distinctive Unit Insignia in 1970 . The insignia were based on those of the 35th Infantry Division , which has been the commanding unit of the brigade through the entirety of its history . The unit was relieved on 15 April 1959 from assignment to the 35th Infantry Division ; and was concurrently converted and redisignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment , 101st Replacement Group . It was later reorganized and redesignated on 1 April 1963 as Combat Section , Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 35th Command Headquarters , Divisional . It was converted and consolidated 16 January 1968 with the 1135th Ordnance Company . The 35th Engineer Brigade provides command and control of combat engineer units assigned to I Corps for worldwide missions . It also directs training of Missouri Army National Guard s Engineer units to meet US Army readiness standards prior to mobilization . Prepares Missouri Engineer units for State Emergency Duties ( SED ) for various missions and provides units for task force missions to Joint Task Force s ( JTF ) conducting missions across the operational continuum . The 35th Engineer Brigade , was tasked in late 2000 , with handling much of the planning pertaining to Operation Alaskan Road . Operation Alaskan Road is a Department of Defense Innovative Readiness Training ( IRT ) Exercise , a USCINCPAC sponsored multi - year exercise spread over a seven - year period , with a US $ 33 - million budget . The project aims to build a two - lane , 14 . 8 mile road with no more than a 7 - percent grade across the island on Annette Island linking Metlakatla to the north side of the island . The project comes as fulfillment of a government promise that was originally made to Metlakatla , home of Alaska ' s last Indian reservation . Elements of the brigade saw tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 , assisting the 20th Engineer Brigade in construction and support duties . The unit deployed again to the Baghdad area as part of Multi - National Division - Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007 and 2008 . Missions of the brigade have been widely varied , some are humanitarian in nature , others have required the training and use of the brigade ' s complement of sappers . The unit was deployed to Joplin , Missouri to help secure the city in the aftermath of the 22 May 2012 EF5 tornado . During that time the unit looted the same city it was in charge of securing . According to the St . Louis dispatch . In a telephone interview , Brig . Gen . Randy Alewel , commander of the 35th Engineer Brigade , confirmed that members of his unit were involved in the looting . " We conducted an investigation and disciplinary action was imposed on those soldiers , " Alewel said . But he declined to say how many soldiers were involved , the extent of the looting or what discipline they received .