The 20th Engineer Brigade, a combat engineer unit of the U.S. Army, was activated on August 16, 1950, at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It deployed to France in November 1952, providing construction support in southwestern France until returning to the U.S. in September 1954. The brigade was inactivated on December 12, 1958, but reactivated on May 1, 1967, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It deployed to Vietnam in August 1967, supporting American forces in Military Regions III and IV during eleven campaigns, including clearing over half a million acres of jungle and constructing significant infrastructure. The brigade was inactivated on September 20, 1971, as U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam.
Reactivated as an airborne brigade on June 21, 1974, at Fort Bragg, the 20th Engineer Brigade has since participated in numerous operations, including the Persian Gulf War, Kosovo, Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. It has also conducted various humanitarian missions both domestically and internationally. On September 16, 2009, the brigade's airborne status was terminated, and the "Airborne" tab was removed from its shoulder sleeve insignia. Currently, the brigade is headquartered at Fort Bragg and continues to provide engineering support to the XVIII Airborne Corps.