scheduled for completion in 1971 by Brigade units. In conjunction with the Brigade efforts on the Lines of Communication Program, 18th Brigade engineers was involved in a program of affiliation with ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) engineers. In addition to continuous training programs which the Brigade established to train ARVN equipment operators, the engineers of the 18th provided technical assistance and logistical support to several projects undertaken by the Vietnamese Army, most notably in the construction of the bridge at Tuy Hòa. Upon its completion and opening on 13 February 1971, this bridge became the longest overpass of its type ever constructed in the Republic of Vietnam. It would be one of 77 such bridges that the Brigade would construct in the country. In support of the XXIV Corps, the 18th Brigade mounted what was described as the "most ambitious engineering effort in Vietnam" at the end of January 1971. The Brigade engineers pushed a roadway across the rugged terrain of the northern Quảng Trị Province to the Laotian border and constructed a by airfield in little more than a month at Khe Sanh. This construction effort was part of Operation Dewey Canyon II. On 20 September 1971 the Brigade was inactivated. Over the six years that it served in Vietnam, the 18th Engineer Brigade was involved in 14 of 17 campaigns, earning four Meritorious Unit Commendations. Post Vietnam On 21 October 1977 the 18th Engineer Brigade was reactivated at Karlsruhe, Germany. For 15 years, the Brigade served as the principal construction brigade for the United States Army, Europe and 7th Army. During this period, the Brigade performed numerous construction, rehabilitation and renovation missions in military communities and training areas of the 7th Army. These included an extensive range upgrade of the Grafenwohr Major Training Area in the early 1980s and the construction of the Range 23 complex at the Wildflecken Major Training Area in 1989 and 1990. Additionally, the Brigade was responsible for providing topographic support to the European Theater. In 1990 and 1991, during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, the 18th Engineer Brigade provided rail and sea deployment support to the VII Corps and, in addition, deployed a Combat Heavy Battalion and Topographic Company to support VII Corps operations in Southwest Asia. In April 1991, the Brigade Headquarters, along with elements of the 94th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy), deployed to Zakho, Iraq in support