On 15 August 2005, the unit laid down its colors, and was inactivated and reorganized as a Special Troops Battalion under the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

[3][6] The 65th was reactivated on 16 July 2007 and assigned to the 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command as a combat effects battalion.

[5] The Japanese held strong defensive fortifications on Mount Austen as well as on two nearby ridges: Seahorse and Galloping Horse.

[9] Despite the fact that the 65th Engineer Battalion was poorly equipped, they aided in the seizure of the key terrain by opening roads and maintaining lines of communication.

[4] They also opened up supply routes to the interior by dredging the Matanikau River allowing free movement for boats.

[10] As XIV Corps moved into the Northern Solomons, New Georgia, Vella LaVella, Sasavele, and Kolombangara, the 65th Engineer Battalion continued to support freedom of maneuver and facilitate resupply routes by improving roads and trails and building bridges and fording sites.

[9] At the end of WWII, the 65th Engineer Battalion received 4 campaign streamers: Central Pacific, Guadalcanal, Northern Solomons, and Luzon.

[5] Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie Companies each also earned a Presidential Unit Citation for Gallantry on Luzon.

Alpha Company received the award for assisting the 27th Infantry Regiment ("Wolfhounds") in defending the Pusan Perimeter.

By the time the 65th returned home to Schofield Barracks from participating in WWII and the Korean War, they had spent 800 days in direct support of combat operations and 12 years overseas.

One of the main assignments during the Vietnam War was jungle clearing operations near the 25th Division's Cu Chi, Dau Tieng and Tay Ninh base camps.