WASHINGTON — In the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the term sapper carries weight. For 250 years, sappers have served as elite combat engineers, supporting frontline infantry in every war throughout American history.
“A sapper, in a historic sense, goes back to the 17th century. It’s a French term,” said USACE Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Galick.
Back then, military engineers would dig trenches to breach enemy defenses without direct exposure to enemy fire.
“Those trenches were called saps. The Soldiers that dug them were sappers,” adds Brig. Gen. Joseph Goetz, USACE Pacific Ocean Division commanding general.
The tradition of sappers dates to the American Revolution, where military engineers built critical infrastructure like roads and fortifications. “It really has its roots in trench warfare that started very early, earlier than the American Army,” says Col. Francis Pera, USACE Baltimore District commander.
Today, sappers are still combat engineers, trained to execute the most demanding and vital battlefield roles: “An engineer leader that is an expert in mobility, countermobility and survivability,” Galick adds.
That means clearing paths for friendly forces to maneuver, creating obstacles to slow or stop enemy advances, and building fortifications that protect Soldiers during battle. “That’s really about how we create pathways for maneuver,” explains Pera. “How we stop enemy movement, and then how we buy time and space for our team while we’re in the middle of a battle.”
“They’re advisors to maneuver commanders that put engineer effects into place on a battlefield so that we can win,” adds Goetz.
Sappers also operate as infantry when needed, fully engaged in modern offensive, defensive and peacekeeping operations. “A sapper is really the cutting edge of the nation’s sword,” says Col. Christopher Klein, commander of the USACE Middle East District. “They are the best of the best in the engineer corps, who lead the infantry when the infantry even gets in trouble.”
The Sapper Leader Course is a grueling 28-day program that spans the terrain of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and the Mark Twain National Forest. It teaches mobility, countermobility, survivability, demolitions, engineer reconnaissance and other technical skills at the small unit level. The course provides maneuver commanders with a force multiplier to succeed in both competition and conflict.
The course includes two phases: general skills and patrolling. “Techniques, from advanced demolitions into land navigation, and the basics in waterborne (and) airborne operations (are part of phase one),” says Maj. Blake Jones from USACE New England District.
In the patrolling phase, leadership is tested under extreme stress. “The course is very, very intense,” says Maj. Charles Martin, USACE Baltimore District Real Estate Field Office realty specialist. “It will push you to your limits.”
That intensity is intentional. “Set a good baseline, so when you have to do it in real life, you do the right things,” says Lt. Col. Nicholas Lorusso, USACE New England District deputy commander.
“Sapper School showed me that I can be hungry, I can be tired, I can push my body to the margins and still make sound decisions; sound technical decisions and sound tactical decisions, in a stressful environment,” said Lt. Col. Lamar Cantelou, USACE aide de camp. “And that’s why you need to do it.”
In 2024, the Sapper School had a graduation rate of just under 50%.
“As an engineer, you learn to become almost a Swiss Army knife,” says Capt. Walter Dezir, USACE Honolulu District project engineer. “And the Sapper Leader Course is all about teaching you to be able to function in a variety of different weather conditions and situations.”
Earning the Sapper Tab is a mark of distinction that signals mastery in combat engineering and leadership. “There’s a credibility to other engineer leaders that wear the tab,” said Galick. “When you interact with our maneuver counterparts, they truly believe that an engineer leader that wears a Sapper Tab is a master of their craft and they are the expert engineer on the battlefield.”
The U.S. Army Engineer School (USAES), established in 1866, formalized the training and development of combat engineers, ensuring sappers remain a crucial component of U.S. military strategy. The course started in 1985 and became fully accredited as a United States Army Training and Doctrine Command course in 2004. That same year, on June 28, the Army officially authorized the wearing of the Sapper Tab, an initiative approved by then-Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers.
Since 2005, USAES has hosted the Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, challenging the physical prowess, mental fortitude and technical skills of sappers. Competitors cover 50 miles in 50 hours while executing a myriad of tactical and technical tasks. This year’s competition, taking place April 25–29, celebrates both the 40th anniversary of the Sapper Leader Course and the 250th anniversary of the Engineer Regiment.
Retired Lt. Gen. Flowers is quoted: “When our nation needs a tough job done, they call the Army. When our Army needs a tough job done, they call on the sappers.”
After 250 years, the role of the sapper continues to evolve, but remains essential to military operations worldwide. Their expertise in breaching obstacles, laying and clearing mines, and constructing field defenses makes them indispensable to military operations and a force multiplier on the battlefield.
Klein arguably captures the unique duality of sappers best, saying, “Sapper combines the nerdiness of being an engineer with the badass of being in the Army.”
By Kathryne Gest
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