Sapper
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- This article is about the military vocation. For the pseudonymous author, see H. C. McNeile.
A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who sapped (undermined) another's fortifications.
When an army was defending a fortress with cannon, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's own guns. The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire. This was achieved by digging what the French termed a 'Sappe'. Using techniques developed and perfected by Vauban, the sapeurs (sappers) began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire 'enfilading' (passing directly along) the sappe. As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which cannon could suppress the defenders on the bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging their way toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer and closer until (hopefully) the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for undermining to begin. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems.
A sapper is an individual usually in British or Commonwealth military service. Called a combat engineer by the Americans, a pionier by the Germans and a génie by the French, a sapper may perform any of a variety of tasks under combat conditions. Such tasks typically include bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences as well as building, road and airfield construction and repair. In other words, the sapper's tasks now involve facilitating movement of allied forces and impeding movement of the enemy's.
Sapper (abbreviated Spr) is the Royal Engineers' equivalent of Private. This is also the case within the Royal Australian Engineers, where referring to a Sapper as a Private is considered an insult and can result in disciplinary charges being laid.
In France, the civil firefighters and the military firefighters of the Paris Fire Brigade are called "sappers-pumpers" (sapeurs-pompiers, SP): the first fire company created by Napoléon I was a military sappers company. Apart from this, the sappers are the combat engineers.
British Army Sapper
The term 'Sapper' is used to refer to a private soldier of the Corps of Royal Engineers. It was first introduced as a rank in 1856 and is given to soldiers when they enlist into the Corps.
Sapper can also be used to refer to a member of the Royal Engineers regardless of rank.
US Army Sapper
Sappers are combat engineers who advance with the front-line infantry, and they have fought in every war in American history.
The US Army authorizes five skill tabs for wear above the unit patch on the left shoulder. Three of these tabs identify soldiers who have passed a course proving their leadership and adaptability: the Special Forces tab, the Ranger tab, and the Sapper tab, in that order of wear from highest to lowest. The other two tabs authorized are the Airborne tab (worn by airborne units, i.e. 82d, 101st, Special Forces, Special Operations Command, etc.), and the President's Hundred Tab, worn for the best marksmen/women in the Army.
To be a sapper, a soldier must complete the Sapper Leader Course. The course is part of the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
The Sapper Leader Course is a fast-paced 28-day course designed to train joint-service leaders in small unit tactics, leadership skills, and warfighter tactics required to perform as part of a combined arms team in a contemporary operating environment. The SLC is open to enlisted Soldiers in the grades of E-4 (P) (in the Army, specialist, promotable) and above, cadets, and officers O-3 (Army, captain) and below. Students in this course can come from any combat or combat support branch of service, but priority is given to engineering, cavalry, and infantry soldiers. [1]
Phase I of the course lasts 14 days and covers general subjects including medical techniques, land navigation, demolitions (conventional and expedient), air and water operations, mountaineering, expedient antennas, knots and rigging, and land mines and weapons used by enemy forces.
Phase II is also 14 days. It covers basic patrolling techniques and battle drills that emphasize leadership. The subjects include urban operations, breaching, patrol organization and movement, and recon/raid/ambush tactics. The second phase of the SLC concludes with a three-day situation training exercise, and five-day field training exercise. Training missions conducted during the STX/FTX are a 60/40 mix of engineer and infantry missions. Engineer missions include bridge reconnaissance and demolition, covert obstacle breaching, road cratering, minefields, and field expedient demolition.
Leadership is emphasized throughout the SLC. During Phase I the leadership positions are rotated daily. During Phase II, the position of squad leader is rotated daily, and the patrol leader and assistant patrol leader after each phase of the mission. Each Soldier will be evaluated at least twice on leadership during patrolling. The results of the Sapper Leader Course are soldiers who are hardened combat engineers who are qualified to fight and lead on today’s battlefields.
See also the Sapper Leader Course Navigation Page.