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UNITS AND HISTORY

It is my intention to add a complete section here one unit at a time. However; it will take time to collect unit history and map them out as well. If anyone has anything to add please let me know. I am working on this, but it may take time. For now I am posting a brief history of the origin of the Sapper.

The Unites States Army Combat Engineer (Sapper)

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, zigzagging 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.

The term Sapper can be traced back as far as 1501 to the siege of Rouen during the French Wars. Sappers, throughout time, have proven their abilities to build and repair fortifications, execute field works, and reform the countryside with demolitions and heavy equipment to weaken the enemy and lead the infantry to victory on the battlefield.

In the eighteenth century, French army, engineer officers did not normally command troop units. French engineer Captain Philippe Maigret complained about this as early as 1725, arguing that "engineers are the natural officers of workmen." He concluded that Sappers and Miners ought to be placed under engineer command in peacetime to develop the skills that they would need to employ during a siege. Maigret’s arguments did not prevail in the eighteenth century French Army, but many French engineer officers such as Louis Duportail accepted them.

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress named Duportail as Commandant of the Continental Army Corps of Engineers. Drawing on his French experiences, Duportail proposed to Congress the creation of three companies of Sappers and Miners to provide experience in military engineering to American soldiers and officers. On May 27, 1778, Congress authorized the three companies to receive instruction in erecting field works—the first step toward technical education—and direct fatigue parties; repair damaged works and erect new ones. Recruitment continued for more than two years with the activation of the companies on August 2, 1780. Meanwhile, on March 11, 1779, Congress passed a resolution that formed the engineers of the Continental Army into the Corps of Engineers.

The Corps of Engineers and its companies of Sappers and Miners enjoyed their finest hour in October of 1781 at Yorktown where General Washington conducted a siege in the classical manner of Sebastien de Vauban, the great French master of siege craft. Thirteen engineer officers of the combined French American Armies performed crucial reconnaissance and with the fifty men of the Sappers and Miners, planned and constructed field works. In addition, the Sappers and Miners assembled fortification materials, erected gun platforms, transported cannons and ammunition, and cleared the way for the decisive infantry assault on Redoubt 10. After the battle, General Washington cited Duportail, the first Chief of Engineers, for conduct, which afforded "brilliant proofs of his military genius, " and set the seal of his reputation.

Engineers in today’s Army are required to demonstrate qualities similar to their Revolutionary War counterparts, and when they do, they proudly call themselves SAPPERS.

Combat Engineering is the practice of using the knowledge, tools and techniques of engineering in combat. A combat engineer is a military specialist in using the tools and techniques of engineering under combat conditions, who may perform any of a variety of tasks.

Such tasks typically include fortification, bridge and road construction or destruction, laying or clearing landmines as well as general engineering tasks under fire. More generally speaking, the combat engineer's tasks involve facilitating movement and support of friendly forces while impeding that of the enemy.

Usually, a combat engineer is also trained as an infantry rifleman for self-defense.

In ancient times, combat engineers were responsible for siege warfare and building field fortifications, temporary camps and roads. The most notable engineers of ancient times were the Romans, who constructed huge siege-machines (catapults, battering rams and siege towers) and were responsible for constructing fortified wooden camps and paved roads for their legions. Many of these Roman roads are still in use two thousand years later.

In the Middle Ages combat engineers focused on siege warfare. They planned castles and fortresses. When laying siege, they planned and oversaw efforts to penetrate castle defenses. When castles served a military purpose, one of the tasks of the sappers was to weaken the bases of walls to enable them to be breached before means of thwarting these activities were devised. Broadly speaking, sappers were experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems.

When cannon first appeared, combat engineers were responsible for maintaining them while planning counter-artillery fortifications.

During the 20th century, combat engineers gained vast knowledge and experience in explosives. They are tasked with planting bombs, landmines and dynamite. Moreover, they are the only units with the clearance to detonate enemy explosive charges and the handling of unexploded ordinance. They are in charge of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) department and train specialists to defuse bombs.

Modern combat engineering still retains the Roman role of building field fortifications, and the breaching of terrain obstacles. A notable combat engineer task was, for example, the breaching of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War.

In the United States Army, the four tasks of combat engineer units are mobility, counter mobility, survivability, and general engineering.

Mobility: improving your own force's ability to move around the battlefield. Combat engineers typically support this role through reduction of enemy obstacles which include point and row minefields, anti-tank ditches, wire obstacles, concrete and metal anti-vehicle barriers and wall and door breaching in urban terrain. Mechanized combat engineer units also have armored vehicles capable of laying short bridges for limited gap-crossing.
Counter mobility: building obstacles to prevent the enemy from moving around the battlefield. Destroying bridges, blocking roads, creating airstrips, digging trenches, etc. Can also include planting landmines and booby traps when authorized and directed to do so.
Survivability: building structures which enable one's own soldiers to survive on the battlefield. Examples include trenches, bunkers, shelters, and armored vehicle fighting positions.
General Engineering: general engineering sustains military forces in the theater through the performance of facility construction and repair, and through acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of real property.

Plastic explosives are heavily used in combat engineering.

MOTTO: The motto of the American Engineers, "ESSAYONS," is French for "Let us try."

Explosive Ordnance Disposal EOD units in the U.S. Army are manned by ordnance personnel.

***This information can be found on the Sapper Leader Course website and Wikipedia. As I gather more info I will add it accordingly and categorize it.***

-SGT Gober, Cory B - Bco, 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne)(Rough Terrain)