Misplaced Pages

#660339

78-423: A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper ) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tasks, as well as construction and demolition duties in and out of combat zones. Combat engineers facilitate the mobility of friendly forces while impeding that of

156-461: A combat engineer who has graduated from various levels of combat engineering training. Sapper 05 is the basic level, Sapper 06 is the general level, Sapper 08 is the combat engineer commander's level, and Sapper 11 is the combat engineer officer level. All IDF sappers are also trained as Rifleman 07, matching infantry . In the Canadian Army , it is a term for soldiers that have completed

234-471: A key role in all armed forces of the world. They are invariably found closely integrated into the force structure of divisions, combat brigades, and smaller fighting units. In many countries, combat engineers provide combat support members of a broader military engineering corps or branch. Other nations have distinct combat engineering corps or branches; they are separate from other types of military engineers. The Danish military engineers' corps, for example,

312-769: A mix of attack helicopter, aerial reconnaissance, and "aero-rifle" platoons. Other branches routinely providing commissioned officer aviators were the Medical Service Corps, Military Intelligence Corps, and the Transportation Corps for their own branch-affiliated aviation units. More rarely, there were some officers of the Air Defense Artillery, Corps of Engineers, Ordnance Corps, and Signal Corps rated as Army Aviators and assigned to various Army Aviation units. Until 2004, Army warrant officer (WO) aviators were appointed/commissioned into

390-560: A pioneer unit, mainly for representation duty. The current pioneer unit of the Legion reintroduced the symbols of the Napoleonic pioneers: the beard, the axe, the leather apron, the crossed-axes insignia, and the leather gloves. If the parades of the Legion are opened by this unit, it is to commemorate the traditional role of the pioneers "opening the way" for the troops. The pioneer unit is made up for parades of selected men taken in both

468-487: A sapper is a soldier who has specialized combat engineer training. The term "sapper" in the U.S. Army refers to a person who either possesses the combat engineer military occupational specialty or who has graduated from the Sapper Leader Course, more commonly called "Sapper School." In Sapper School, volunteers from the ranks of combat engineers and other military occupational specialties (most of whom serve in

546-802: A subset of the Infantry Branch with most of its officers and many of its enlisted soldiers coming from traditional infantry MOS backgrounds; however, in 1987 owing to a heightened emphasis on special operations, SF was established as a combat arms basic branch. Combat engineer units provide mobility, counter-mobility, and survivability capabilities to support maneuver units, and have a secondary mission to fight as infantry. United States Marine Corps doctrine designates only Infantry forces as Combat Arms, with all other Ground Combat Element forces ( Field Artillery , Assault Amphibian , Combat Engineer , Light Armored Reconnaissance , Reconnaissance , and Tank ) considered Combat Support . Air Defense , as

624-506: A superior US force. The battle was described as a "rampage of VC who threw satchels at the command bunker, knifed Americans in their sleep and destroyed all communications equipment. The Ottoman Empire had an infantry corp named Lağımcılar Ocağı (literally: Sapper Corps ). These infantries were used in most of the Empire's sieges, demolishing enemy fortifications and defences. Sapper Island, St. Joseph Channel, Algoma District, Ontario

702-488: A tunnel from the forward-most sap up to and under the fort wall, then place a charge of gunpowder and ignite it, causing an explosion that would destroy the wall and permit attacking infantry to close with the enemy. This was dangerous work, often lethal to the sappers, and was fiercely resisted by the besieged enemy. Since the two tasks went hand in hand and were done by the same troops, native Indian engineer corps came to be called "sappers and miners". Sapper (abbreviated Spr)

780-494: Is a term used (or formerly used) in many Commonwealth armies. In modern usage, it is often synonymous with combat engineer. However, the term originally identified those military engineers who supported an army operating in the field instead of garrison engineers who built and supported permanent fixed bases. In its original usage, "field engineering" would have been inclusive of but broader than "combat engineering." Sappers specialising in tunnel warfare may be known as miners. In

858-541: Is almost entirely organized into one regiment of combat engineers, simply named Ingeniørregimentet ("The Engineering Regiment"). Combat engineer battalions are usually a part of a brigade combat team . During the War in Afghanistan and the 2003–2011 Iraq War , the U.S. Army tasked its combat engineers with route clearance missions designed to counter rising threats of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). To increase

SECTION 10

#1732772029661

936-543: Is an engineer branch soldier specialized in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare . The bombeiros-sapadores ("sapper-firefighters") are the civil municipal professional firefighters that exist in the main cities of the country. The largest unit of this type is the Regimento de Bombeiros Sapadores ("sapper-firefighters regiment") maintained by the Lisbon municipal council. The sapadores florestais (forest sappers) are

1014-548: Is another area of military engineering but is often performed by the combat engineers of some nations and in other cases is a separate responsibility, as was formerly the case in the Australian Army. While the officers of a combat engineer unit may be professionally certified civil or mechanical engineers, the non-commissioned members are generally not. In the British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand armies,

1092-598: Is known as the "father of Japanese Kōhei " ("日本工兵の父"). Engineer Branch officers were considered technology specialists along with Artillery Branch (砲兵科) officers in IJA, except Technical Branch (技術科) officers who have an academic degree in science or engineering and developed military technology. Selected Engineer and Artillery officers were educated at the Army Artillery and Engineering School ( 陸軍砲工学校 ). Artillery and Engineering School's Kōtō-ka (高等科, "Higher Course")

1170-469: Is often called a pioneer or sapper , terms derived respectively from the French and British armies. In some armies, pioneer and sapper indicate specific military ranks and levels of combat engineers, who work under fire in all seasons and may be allocated to different corps, as they were in the former Soviet Army, or they may be organized in the same corps. Geomatics (surveying and cartography)

1248-527: Is shown in the diagram. The raiding force was usually grouped into assault teams, each broken down into several 3–5-man assault cells. Overall, there were generally four operational echelons . An instance of a successful sapper attack conducted by the Viet Cong was the during the Battle of Fire Base Mary Ann . A small number of sappers, through surprise and deft coordination, conducted a successful attack on

1326-599: Is the Royal Engineers ' equivalent of private . This is also the case within the Indian Army Corps of Engineers , Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers , Royal Canadian Engineers , Royal Australian Engineers , South African Army Engineer Formation , Jamaica Defence Force Engineer Regiment, and Royal New Zealand Engineers . The term "sapper" was introduced in 1856, when the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners

1404-502: Is to slow down the advance of attackers to where they can be destroyed by defenders from sheltered positions. Most large fortifications are not a single structure but rather a concentric series of fortifications of increasing strength. Combat engineers employ a wide range of transportation vehicles and equipment and use weapons unique to the engineers, including those used in land mine warfare. Basic combat engineering tools include safe use of: For obstacle breaching, including minefields,

1482-512: Is under the defenders' musket or artillery fire. It comes from the French word sapeur , itself being derived from the verb saper (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). This digging was referred to as sapping the enemy fortifications. Saps were excavated by brigades of trained sappers or instructed troops. When an army was defending a fortress with cannons, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over

1560-630: The 19th SFG and 20th SFG of the US Army National Guard , employ combat engineer sergeants designated by MOS 18C. A Green Berets Operational Detachment Alpha , more commonly known as an "A-Team", typically consists of 12 men, two of whom are combat engineer sergeants. Another example is the Israeli Yahalom unit, which is a special operations engineering unit, that possess the abilities of sabotage, demolition of explosives and tunnel warfare . A general combat engineer

1638-1051: The Army Air Forces (AAF 1941–1947) and its predecessor, the Army Air Corps (AAC 1926–1942), officially began on 6 June 1942 with the authorization for organic liaison airplanes to perform air observation for artillery units. (From 20 June 1941 until 9 March 1942, the AAF and the AAC simultaneously existed as "branches" of the U.S. Army). From 1942 until 1983, the Army did not have an "aviation branch," rather its officers (minus warrant officers) and enlisted personnel were commissioned into basic branches or assigned (for enlisted soldiers) to various branch affiliated units depending upon their specific Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Commissioned officers (second lieutenant through lieutenant colonel) were usually assigned to aviation units under

SECTION 20

#1732772029661

1716-803: The British Indian Army of the British Raj . In the Israel Defense Forces a sapper (in Hebrew : פלס, palas ) is the military profession of a combat soldier who went through basic combat engineering training. Most of the sappers are soldiers of the Combat Engineering Corps , but there are also infantry sappers, who are part of the infantry brigades and are organized in engineering companies called פלחה"ן ( palchan ). These companies are integral part of

1794-610: The Engineer Corps as a whole and also forms part of the informal names of the three combat engineer groups, viz. Madras Sappers , Bengal Sappers and the Bombay Sappers . Each of these groups consist of about twenty battalion-sized engineer regiments and additional company-sized minor engineer units. The three sapper groups are descended from the sapper and miner groups of the East India Company and later

1872-556: The Foreign Legion . The French Corps of Engineers was created under the command of Marshal Vauban during the late 17th century. Its members were called sappers if their function was to destroy enemy fortifications by using trenches or sape and miners if they engaged in tunnel warfare or mine . The Corps of the Engineers was suppressed during two short periods (1720-1729 and 1769-1793) and sappers and miners were part of

1950-581: The French Army , combat engineers specialising in bridge-building are called pontoniers , while in the Italian Army , combat engineers specialising in bridge-building are called pontieri . Combat engineers are force multipliers and enhance the survival of other troops through the use and practice of camouflage, reconnaissance, communications and other services. These include the construction of roads, bridges, field fortifications , obstacles and

2028-811: The French Imperial Guard , created in 1810. This company was tasked with the protection of the Imperial palaces after the tragic fire of the Austrian embassy in Paris on 1 July 1810. The Paris Fire Service ( gardes-pompes ), a civilian institution, was re-organized as a military unit in September 1811, becoming the Paris Sappers-Firefighters Battalion. Other cities kept or created civilian firefighters services but used

2106-467: The IDF Puma combat engineering vehicle . Combat engineering commanders are qualified as "sapper 08" while combat engineering officers are qualified as "sapper 11". Both go through additional advance training to gain the skills needed for high level sapper profession. The Israel Police also maintains a bomb disposal specialist unit. All police sappers must graduate from a 10-month training program at

2184-644: The Jordan River at Jisr Benat Yakub (also known as Jacob's Ford ). Here the retreating Ottoman and German rearguard had blown up the bridge's central arch, which was repaired in five hours by sappers attached to the Australian Mounted Division . While the light horse brigades forded the river, continuing the Desert Mounted Corps ' advance to Damascus , the sappers worked through the night of 27/28 September 1918, to repair

2262-587: The Korean War , and the War in Afghanistan . The roles of a sapper entail: Bridging with the ACROW or Medium Girder Bridge as well as non-standard bridge construction; obstacle and defensive construction; enemy obstacle reduction and clearance, mine warfare; explosive ordnance disposal; water supply using the reverse-osmosis water purification unit; building and maintaining roadways and airfields; combat diving; tactical breaching; and camp construction. Ultimately,

2340-622: The Sapper Leader Course , which is operated by the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri . The Sapper Leader Course is a demanding 28-day leadership development course for combat engineers that reinforces critical skills and teaches advanced techniques needed across the army. It is also designed to build esprit de corps by training soldiers in troop-leading procedures, demolitions (conventional and expedient), and mountaineering operations. The course culminates in an intense field-training exercise that reinforces

2418-712: The Survey of Pakistan is part of the corps. Initially part of the Indian Corps of Engineers , it dates back to 1780 but came to its modern form in 1947 following the Independence of Pakistan . Since then it has taken part in all wars including 1965 War , 1971 War and Kargil War . It has completed the Pakistan portion of Karakoram Highway . The corps is taking part in Operation Zarb-e-Azb In

Combat engineer - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-594: The United States Army , sappers are combat engineers who support the front-line infantry , and they have fought in every war in U.S. history. For example, after the Battle of Yorktown , General Washington cited Louis Lebègue Duportail , the chief of engineers, for conduct that afforded "brilliant proofs of his military genius." Designation as a "sapper" is also earned as an additional proficiency. The U.S. Army authorizes four skill tabs for permanent wear above

2574-475: The Warrant Officer Corps in the Army "at large" and in a WO MOS in which they were qualified depending upon the aircraft category (i.e., fixed-wing or rotary-wing) and the mission/type/model(s) of aircraft in which they were rated. They were then assigned to Army Aviation units as needed for their specific aircraft qualifications. From 1952 until 1987, Army Special Forces (SF) were essentially

2652-495: The combat arms ) undergo training in combat engineer and infantry battle drills, expedient demolitions, threat weapons, unarmed combat, mountaineering, and water operations. Some of the training in this 28-day course, arguably one of the most challenging in the U.S. Army, features covert infiltration techniques or survival skills. In the Israeli Defense Forces , sapper (פלס) is a military profession code denoting

2730-574: The sappe by firing down its length. As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which a cannon could suppress the defenders on the fort's bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer until the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for the attackers to breach the walls. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems. An additional term applied to sappers of

2808-721: The Artillery Branch until 1968 when it became a separate branch designated as the Air Defense Artillery Branch and the Artillery Branch was re-designated as the Field Artillery Branch. The Cavalry Branch was officially subsumed by the Armor Branch in 1950, although many units continued to have a "cavalry" designation. Since 2001, U.S. Army doctrine has included combat aviation, special operations, and combat engineer forces into

2886-513: The Artillery regiments. In 1793, the Corps was reorganized into companies of miners and battalions of sappers, each assigned to a particular division. Eventually, as the missions of the Corps grew more diversified, additional titles were used by combat engineers, such as Conductor ( sapeur-conducteur ) in 1810, entrusted with the logistics of the Corps, Firefighter ( sapeur-pompier ) in 1810 or telegraph sapper ( sapeur-télégraphiste ). In 1814,

2964-568: The British Indian Army was "miner." The native engineer corps were called "sappers and miners," for example, the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners . The term arose from a task done by sappers to further the battle after saps were dug. The saps permitted cannons to be brought into firing range of the besieged fort and its cannons, but often the cannons themselves were unable to breach the fort walls. The engineers would dig

3042-602: The Engineers, thus creating the title sapeurs-pontonniers . In 1909, the Engineering Arm of the Army Staff was entrusted the burgeoning Air Service ( Aérostation militaire ), its personal was titled sapper-airman ( sapeur-aérostier ). The titled was disused in 1914 when the Air Service took its independence from the Engineering Arm. The first fire company created by Napoléon I was a military sapper company of

3120-522: The Infantry and the Engineers regiments of the Legion. In the Hellenic Army , there is the "mechanic" or "Corps of Engineers" (μηχανικό; michaniko ). The Italian Army uses the term "Guastatori" for its combat engineers, "Pionieri" for its construction engineers, "Pontieri" for its bridging engineers, and "Ferrovieri" for its railroad engineers. In Portugal, the term "sapper" is used both in

3198-601: The PAVN and Viet Cong commando–sapper units which were organized as independent formations. While not always successful due to lack of appropriate personal weapon types for combat and assault like other special forces , they were still capable of inflicting heavy damage with their non-firearms arsenal. During the Vietnam War, they were armed with various types of bombs, mines, explosive charges, grenades and even steel-pellet mines which proved especially devastating. These are still

Combat engineer - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-629: The Transportation Corps, OV-1 airplanes were under the Military Intelligence Corps, AH-1 and AH-64 attack helicopters, as well as OH-6 and OH-58 observation helicopters came under either Armor (for attack helicopter and air cavalry units) or Field Artillery for aerial rocket artillery (ARA) batteries. Only those Army Aviation units directly involved in armed combat such as air cavalry, attack helicopter, aerial rocket artillery, or assault helicopter operations were properly considered as "combat arms." Army Aviation, as distinguished from

3354-502: The ability of one's own force 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 improvised explosive devices (IED) 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. Building obstacles to prevent

3432-484: The army allowed them certain privileges such as the authorization to wear beards . In addition to their beards and axes, they traditionally wear leather aprons and gloves. The pioneers units disappeared during the mid-20th c. century, their last appearance being the short-lived Pioneers Regiments of 1939–1944, a military public works service using the older draftees in the army. Only the Foreign Legion kept using

3510-443: The army with the primary mission of engaging in armed combat with an enemy force. In the U.S. Army, the following branches were traditionally classified from 1968 until 2001 as the combat arms: The Artillery Branch included coast artillery until it became a separate branch in 1907. The Coast Artillery also included the anti-aircraft artillery, from 1920, until its disestablishment in 1950. Anti-aircraft artillery then remained under

3588-425: The attacker's 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 (derived from the archaic French word for spade or entrenching tool ). Using techniques developed and perfected by Vauban , the sappers began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire enfilading

3666-480: The attackers. The placement of land mines to create minefields and their maintenance and removal. Building structures which enable one's own soldiers to survive on the battlefield. Examples include trenches, bunkers, shelters, and armored vehicle fighting positions. Defensive fortifications are designed to prevent intrusion into the inner works by infantry . For minor defensive locations, these may only consist of simple walls and ditches. The design principle

3744-481: The basic Combat Engineer training. In the Portuguese Army , a sapador de engenharia (engineering sapper) is a soldier of the engineering branch that has specialized combat engineer training. A sapador de infantaria (infantry sapper) is a soldier of the infantry branch that has a similar training and that usually serves in the combat support sapper platoon of an infantry battalion. The Italian Army uses

3822-679: The bomb disposal training center in Beit Shemesh , which includes operational exercises, theoretical studies, and fieldwork. In Japan, Kōhei-ka ( 工兵科 , 工 means "engineer" and 兵 means "soldiers"), or Engineer Branch in English, was a branch (兵科) of the Imperial Japanese Army . General Yūsaku Uehara , who introduced the French sapeur or ingénieur system to IJA and authored the Kōhei Sōten (工兵操典, "Engineers' Manual"),

3900-473: The bridge to enable the division's wheeled vehicles and guns to follow on 28 September. In the Canadian Forces, sappers exist both in the regular force and reserve force. The rank of sapper is used instead of private trained to signify completion of the basic Engineer training course. Canadian sappers have been deployed in many major conflicts in recent history including World War I, World War II,

3978-530: The combat arms classification. Until the creation of the Army Aviation Branch in 1983, different branches of the Army were proponent branches for specific aircraft mission/type/model aircraft. For example, UH-1 and UH-60 assault helicopters fell under the Infantry Branch, UH-1 and UH-60 MEDEVAC units were Medical Service Corps, cargo aircraft units, such as the CH-47, CH-54, and CV-2/C-7 belonged to

SECTION 50

#1732772029661

4056-635: The combat arms in the Army are: Field Air Defence is considered in the artillery branch in Canada, also all aviation assets are part of the RCAF not the Army. Currently, U.S. Army organizational doctrine uses the classification "Maneuver, Fires and Effects" (MFE) to group the combat arms branches, and four other branches, into Maneuver, Fires, Maneuver Support, and United States Special Operations Forces functional areas. The "classic" combat arms were infantry, artillery, and cavalry, defined as those branches of

4134-472: The combat engineers in the Austro-Hungarian k.u.k. Forces were called "Pioniere". In the British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand armies, an assault pioneer is an infantry soldier with some limited combat engineer training in clearing obstacles during assaults and light engineering duties. Until recently, assault pioneers were responsible for the operation of flamethrowers . Field engineer

4212-781: The combat engineers use a variety of vehicles, explosive devices, and plastic explosives including: The Basic Field Manual, Engineer Soldier's Handbook , 2 June 1943 (FM 21-105) was written to provide guidance to a new combat engineer in the United States. Sapper A sapper , also called a combat engineer , is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications , demolitions , bridge -building, laying or clearing minefields , preparing field defenses, and road and airfield construction and repair. Sappers are also trained and equipped to serve secondarily as provisional infantry. Sappers facilitate and support

4290-540: The companies of miners were integrated into the sapper battalions, themselves organized in Engineers Regiments ( régiments du génie ). In 1875, the distinction between miners and sappers was abolished and all members of the Corps of Engineers were titled sappers-miners, though only sapper was used in common usage. In 1894, the pontonniers or bridgemakers were transferred from the Artillery Corps to

4368-773: The construction and running of water points. In these roles, combat engineers use a wide variety of hand and power tools. They are also responsible for construction rigging, the use of explosives , and the carrying out of demolitions, obstacle clearance, and obstacle construction, assault of fortifications, use of assault boats in water obstacle crossings, helipad construction, general construction, route reconnaissance and road reconnaissance, and erecting communication installations. Combat engineers build and run water distribution points, carrying out water filtration, and NBC decontamination when necessary, and storage prior to distribution. All these role activities and technologies are divided into several areas of combat engineering: Improving

4446-517: The duties referenced. Combat arms Artillery is included as a combat arm primarily based on the history of employing cannons in close combat, and later in the anti-tank role until the advent of anti-tank guided missiles . The inclusion of special forces in some armed forces as a separate combat arm is often doctrinal because the troops of special forces units are essentially specialized infantry, often with historical links to ordinary light infantry units. In some Commonwealth Countries,

4524-463: The effectiveness of these units, EOD and mechanic teams were typically embedded with the combat engineer platoon. Due to rising IED threats, the U.S. Army sends some combat engineers to complete Explosive Ordnance Clearance Agent training. Individual combat engineers are often assigned as a component of both covert and overt direct action special operations teams. For example, the active duty US Army Special Forces and its two reserve components ,

4602-409: The enemy from moving around the battlefield. Destroying bridges, blocking roads, creating airstrips, digging trenches, etc. Can also include planting land mines and anti-handling devices when authorized and directed to do so. When the defender must retreat it is often desirable to destroy anything that may be of use to the enemy, particularly bridges, as their destruction can slow the advance of

4680-718: The enemy. They also work to assure the survivability of friendly forces, building fighting positions, fortifications , and roads . They conduct demolition missions and clear minefields manually or through use of specialized vehicles . Common combat engineer missions include construction and breaching of trenches, tank traps and other obstacles and fortifications ; obstacle emplacement and bunker construction; route clearance and reconnaissance; bridge and road construction or destruction; emplacement and clearance of land mines ; and combined arms breaching. Typically, combat engineers are also trained in infantry tactics and, when required, serve as provisional infantry. Combat engineers play

4758-431: The infantry brigades. Combat engineering corps sappers are arranged in battalions. Each sapper goes through high level infantry training, which qualifies him as rifleman 06 (רובאי 06). Combat engineering sappers are qualified as "sapper 06" (פלס 06). They are skilled in infantry combat, basic sabotage , landmine planting and demining , use of explosives , breaching and opening routes, trench warfare , and operating

SECTION 60

#1732772029661

4836-467: The main weapons of the đặc công . These elite units served as raiders against American/ ARVN troops, and infiltrated spearheads during the final Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975, where they seized key road and bridge assets, destroyed installations, attacked command and control nodes located deep inside enemy territory, planted explosives on U.S. water craft, and otherwise helped the PAVN's rapid mobile forces advance. A typical PAVN/VC đặc công organization

4914-424: The military and in the civilian environment. In the Portuguese Army , a sapador de engenharia (engineering sapper) is a soldier of the engineer branch that has specialized combat engineer training. A sapador de infantaria (infantry sapper) is a soldier of the infantry branch that has a similar training and who usually serves in the combat support sapper platoon of an infantry battalion. A sapador NBQ (NBC sapper)

4992-771: The military ranks and organization of the Paris Battalion. In 1831, National Guard engineers companies became the reserve components of the Fire Services and kept their military organization even after the disappearance of the National Guard in 1852. Sapper-firefighter is the common title of the civilian and Paris firefighters in France, but the other military firefighters units, such as the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion , do not use

5070-403: The military. JGSDF Engineer Branch personnel are educated at JGSDF Engineer School ( 陸上自衛隊施設学校 ). In France, sapper ( sapeur ) is the title of military combat engineers and firefighters , both civil and military, (sapper-fireman or sapeur-pompier ). Military sappers fall under the umbrella of the Engineering Arm or Arme du Génie . A related title is pioneer ( pionnier ), used only in

5148-418: The movement, defense, and survival of superordinate and allied forces, and impede those of enemies. The term "sapper" is used in the British Army and Commonwealth nations, the U.S. military, and the militaries of other countries. A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who dug trenches to allow besieging forces to advance towards the enemy defensive works and forts over ground that

5226-417: The objective of the sappers is to facilitate the living, moving, and to fight for friendly troops on the battlefield and denying the same to enemy forces. The motto of the Canadian Military Engineers is Ubique ( Latin : everywhere ) a motto shared with the Royal Canadian Artillery . The term "sappers", in addition to the connotation of rank of engineer private, is used collectively to informally refer to

5304-461: The only sappers or combat engineers present at the historical Battle of Khe Sanh belonged to US, South Vietnamese and (opposing) North Vietnamese units. In the 2008 science-fiction novel The Last Colony , a fictitious "sapper field" technology is used to disrupt enemy weapons operation. Rudyard Kipling's poem "Sappers" (1896) detailed some of the duties of Sappers in the British Army of Victorian times. The notes on this poem further explain

5382-452: The professionals maintained by the government , local authorities and large private forestry companies, who cleans and maintain forests and prevents and fights forest fires . In the Pakistan Army , sapper officers perform combat and normal engineer duties. The Corps is led by the Engineer-in-Chief who is a Lt Gen . The current Engineer-in-Chief is Lt Gen Khalid Asghar. The Frontier Works Organization , Military Engineering Service and

5460-404: The proponency of their parent branch. This meant that most Infantry officers were assigned to assault helicopter units while Armor and Field Artillery officers were most likely assigned to attack helicopter or aerial rocket artillery units, respectively. Both Infantry and Armor branch commissioned officer aviators were assigned to Air Cavalry units, as these squadrons consisted of troops containing

5538-477: The sapper title, as they had no military engineers lineage. Since the 18th century, every grenadier battalion in the French Army had a small unit of pioneers , sometimes called sappers-pioneers ( sapeurs-pionniers ). They had the mission to advance under enemy fire in order to destroy the obstacles drawn by the enemy and to clear the way for the rest of the infantry . The danger of such missions resulted in pioneers having short life expectancies. Because of this,

5616-548: The term guastatori for their combat engineers. In the Finnish army , pioneeri is the private equivalent rank in the army for a soldier who has completed the basic combat engineering training. Naval engineers retain the rank matruusi but bear the pioneeri insignia on their sleeves. The German Bundeswehr uses the term Pionier for their combat engineers and other specialized units, who are associated with Special Forces to clear obstacles and perform engineering duties. Also

5694-584: The unit patch on the left shoulder (Army Regulation 670-1 Chapter 29–13, Sub-Paragraph f). Along with the Sapper Tab , the Special Forces Tab , Ranger Tab , and President's Hundred Tab identify soldiers who have passed a demanding course of military instruction and have demonstrated their competence in particular specialties and skills. To wear the Sapper Tab, a soldier must graduate from

5772-697: The use of the battle drills and specialized engineer techniques learned throughout the course. The course is open to enlisted soldiers in the grades of E-4 (P) (Army specialists and corporals on the list for promotion to sergeant) through E-7, cadets, and officers O-3 (Captain) and below. The course is primarily for U.S. Army and USMC combat engineers, but may be attended by all service members with an approved waiver. PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) and Viet Cong sappers, as they were called by US forces, are better described as commando units. The Vietnamese term đặc công can be literally translated as "special task". Thousands of specially trained elite fighters served in

5850-604: Was also studied by non-artillery and non-engineer officers. Ordinary personnel at Engineer Branch are educated at the Army Engineer School ( 陸軍工兵学校 ) and other schools. JGSDF Shisetsu-ka ( 施設科 , "施設" literally means "facilities"), or Engineer Branch in English, is equivalent to the IJA Kōhei-ka . In accordance with the JSDF's nomenclature, this title was devised to avoid the character for 'soldier', which evokes

5928-765: Was amalgamated with the officer corps of the Royal Engineers to form the Corps of Royal Engineers. During the course of the First World War, some Royal Marines also took the rank of Sapper. This was adopted as tradition in the Royal Marine Divisional Engineers of the Royal Naval Division . During the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I, Australian sappers repaired a bridge at the historic crossing of

6006-467: Was equivalent to the Army War College . Some Kōtōka graduates, like Lt. Gen. Takeo Yasuda , continued their studies as Rikugun Ingai Gakusei (陸軍員外学生) at Imperial University of Tokyo's Engineering Faculty and Science Faculty and obtained degrees. Due to the apparent importance of science and technology, Artillery and Engineering School was renamed Army Science School during World War II and

6084-494: Was named in honour of sappers, especially those who graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada . 46°18′56″N 83°57′29″W  /  46.31556°N 83.95806°W  / 46.31556; -83.95806 In the 1978 song by Australian rock band Cold Chisel , " Khe Sanh ", the narrator (a fictional Australian army Vietnam War veteran) says "I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh". However,

#660339