WEBVTT

00:03.190 --> 00:06.050
A sapper sapper . In a historic sense ,

00:06.059 --> 00:08.281
it goes back to the 17th century . It's

00:08.281 --> 00:10.503
a French term . It really has its roots

00:10.503 --> 00:12.819
in trench warfare that started very

00:12.819 --> 00:14.880
early , earlier than the , uh , you

00:14.880 --> 00:16.729
know , the American army . Those

00:16.729 --> 00:19.700
trenches were called saps the the

00:19.700 --> 00:22.180
soldiers that dug them were sappers .

00:22.260 --> 00:24.260
In a current sense it's an engineer

00:24.260 --> 00:26.538
leader that is an . Expert in mobility ,

00:26.538 --> 00:28.704
counter mobility , and survivability .

00:28.704 --> 00:30.816
That's really about kind of how we uh

00:30.816 --> 00:32.927
create pathways for maneuver , how we

00:32.927 --> 00:35.093
stop , you know , enemy movement , and

00:35.093 --> 00:37.456
then how we , uh , buy time and space

00:37.456 --> 00:39.400
right for our team as , you know ,

00:39.400 --> 00:41.567
while we're in the middle of a of of a

00:41.567 --> 00:43.345
battle . And their advisors and

00:43.345 --> 00:45.776
maneuver commanders that put engineer

00:45.776 --> 00:47.891
effects . Place on the battlefield so

00:47.891 --> 00:50.431
that we can win . A sapper is the

00:50.431 --> 00:52.692
premier combat engineer in the United

00:52.692 --> 00:55.571
States Army . A sapper is really the

00:55.571 --> 00:57.627
cutting edge of the nation's sword .

00:57.627 --> 00:59.682
They are the best of the best in the

00:59.682 --> 01:03.212
engineering corps who lead the infantry

01:03.212 --> 01:05.641
when the infantry to become a sapper ,

01:05.732 --> 01:08.809
you have to attend the 28 day . A

01:08.809 --> 01:10.809
separate leader course held at Port

01:10.809 --> 01:12.865
Linwood , Missouri broke up into two

01:12.865 --> 01:14.976
phases general skills phase where you

01:14.976 --> 01:17.190
go over techniques from advanced

01:17.190 --> 01:20.849
demolitions and , um , land navigation

01:20.849 --> 01:23.150
and basics and , uh , waterborne ,

01:23.230 --> 01:25.309
airborne operations and patrolling

01:25.309 --> 01:27.198
phase . The course is very , very

01:27.198 --> 01:29.253
intense both mentally and physically

01:29.253 --> 01:31.750
and it will push you , um , it will

01:31.750 --> 01:33.861
push you to your limits . I think the

01:33.861 --> 01:36.250
graduation rate is typically about 50% .

01:36.459 --> 01:38.570
Uh , Sara school showed me that I can

01:38.570 --> 01:40.792
be hungry . I can be tired . I can push

01:40.792 --> 01:42.903
my body to the margins and still make

01:42.903 --> 01:45.070
sound decisions , uh , sound technical

01:45.070 --> 01:47.237
decisions and sound tactical decisions

01:47.237 --> 01:49.570
in a stressful environment , and that's ,

01:49.800 --> 01:51.911
that's why you need to do it . What I

01:51.911 --> 01:54.078
liked about Saper school is how they ,

01:54.078 --> 01:56.244
uh . You know , essentially strip away

01:56.244 --> 01:58.189
a lot of comfort , induce a lot of

01:58.189 --> 02:00.356
stress , and , you know , force you to

02:00.356 --> 02:00.180
do things the correct way , kind of

02:00.180 --> 02:02.291
sets a good baseline moving forward .

02:02.291 --> 02:04.624
So when you have to do it for real life ,

02:04.624 --> 02:06.847
you do the right things . When you look

02:06.847 --> 02:08.902
at the role of a staffer , it always

02:08.902 --> 02:10.680
ends with beyond the mobility ,

02:10.680 --> 02:12.736
accountability , survivability , you

02:12.736 --> 02:14.902
know , you always have that other role

02:14.902 --> 02:17.124
of fight as infantry , so that tends to

02:17.124 --> 02:16.899
be the environment that you spend a lot

02:16.899 --> 02:19.020
of your time in , and that's a pretty

02:19.020 --> 02:21.187
demanding and taxing environment as an

02:21.187 --> 02:23.409
engineer , you learn to become almost a

02:23.409 --> 02:25.839
Swiss Army knife . Uh , and SAA leader

02:25.839 --> 02:28.220
course is all about teaching you to be

02:28.220 --> 02:30.053
able to function in a variety of

02:30.053 --> 02:32.369
different weather conditions and

02:32.369 --> 02:34.539
situations , and , uh , I think that

02:34.550 --> 02:36.772
that would be something beneficial that

02:36.772 --> 02:38.994
any engineer can can benefit from . You

02:38.994 --> 02:41.161
know , a credibility to other engineer

02:41.161 --> 02:43.272
leaders that wear the tab when you're

02:43.272 --> 02:45.494
talking , we interact with our maneuver

02:45.494 --> 02:47.606
counterparts . When you interact with

02:47.606 --> 02:49.494
them , they truly believe that an

02:49.494 --> 02:51.717
engineer leader that wears a sapper tab

02:51.717 --> 02:53.828
is a master of their craft , and they

02:53.828 --> 02:53.029
are the expert engineer on the

02:53.029 --> 02:55.196
battlefield . I think that if you have

02:55.196 --> 02:57.149
an opportunity to be a sapper , be

02:57.149 --> 02:59.316
around a sapper , I'd always take that

02:59.316 --> 03:01.630
opportunity . Saper combines the

03:01.630 --> 03:04.350
nerdiness of being an engineer with the

03:04.350 --> 03:05.710
badass of being in the army .