SAPPER COMPETITION

This story was first published in AT EASE! Veterans Magazine Summer 2022.

Written by: Christine Walker

WINNERS of the Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition: 1st Lieutenant Eric Mattia (L) & Captain Alaimoana Paunga (R) 

Photo by: Martel Goldman

When first approached about doing this article about the ‘Sapper Competition’, immediately images of brawny men in red plaid shirts and tree trunks came to mind, besides the obvious question, ‘What the hell is a Sapper?”

Despite a little friendly ribbing, the Army Sappers are no joke! 

According to the US Army’s website, “A sapper or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties; typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defenses, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield construction and repair. They are also trained to serve as infantry when needed in both defensive and offensive operations and is fully involved in modern counter-insurgency operations.”

The Sapper program was originally established by the Continental Congress at the bequest of Louis Duportail in 1778. The French-born Engineer, Duportail brought valuable knowledge of combat engineering and was appointed as Commandant of the Continental Army Corps of Engineers during the Revolutionary War. It is easy to see where they got their name.  Sapper or the French Sappé in its original medieval translation is ‘spadework’ or ‘trench’. The modern translation means ‘to undermine’ taken, interestingly enough, from its military engineering origins.  

Since their induction in 2004, Sappers are an elite group of Combat Engineers that make up the third tab in the US Army’s Special Forces that include Rangers, Airborne & Sappers.  To earn the insignia, both Officers and Enlisted must first complete the Sapper Leader Course.  

“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. This course 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 the use of the battle drills and specialized engineer techniques learned throughout the course.”

According to Daniel Ochoa, a former Sapper instructor and now Membership Coordinator for the Sapper Association, “When you go to Sapper school, usually only 35 to 40% of the students will graduate. It is a tough course.”


LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN! 

The Sapper Competition is a test of body, mind & will!  

Photos by: Martel Goldman

Every Spring since 2005, the Sapper Association sponsors the annual Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition held at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. According to their website, “It is a three-day competition open for two Person teams of Army or Marine Engineer MOS competitors in the grades of E4 and above.  A team must consist of at least one member who is a graduate of the Sapper Leader Course. 

Any unit desiring an exception to the established eligibility must submit exceptions through the Engineer Regimental Command Sergeant Major. The competition’s concept is to not only determine the next “Best Sapper” team, but to challenge and test the service members’ knowledge, physical prowess, and mental fortitude… [showcasing] the most elite Soldiers in combat engineering from duty stations around the world. “Warrior Athletes”!”

Daniel Ochoa describes elements of the competition. “It’s a very intensive 3-day, nonstop, 24 hours a day [contest]. They don’t tell you how many miles you’re going to run. They’ll say this is the starting line and it could be a 12, 15, or a 20-mile run. [The teams] keep running. You’ll see the end when you see it.” 

Affectionately referred to as the Round Robin.  Each Sapper team rucks 13 miles and at the end of every mile, they are tested on physical acuities. According to Daniel Ochoa, “Sappers must complete a log cut, sprint drag, door breach, picket pounding, and a sandbag carry.” Other stations include select combat engineering tasks like demolition stakes, weapon stakes, and land navigation that assess the mental sharpness of the physically exhausted and sleep-deprived participants. 

On the second day, participants start off the morning with Helocasting and then it’s on to the next event in the competition. 

By day three, Sappers are running on pure adrenaline, MREs, and a sheer mental will to finish with only 2-3 hours of sleep over the course of the whole competition. The same mystery standard holds true for the X-Mile Ruck March carrying an 80 lbs. rucksack. Like the run, Sappers just keep going until they see the end. This year it was an intense 22 miles. 



THE WINNING TEAM

This year, Team 17, with Captain Alaimoana Paunga and 1st Lieutenant Eric Mattia took home the coveted title of 2022 Best Sapper.  

Captain Paunga was born and raised in American Samoa, a US territory located in the South Pacific Ocean, and is the southernmost US territory south of the Equator.  Captain Paunga’s sister joined the Army directly after high school and was instrumental in bringing her family to the United States shortly thereafter.  

Captain Paunga joined the Army after being encouraged to do so by his sister. “So, at a young age, I knew I was going to join the military. My sister told me about becoming an officer. So, I went to school first, I did the ROTC program and from there I was commissioned to be an officer. I chose engineering because I was always really good at math and science and enjoy solving problems. and then come to find out when I did Commission as an engineer officer, there’s also the combat side of things. So, I got the best of both worlds,” Captain Paunga recounts.  

1st Lieutenant Mattia comes from a family of proud service members.  His Great-Grandfather was Army, both Grandfathers served in WWII, one in the Navy and the other a Marine, and his dad also served in the Navy. “ I have a long line of individuals in my family that were in the service and growing up around that [influence] I was like, hey, I know I want to serve in some way. The school I went to for undergrad was The University of Vermont and they only had [the choice of] Army ROTC. So, I decided to do that and then everything else just fell in place,” he said.

Capt. Paunga and 1st Lt. Mattia, of the 20th EN BN, 36th EN BDE out of Fort Hood, TX, started training together just two months prior to the competition. Both of them were completely in sync with the other.  Capt. Paunga said, “We really just were a perfect match as partners in every way.”  1st Lt. Mattia reiterated that statement and went on to say, “We met a schedule of topics and we just made sure that at least one of us on the team was pretty confident in each of the separate tasks. So, when we rolled up to a station, we knew exactly what it was gonna look like and one of us could take the lead.”

The physical aspects of training for each of them were important.  Capt. Paunga joked that his Polynesian physique created unique challenges, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle and 1st Lt. Mattia conditioned himself by running a few marathons.  

The biggest challenge for each of them was the mental gymnastics of pushing through the physical exhaustion, cramps, and heat.  “You know, we made it our goal to come there and win. We took it event by event, so that way we’re not overloading our minds with things. But at the end of the day, we had a goal to win. And between both of us, we had our ups and downs, but we kept each other going. So, whenever Eric might have felt down, I just helped him push through by motivating him, and he did the same for me,” Capt. Paunga said.  

On the 1st day during the ruck, Captain Paunga had a surprise waiting for him, “the best part was when I saw [that] my wife, son, mom, and brother were present. I had no idea they were gonna show up to at Fort Leonard. Like I said, we live in Fort Hood, TX. Well, I had texted my wife the day before the competition started and she said, ‘yeah, we’re probably not gonna show up ‘cause. it’s kind of a far drive with the baby’ I said OK, no worries, I’ll be OK. Eric and I were halfway through the day and rucking to our next point and I saw a car pulled off to the right and from a distance I couldn’t tell who it was, I asked Eric. Hey, who’s that? As we got closer, that’s my family right there! It got me emotional. The next two days [they were] cheering us on and motivating us. Even our command team showed up and having [our] fan club pushing us through made the difference,” he said.  

The ultimate accomplishment came as Capt. Paunga and 1st Lt. Mattia ran through the big red castle that marked the end of the Sapper competition! They finished strong. 1st Lt. Mattia remembers that moment, “OK, it’s done. I did everything I could do. I know I get to sleep tonight, so there’s that. We knew we were probably podium (top 3), but we didn’t know for sure.”

Team 17 would have to wait to find out the results until the award ceremony was held the next day.  

They won! “It was pretty surreal. It was always our goal, obviously, but there’s this kind of surreal moment when we were actually up there holding the trophy,” 1st Lt. Mattia said.  

For Capt. Paunga, it was a defining moment, “Personally, this was a huge accomplishment. For me and I would add for my culture. To be able to go through all of that and then come out winning a competition in the Army. The Army [is] like hey, this guy and his partner are unbelievable, right? And then just a cultural part, we’re not really a big country and we don’t win Olympics or events like that. But representing my culture and be the first ever [American Samoan] to win the best Sapper competition and it even made the Samoan news. It was cool!” he said.   

From all of us at AT EASE! Veterans Magazine… You are Bad-Ass! Congratulations!! 

“Sappers Lead The Way! Earn the Right!” 

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VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS PT.II