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Acombat engineer (also calledpioneer orsapper) is a type of soldier who performsmilitary engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering,tunnel andmine warfare tasks, as well asconstruction anddemolition duties in and out of combat zones.[1][2]
Combat engineers facilitate the mobility of friendly forces while impeding that of the enemy. They also work to assure the survivability of friendly forces, building fighting positions,fortifications, androads. They conductdemolition missions and clear minefields manually or through use ofspecialized vehicles. Common combat engineer missions include construction and breaching of trenches, tank traps and other obstacles andfortifications; obstacle emplacement andbunker construction; route clearance and reconnaissance;bridge androad construction or destruction; emplacement and clearance ofland mines; and combined arms breaching. Typically, combat engineers are also trained in infantry tactics and, when required, serve as provisional infantry.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Combat engineers play 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 providecombat 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, is almost entirely organized into one regiment of combat engineers, simply namedIngeniørregimentet ("The Engineering Regiment").
Combat engineer battalions are usually a part of abrigade combat team. During theWar in Afghanistan and the 2003–2011Iraq War, the U.S. Army tasked its combat engineers withroute clearance missions designed to counter rising threats ofimprovised explosive devices (IEDs). To increase 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.[9]
Individual combat engineers are often assigned as a component of both covert and overtdirect actionspecial operations teams. For example, theactive dutyUS Army Special Forces[10] and its tworeserve components, the19th SFG and20th SFG of the USArmy National Guard,[11] employ combat engineer sergeants designated byMOS 18C. AGreen BeretsOperational Detachment Alpha, more commonly known as an "A-Team",[12] typically consists of 12 men, two of whom are combat engineer sergeants.[13]
Another example is the IsraeliYahalom unit, which is a special operations engineering unit that possess sabotage, explosives demolition andtunnel warfare capabilities.
A general combat engineer is often called apioneer orsapper, terms derived respectively from theFrench andBritish armies. In some armies,pioneer andsapper indicate specificmilitary 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) 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.[citation needed]
In the British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand armies, 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 thecombat 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.[14]
In theIsraeli Defense Forces, sapper (פלס) is a military profession code denoting 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 engineerofficer level. All IDF sappers are also trained asRifleman 07, matchinginfantry.[citation needed]
In theCanadian Army, it is a term for soldiers that have completed the basic Combat Engineer training.[15]
In thePortuguese Army, asapador de engenharia (engineering sapper) is a soldier of the engineering branch that has specialized combat engineer training. Asapador 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.
TheItalian Army uses the termguastatori for their combat engineers.
In theFinnish 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 rankmatruusi but bear thepioneeri insignia on their sleeves.[citation needed]
The GermanBundeswehr uses the termPionier for their combat engineers and other specialized units, who are associated with Special Forces to clear obstacles and perform engineering duties. Also the combat engineers in the Austro-Hungariank.u.k. Forces were called "Pioniere".[citation needed]
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 offlamethrowers.[citation needed]
Field engineer 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."[citation needed]
Sappers specialising intunnel warfare may be known as miners.
In theFrench Army, combat engineers specialising in bridge-building are calledpontoniers, while in theItalian Army, combat engineers specialising in bridge-building are calledpontieri.
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 the construction and operation of water supplies. In these roles, combat engineers use a wide variety of hand and power tools. They are also responsible for construction rigging, the use ofexplosives, and the carrying out of demolitions, obstacle clearance, and obstacle construction, assault of fortifications, use ofassault 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.[citation needed]
All these role activities and technologies are divided into several areas of combat engineering:
Improving 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, andimprovised explosive devices (IED) and wall anddoor breaching in urban terrain. Mechanized combat engineer units also have armored vehicles capable of laying short bridges for limited gap-crossing.[citation needed]
Building obstacles to prevent the enemy from moving around the battlefield. Destroying bridges, blocking roads, creating airstrips, digging trenches, etc. Can also include plantingland mines andanti-handling devices when authorized and directed to do so.[citation needed]
When the defender mustretreat it is often desirable to destroy anything that may be of use to the enemy, particularly bridges, as their destruction can slow theadvance of the attackers.
The placement ofland mines to createminefields and their maintenance and removal.[citation needed]
Building structures which enable one's ownsoldiers to survive on the battlefield. Examples include trenches, bunkers, shelters, and armored vehicle fighting positions.[citation needed]
Defensivefortifications are designed to prevent intrusion into the inner works byinfantry. For minor defensive locations, these may only consist of simple walls and ditches. The design principle 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.[citation needed]
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, the combat engineers use a variety of vehicles, explosive devices, andplastic explosives including:[citation needed]
TheBasic 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.[17]
