FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (WAND) — An Argenta man will get the opportunity to test his mettle in the wooded and hilly Ozarks next month.
1st Lt. Michael Barnes is slated to compete in the 17th Best Sapper Competition, to be held April 19 through 22 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Barnes is part of a two-person team representing 62nd Engineer Battalion at Fort Cavazos, TX, scheduled to compete against 49 other teams for the Best Sapper title.
The term "Sapper" comes from a French word, and was used in the early days of siege warfare when military engineers would dig tunnels under castle walls.
Modern-day Sappers support infantry forces, breach fortifications, place and remove landmines, work with explosives, and install portable bridges.
During the competition, each soldier have to travel over 60 miles in 58 hours, while carrying an 80 lb rucksack through various events.
Sappers will compete on limited amounts of sleep and will have to complete a series of tasks, including demolition, land navigation, steel cutting, mountaineering, a wire obstacle breach, marksmanship, timber cutting techniques, bridge reconnaissance and utilizing handheld mine detectors.
The opening ceremony, slated to begin at 5 p.m. CST April 19, will be livestreamed to facebook.com/fortleonardwoodmissouri, as well as the closing ceremony at 10 a.m. CST on April 23, and various events in between.
For more information about the competition, visit the BSC Facebook page at facebook.com/BestSapper, their website at home.army.mil/wood/units-tenants/USAES/Sapper/BSC.
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