Gruver native to vie for U.S. Army Best Sapper title

Submitted to the Globe-News by the Public Affairs Office
·1 min read

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Cadet Nickalus Johnson, a Gruver native, is slated to compete in the 17th Best Sapper Competition, to be held April 19 through 22 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Johnson is part of a two-person team representing the 111th Engineer Battalion, Austin, scheduled to compete against 49 other teams for the Best Sapper title.

The competition showcases the Army's elite combat engineering Soldiers, who support infantry forces – among other skills, Sappers breach fortifications, place and remove landmines, work with explosives and install portable bridges.

During the competition, each soldier will be required to travel more than 60 miles in 58 hours, throughout the wooded and hilly Ozarks, while carrying a ruck sack that weighs more than 80 pounds and competing in a variety of events, testing them to their mental and physical breaking point.

Sappers will compete on limited amounts of sleep and will have to complete a series of tasks, including demolition, land navigation, steel cutting, mountaineering, reconnaissance, marksmanship and urban breaching techniques.

The opening ceremony, slated to begin at 5 p.m. CST April 19, will be livestreamed to www.facebook.com/fortleonardwoodmissouri, as well as the closing ceremony at 10 a.m. CST on April 23, and various events in between.

The name “Sapper” is derived from French, and originates from the early days of siege warfare, when military engineers would dig tunnels under castle walls.

For more information about the competition, visit the BSC Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BestSapper, their website at https://home.army.mil/wood/unitstenants/USAES/Sapper/BSC or contact the Public Affairs Office at 573-563-4145.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Gruver native to vie for U.S. Army Best Sapper title