FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — The 18th annual Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition was held April 25-28 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, with 35 two-person teams.
The Best Sapper Competition is geared to not only name the best sapper team, but also test competitors mentally and physically under extreme conditions.
“I learned a lot about myself,” said 1st Lt. Jonas Ebner, 87th Combat Engineer Company (Armored), 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade. “It was pretty physically demanding and a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
Fort Cavazos fielded two teams for the competition — Staff Sgt. Brandon Burnett and Ebner from 20th Eng. Bn., 36th Eng. Bde., and 1st Lt. Michael Bromley and 1st Lt. Collin McBrierty from the 62nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Eng. Bde.
Both Fort Cavazos teams placed in the top 10, with the 20th Eng. Bn. finishing ninth and the 62nd Eng. Bn. placing 10th.
During the three-day contest, competitors spent more than 70 hours completing tasks including a written test, a multi-mile ruck march and other runs, obstacle courses, underwater tasks and land navigation. The competition is open to all ranks, military occupation specialties and services as long as at least one member on each team has completed the 28-day Sapper Leader Course at the U.S. Army Engineer School in Fort Leonard Wood.
Sappers, or combat engineers, have to master a variety of tasks, including demolition, bridge building, construction and minefield clearing to support combat operations
“It’s like the Swiss Army knife for the Army,” Ebner said.
Ebner, a platoon leader, and Burnett, a squad leader in the 59th Combat Engineer Company (Armored), 20th Eng. Bn., 36th Eng. Bde., began training together for the competition late last year after Thanksgiving.
The Best Sapper Competition’s challenges and tasks this year began abruptly during the opening ceremony with a run and continued throughout the three days.
This was Ebner’s first time to compete and Burnett’s third.
Ebner completed the Sapper Leader Course last year and served as a public affairs representative for the 20th Eng. Bn. at last year’s Best Sapper Competition. He knew he wanted a chance to compete.
“Just seeing that exposure and environment, that competition made me want to compete,” he said, “because everyone wanted to be there and that’s the sort of environment I want to be in.”
Burnett’s motivation was similar.
“It’s just amazing being around like-minded people and people that want to better themselves and care about what they do and what kind of person they are,” he said.
While this is a competition, Burnett said there is also camaraderie and motivation among the teams.
“When you’re in this competition, it’s not like you’re trying to beat the person next to you,” he said. “It’s like you’re trying to be the best you can be with everyone else there.”
The first year Burnett competed for Best Sapper, his teammate was injured, and they did not finish the competition. In the second year, he had a last-minute partner replacement because of another injury. The team completed the course, but this year was his best finish.
A big difference for Burnett this year was teaming up with Ebner.
The two paired well together and drew on each other’s strengths.
“I personally believe that an NCO-officer (noncommissioner officer) pairing is really good because they complement each other,” Burnett said.
Ebner, a recent U.S. Military Academy graduate and the larger of the two, was fastest with math and calculations and better for the heavy items and drag. Burnett, a seasoned NCO with years of experience, was the go-to for the hands-on technical tasks and physical tasks that relied on body weight and endurance.
They divided tasks when they could, Ebner said, but added they each could complete all tasks.
With two strong, healthy competitors teamed together, they each were able to put forth full efforts on all tasks.
“I was able to push myself physically more than I have before,” Burnett said.
There were many injuries, including seven on the first day, Ebner said. Burnett battled pre-hypothermia following a task in a lake, the fifth lane of the day.
“We had to swim out, do some measurements for some math, come back and do the math,” Ebner said. “I’d say he was struggling from success because he has low body fat and cannot regulate temperature as well; that’s why he was a lot colder than I was.”
Throughout the competition Ebner and Burnett and the 62nd Eng. Bn. team stayed close in the rankings, with Ebner and Burnett finishing ninth overall on the last day. As the only two Fort Cavazos teams and their shared 36th Eng. Bde. higher headquarters, the two teams did have some extra competition between the two of them.
“I feel like we’re definitely a little more close to them now, after going through that together,” Burnett said. “That’s probably somebody I’ll talk to again in the future.”
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