250 Years of “Badass” Engineers

250 Years of “Badass” Engineers

APRIL 22, 2025 – In the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the term sapper carries weight. For 250 years, sappers have served as elite combat engineers, supporting frontline infantry in every war throughout American history. “A sapper, in a historic sense, goes back to the 17th century. It’s a French term,” said USACE Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Galick. Back then, military engineers would dig trenches to breach enemy defenses without direct exposure to…