By Marti Yoshida
Public Affairs Office

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (April 7, 2019) — The opening ceremony for the 13th annual Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition was held Sunday at Training Area 160.

Forty-eight Sapper teams from across the Army’s Engineer Regiment will vie for the title of 2019 Best Sapper April 8-10 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Retired Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers, the 86th Commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School and 50th Chief of Engineers, returned to Fort Leonard Wood for the ceremony, along with the 2018 Best Sapper defending champions, from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who will be representing Team 1. Flowers, who played a key role in advocating for the authorized wear of the Sapper tab, provided motivational remarks for Sapper teams.

“I see a lot of familiar flashes and patches,” Flowers, who is the first and only honorary Sapper of the Engineer Regiment, said. “You don’t know me, but I know you. I’m here representing Sappers past to try to encourage you to do everything you can do through this competition to earn the pride that it takes to finish and the camaraderie of the competition.”

Flowers spoke about the Korean War Battle of Pusan Perimeter, urging competitors to keep in mind, “When the going gets tough and it gets hot, think about those Sappers who stayed there, fought it out and never quit.”

The U.S. Army Engineer School Commandant, Brig. Gen. Robert Whittle, welcomed Sapper Teams, who will travel 50 miles on foot in 50 hours, while completing engineer tasks throughout the physically and mentally demanding competition.

“You are already ahead of you peers just by being here,” Whittle said. “You stepped up and you’re willing to compete. This competition is going to test the bounds of your endurance. It’s going to test your capability to think under pressure.”

Whittle quoted the “Man in the Arena” from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 “Citizenship in a Republic Speech,” saying, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena … ”

“Sappers you are about to enter the arena,” Whittle said. “This competition will reveal and build your character. Over the next 50 hours you will find out who you really are and who your battle buddy really is. Stay motivated. Never quit.”

USAES Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Galick, added a message for Sapper Teams, “We’re here to see who’s best from among the teams sitting right here.”

“A few days from now when you don’t remember why you’re here, remember you’re here to finish every event,” Galick said. “You’re here to not quit. You’re here to take care of that Sapper on your left and right. You’re here to earn the right. The only way to earn the right is if you finish.”

Daily competition standings will be posted to #BestSapper Competition on Facebook and at the USAES web page:  https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/units-tenants/USAES/Sapper/ss. Winners will be announced at 7:30 a.m. April 11 during a ceremony on Gammon Field here.

Graphic by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Jacobs, Operations Chief, Sapper Training Company

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2019 Best Sapper Team Roster:

Team 1: Defending Champions – 1st Sgt. Robert Clark, Capt. Rudy Chelednik; 21st Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Team 2: Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Tullis, Staff Sgt. Joshua Newbury, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska

Team 3: 1st Lt. Thomas Martin, 1st Lt. Daniel Holloran, 92nd Engineer Battalion, Fort Stewart, Georgia

Team 4: 1st Lt. Joshua Aaron, 1st Lt. Zach Bailey, Regimental Engineer Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Grafenwoehr, Germany

Team 5: Staff Sgt. Brendan Gilbert, 2nd Lt. Timothy Olson, 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Vicenza, Italy

Team 6: Capt. Erwin Marciniak, 1st Lt. Jeremy Matsumoto, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado

Team 7: 1st Lt. Dushan Marinkovich, Staff Sgt. Dakota Van Petten, 65th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Team 8: Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Miller, Staff Sgt. Rafael Agosto, 35th Engineer Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Team 9: 1st Sgt. Joshua Pagan, Sgt. Dylan Ledbetter, 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado

Team 10: Capt. Blake Ritchey, 1st Lt. John Sinclair, 326th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Team 11: Staff Sgt. Timothy Mackey, Staff Sgt. Nicholas Hawkey, 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington

Team 12: Capt. Arnulfo Ahumada, 1st Lt. Garrett Seiden, 84th Engineer Battalion, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Team 13: 1st Lt. Zach Cohen, 1st Lt. Andrew Warner, 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Vicenza, Italy

Team 14: Sgt. 1st Class Jason Grieco, Staff Sgt. Scott Rahn, 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade, Fort Carson, Colorado

Team 15: 1st Sgt. Brandon Reid, Sgt. Gary Coggins, 1st Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Riley, Kansas

Team 16: Staff Sgt. Lucas Tucker, 1st Lt. Sabin Vaira, 27th Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Team 17: Capt. John Baer, 1st Lt. Terence Hughes, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Team 18: Capt. Christopher McCrobie, 1st Lt. Jonathan Moll, 101st Engineer Battalion, Massachusetts Army National Guard

Team 19: 1st Lt. Joseph Pellicano, Sgt. John McNulty, 101st Engineer Battalion, Massachusetts Army National Guard

Team 20: 1st Lt. Ryan Reid, Staff Sgt. Michael Desimone, 8th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas

Team 21: 1st Lt. Matthew Cushing, Staff Sgt. Joseph Borman, 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Stewart, Georgia

Team 22: Staff Sgt. Jose Esquivel, 1st Sgt. Robert Delira, 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Team 24: 1st Lt. Michael Tummolo, Sgt. Samuel Weinstein, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Team 25: Staff Sgt. Ryan Knox, Staff Sgt. Wayne Taylor, 19th Engineer Battalion, Fort Knox, Kentucky

Team 26: Staff Sgt. Derrick Baker, Staff Sgt. Jose Carrillo, 31st Engineer Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Team 27: Staff Sgt. John Maxwell, Sgt. Thomas Barone, 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Team 28: Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Olson, Sgt. David Wilson, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska

Team 29: 1st Lt. Tristan Godbold, 1st Lt. Adam Thompson, 27th Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Team 30: 1st Lt. Seamus Bann, Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Schroeder, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado

Team 31: 1st Lt. Caleb McNeill, Sgt. Mathew Barton, 92nd Engineer Battalion, Fort Eustis, Virginia

Team 32: 1st Lt. Parker Scaggs, 2nd Lt. Jacob Roberson, 41st Engineer Battalion, Fort Drum, New York

Team 33: 1st Lt. Dustin St. Arnaud, Sgt. Garrett Foskitt, 52nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado

Team 34: 2nd Lt. Gabriel Hammock, Staff Sgt. Ronald Thomas, 11th Engineer Battalion, Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea

Team 35: 1st Lt. Zachary Gould, 2nd Lt. Martin Figueroa, 84th Engineer Battalion, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Team 36: 2nd Lt. Stephen Hiles, 1st Lt. Edward Muro, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Team 37: 1st Lt. Tim Henry, Pfc. Jonathan McCarthy, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Team 38: 1st Lt. Brian Crigler, 1st Lt. William Hooker, 10th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Stewart, Georgia

Team 39: 2nd Lt. Quinn Gutierrez, Staff Sgt. Neemia Tiapula, 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Vicenza, Italy

Team 40: 1st Lt. Trevor Wilson, 1st Lt. Alexander Marinos, 46th Engineer Battalion, Fort Drum, New York

Team 41: 1st Lt. Timothy Soderlund, Staff Sgt. Derick Elizardo, 2nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Bliss, Texas

Team 42: Capt. Benjamin Poth, 1st Lt. Luke Lysher, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas

Team 43: Staff Sgt. Andres Vasquez, Staff Sgt. Kelby Crain, 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Team 44: 1st Lt. Sean McGivney, 2nd Lt. Joseph Garner, 29th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Team 45: 1st Lt. Raphael Garcia, Spc. David Jimenez, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas

Team 46: 1st Lt. Joshua Greenberg, 1st Lt. Matthew Salazar, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas

Team 47: Spc. Shane Grice, Spc. Steven Harding, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado

Team 49: Spc. Adrian Jimenez, 1st Lt. Calvin Kiesewetter, 5th Engineer Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Team 50: 1st Lt. William Miller, 1st Sgt. Erik Bonnett, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas

Editor’s note: There is not a Team 23 or Team 48.