FORT CHAFFEE (KFSM) -- Some of the best Army Combat Engineer Teams from across the country are at Fort Chaffee competing in the second annual Sapper Stakes Competition Tuesday morning (Sept. 1) .
18 teams, from both the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard, are putting their teamwork and knowledge of explosives, weapons, route clearance and urban welfare to the test, according to Lt. Col. Dwight Ikenberry.
"Throughout the competition, the soldiers will compete in a variety of individual tasks like a 12-mile ruck march, a non-standard APFT, a physical fitness test, room clearing," Ikenberry explained. "They'll also compete in engineer-specific skills like cratering a road, overall knowledge of army demolitions, engineer reconnaissance, setting up a landing zone... a variety of skills that a combat engineer on today's battlefield must know."
The two T.E.C.s in charge of the event are responsible for total of 26,000 soldiers of various job specialties across the continental U.S, to include all engineer soldiers in the Army Reserve, Ikenberry said.
The competition wraps up Wednesday morning (Aug. 2), following an awards banquet.