The Sapper Tab is a military badge of the United States Army which was authorized on June 28, 2004 by the Army Chief of Staff, General Peter Schoomaker.
To be awarded the Sapper Tab, a service member may or may not hold the military occupation specialty code (MOS) designation as a Combat Engineer (Sapper), but must have graduated from the Sapper Leader Course (SLC), that the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, operates. The school falls under the 169th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade. The tab was approved retroactively to the graduates of the first SLC on June 14, 1985.
The Sapper Leader Course is a 28-day course designed to train joint-service leaders in small unit tactics, leadership skills, and tactics required to perform as part of a combined arms team. The course is open to enlisted soldiers in the grades of E-4 (P) (in the Army, specialist on the list for promotion to sergeant) E-5, and above, cadets, and officers O-3 (Army, captain) and below. Students can come from any combat or combat support branch of the service, but priority is given to engineer, cavalry, and infantry soldiers.
The full color tab is 2 3/8 inches (6.03 cm) long, 11/16 inch (1.75 cm) wide, with a red background and a 1/8 inch (.32 cm) red border and the word "SAPPER" inscribed in white letters 5/16 inch (.79 cm) high. The woodland subdued tab is identical, except the background is olive drab and the word "SAPPER" is in black letters. The desert subdued tab has a khaki background with the word “SAPPER†in spice brown letters.
The Sapper Tab is one of four permanent individual skill/marksmanship tabs (as compared to a badge) authorized for wear by the U.S. Army. In order of precedence on the uniform, they are the President's Hundred Tab, the Special Forces Tab, the Ranger Tab, and the Sapper Tab. Only three may be worn at one time (not including tabs that are part of the shoulder sleeve insignia such as Airborne or Mountain).
See also
Surviving the Cut Army Sapper School - Surviving the Cut Army Sapper School.
- Engineer Officer Basic Course
- Tabs of the United States Army
References
External links
- Pentagon Institute of Heraldry's Sapper Tab Page
- About.com Sapper Tab Article
- Sapper Leaders Course
