FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — The 13th annual Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition concluded with an awards ceremony Thursday on Gammon Field.
In a heavily-contested race to earn the title as the next Best Sapper, Capt. John Baer and 1st Lt. Terence Hughes representing Team 17 from the 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, emerged as this year’s top-placing team.
Top finishers were:
1st Place — Team 17: Capt. John Baer, 1st Lt. Terence Hughes, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky;
2nd Place — Team 16: Staff Sgt. Lucas Tucker, 1st Lt. Sabin Vaira, 27th Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina;
3rd Place — Team 6: Capt. Erwin Marciniak, 1st Lt. Jeremy Matsumoto, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado.
Event awards went to the following units:
Non-standard Physical Fitness event winner — Team 17: Capt. John Baer, 1st Lt. Terence Hughes, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky;
Water Operations Phase — Team 6: Capt. Erwin Marciniak, 1st Lt. Jeremy Matsumoto, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado;
Round Robin Phase — Team 28: Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Olson, Sgt. David Wilson, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska;
Land Navigation Phase — Team 6: Capt. Erwin Marciniak, 1st Lt. Jeremy Matsumoto, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado;
X-mile Ruck — Team 16: Staff Sgt. Lucas Tucker, 1st Lt. Sabin Vaira, 27th Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and;
X-mile Run — Team 17: Capt. John Baer, 1st Lt. Terence Hughes, 39th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Story by Martha Yoshida, Leonard Wood
Photos by Michael Curtis, Leonard Wood