Okla-homey
3/11/2010, 06:48 AM
March 11, 1779 Congress establishes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6894/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzi.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Engineer Regimental crest. The motto, "Essayons" means "I will try."
On this day 231 years ago, Congress establishes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help plan, design and prepare environmental and structural facilities for the U.S. Army. Made up of civilian workers, members of the Continental Army and French officers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played an essential role in the critical Revolutionary War battles at Bunker Hill, Saratoga and Yorktown.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/143/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzenbutt2sy.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Engineers are the only branch of the Army who have a distinctive uniform button.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/8008/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbb28.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Button the rest of the Army wears.
The members of the Corps who had joined at the time of its founding in 1779 left the army with their fellow veterans at the end of the War for Independence. In 1794, Congress created a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers to serve the same purpose under the new federal government. The Corps of Engineers itself was reestablished as an enduring division of the federal government in 1802.
The engineer branch being the one which required the most brains, for decades, only the top grads from West Point received their commissions in this historic branch.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/120/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzitem.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The Confederate army engineers wore a distinctive button too. Here's one dug at a civl war campsite. It sports a gothic "E" for "engineers."
Upon its reestablishment, the Corps began its chief task of creating and maintaining military fortifications. These responsibilities increased in urgency as the new United States prepared for a second war with Britain in the years before 1812.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7931/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzmchenr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Baltimore's Fort McHenry which proved invincible during our War of 1812 and over which floated "the Star Spangled banner," was designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps’ greatest contribution during this era was to the defense of New York Harbor—the fortifications it built not only persuaded British naval commanders to stay away from the city during the War of 1812, but later served as the foundations for the Statue of Liberty.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4114/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbranch.png (http://imageshack.us)
US Army branch insignia...engineers third row from the bottom on the right. The castle is their symbol because their primary focus at inception was design of fortifications
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/610/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz1.gif (http://imageshack.us)
In subsequent years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evolved from providing services for the military to helping map out the uncharted territories that would become the western United States. Beginning in 1824, the Corps also took responsibility for navigation and flood control of the nation’s river systems.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/9770/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzacem96fm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The M-9 armored combat earthmover or "ACE." One of these babies can build a tank or Bradley hull defillade* fighting position in no time flat. (*For the civilians, that means a hole deep enough to bury a tank in a defensive position up to its turret so it can shoot without having its hull or vulnerable tracks exposed -- which is a force multiplier)
Today, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers is made up of more than 35,000 civilian and uniformed men and women. In recent years, the Corps has worked on rebuilding projects in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the reconstruction of the city of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2091/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbmycorpa.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
M-9 in desert paintjob
So, what's a "sapper" you ask?
A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who sapped another's fortifications. They are the forebears of today's combat engineers.
When an army was defending a fortress with cannon, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's own guns. The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire. This was achieved by digging what the French termed a 'Sappe'. Using techniques developed and perfected by Vauban, the sapeurs (sappers) began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire 'enfilading' (passing directly along) the sappe.
As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which cannon could suppress the defenders on the bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging their way toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer and closer until (hopefully) the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for undermining to begin. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems.
Therefore, when attacking a fortified position, the cry was heard, "Sappers forward!"
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6894/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzi.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Engineer Regimental crest. The motto, "Essayons" means "I will try."
On this day 231 years ago, Congress establishes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help plan, design and prepare environmental and structural facilities for the U.S. Army. Made up of civilian workers, members of the Continental Army and French officers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played an essential role in the critical Revolutionary War battles at Bunker Hill, Saratoga and Yorktown.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/143/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzenbutt2sy.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Engineers are the only branch of the Army who have a distinctive uniform button.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/8008/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbb28.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Button the rest of the Army wears.
The members of the Corps who had joined at the time of its founding in 1779 left the army with their fellow veterans at the end of the War for Independence. In 1794, Congress created a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers to serve the same purpose under the new federal government. The Corps of Engineers itself was reestablished as an enduring division of the federal government in 1802.
The engineer branch being the one which required the most brains, for decades, only the top grads from West Point received their commissions in this historic branch.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/120/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzitem.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The Confederate army engineers wore a distinctive button too. Here's one dug at a civl war campsite. It sports a gothic "E" for "engineers."
Upon its reestablishment, the Corps began its chief task of creating and maintaining military fortifications. These responsibilities increased in urgency as the new United States prepared for a second war with Britain in the years before 1812.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7931/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzmchenr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Baltimore's Fort McHenry which proved invincible during our War of 1812 and over which floated "the Star Spangled banner," was designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps’ greatest contribution during this era was to the defense of New York Harbor—the fortifications it built not only persuaded British naval commanders to stay away from the city during the War of 1812, but later served as the foundations for the Statue of Liberty.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4114/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbranch.png (http://imageshack.us)
US Army branch insignia...engineers third row from the bottom on the right. The castle is their symbol because their primary focus at inception was design of fortifications
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/610/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz1.gif (http://imageshack.us)
In subsequent years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evolved from providing services for the military to helping map out the uncharted territories that would become the western United States. Beginning in 1824, the Corps also took responsibility for navigation and flood control of the nation’s river systems.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/9770/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzacem96fm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The M-9 armored combat earthmover or "ACE." One of these babies can build a tank or Bradley hull defillade* fighting position in no time flat. (*For the civilians, that means a hole deep enough to bury a tank in a defensive position up to its turret so it can shoot without having its hull or vulnerable tracks exposed -- which is a force multiplier)
Today, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers is made up of more than 35,000 civilian and uniformed men and women. In recent years, the Corps has worked on rebuilding projects in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the reconstruction of the city of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2091/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbmycorpa.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
M-9 in desert paintjob
So, what's a "sapper" you ask?
A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who sapped another's fortifications. They are the forebears of today's combat engineers.
When an army was defending a fortress with cannon, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's own guns. The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire. This was achieved by digging what the French termed a 'Sappe'. Using techniques developed and perfected by Vauban, the sapeurs (sappers) began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire 'enfilading' (passing directly along) the sappe.
As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which cannon could suppress the defenders on the bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging their way toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer and closer until (hopefully) the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for undermining to begin. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems.
Therefore, when attacking a fortified position, the cry was heard, "Sappers forward!"