FRIDAY FOTO (July 27, 2018)

That’s Close Enough.

(U.S. Army photo by Major Carson Petry)

It’s been mighty hot in Texas lately, but these are not firefighters dealing with a prairie blaze. This is a photo of Army combat engineers blasting through a concrete wall during demolition training at Fort Hood, Texas.

This photo also illustrates the fact that the jobs of many servicemen and servicewomen place them in harm’s way — even when they are not facing hostile forces.

The soldiers in this July 17, 2018 photo are assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division.

Here at 4GWAR we’ve been big fans of Army combat engineers since a visit to Fort Leonard Wood, the home of the Army Engineer school and the annual Best Sapper Competition. Sapper is an ancient name for military combat engineers who both construct defensive positions, but breach them as well. The phrase “sapper” comes from the French saper (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). The combat engineer’s tools may change over the centuries, but not the mission.