Press Release
☷Gila engineers take 9th place in Best Sapper Competition
U.S. Army ( By Press Release office)
May 03,2022
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First Lt . Rafael Eirea Lamberto , left , and 1st Lt . Drake Titus , right , engineer officers assigned to the "Gila Battalion , " 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion , 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team , 3rd Infantry Division , pose for a photo after competing finished ninth place out of 48 initial teams at the 15th Annual Lt . Gen . Robert B . Flowers Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri , April 25 , 2022 . Nearly every year , engineer Soldiers across the Marne Division form teams to compete in the Best Sapper Competition to improve their occupational skills and become an expert in their craft . ( Courtesy Photo ) FORT STEWART , Ga . – A two - man team of combat engineers assigned to the “Gila Battalion , ” 9th Engineer Battalion , 2nd Armored Combat Team , 3rd Infantry Division , tested their bodies and minds at the 15th Annual Lt . Gen . Robert B . Flowers Best Sapper Competition between April 23 - 25 at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri . The 9th BEB team , Team 7 , consisting of 1st Lt . Rafael Eirea Lamberto , a native of Cuba and Miami , Florida , who graduated from Florida International University in Miami , and 1st Lt . Drake Titus , a native of Bloomfield Hills , Michigan , who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , placed ninth overall out of the final 25 teams that completed the Best Sapper Competition . Forty - eight sapper teams from across the country traveled to compete in the three - day competition at Fort Leonard Wood and each team consisted of at least one Sapper Leader Course graduate and each competitors had military rank ranging from specialists to captains . First Lt . Rafael Eirea Lamberto , left , and 1st Lt . Drake Titus , right , engineer officers assigned to the "Gila Battalion , " 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion , 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team , 3rd Infantry Division , negotiate a wall obstacle during the third and final day of the 15th Annual Lt . Gen . Robert B . Flowers Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri , April 25 , 2022 . Nearly every year , engineer Soldiers across the Marne Division form teams to compete in the Best Sapper Competition to improve their occupational skills and become an expert in their craft . ( Courtesy Photo ) The competition consisted of a non - standard physical fitness test , a river run , a round robin , sapper stakes , land navigation and many other challenges that tested their physical endurance , mental toughness and overall engineer skills to compete for top spot at the Best Sapper Competition . Col . Daniel H . Hibner , the U . S . Army Engineer School Commandant , spoke about what it took for competitors to be successful . “Through the challenges they were forced to rely on their training and their Sapper teammate to persevere and accomplish every mission , ” said Hibner . “I was inspired to watch these competitors give it all they had . It was their great and sheer determination that kept them going . I’m proud of you for taking on one of the toughest challenges the U . S . Army has to offer . " Eirea Lamberto says it was no easy task , despite three months of training as much as they could . “The most challenging part was the lack of sleep and arduous activity day after day trying to stay alert and ahead of the other competitors to constantly outperform them , ” he said . First Lt . Drake Titus , left , and 1st Lt . Rafael Eirea Lamberto , engineer officers assigned to the "Gila Battalion , " 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion , 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team , 3rd Infantry Division , run between events during the first day of the 15th Annual Lt . Gen . Robert B . Flowers Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri , April 23 , 2022 . Nearly every year , engineer Soldiers across the Marne Division form teams to compete in the Best Sapper Competition to improve their occupational skills and become an expert in their craft . ( Courtesy Photo ) This the second year in a row that Eirea Lamberto’s competed in the Best Sapper Competition , and he takes pride in learning from each one . “I’ve learned more from failing than winning and won’t stop until I take first place , ” he added . “The more I fail , the better I want to be . When competing you must go after it and want it more than anyone . ” The 2022 Best Sapper Competition was the first for Titus and says his biggest takeaway was learning how far he could push himself . “I was able to accomplish tasks far beyond what I believed I was capable of , ” he said . “It was truly a test of mind over matter . ” First Lt . Rafael Eirea Lamberto , left , and 1st Lt . Drake Titus , right , engineer officers assigned to the "Gila Battalion , " 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion , 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team , 3rd Infantry Division , work together to saw through a log the 15th Annual Lt . Gen . Robert B . Flowers Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri , April 25 , 2022 . Nearly every year , engineer Soldiers across the Marne Division form teams to compete in the Best Sapper Competition to improve their occupational skills and become an expert in their craft . ( Courtesy Photo ) The competition teaches competitors how to operate under unfavorable conditions with little food or sleep and still accomplish the mission at hand . “Physical fitness and attention to detail is a big separator within the competition , and those who could endure more and push harder through it are the ones who came out on top , ” Titus explained . “In contrast , those who lacked attention - to - detail fell behind or were dropped . ” The competition demonstrates excellence within the Army engineer community and allowed competitors to hone their skills and perfect their craft . First Lt . Drake Titus , left , and 1st Lt . Rafael Eirea Lamberto , engineer officers assigned to the "Gila Battalion , " 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion , 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team , 3rd Infantry Division , conduct the engineer blowtorch task on the first day of the 15th Annual Lt . Gen . Robert B . Flowers Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood , Missouri , April 23 , 2022 . Nearly every year , engineer Soldiers across the Marne Division form teams to compete in the Best Sapper Competition to improve their occupational skills and become an expert in their craft . ( Courtesy Photo ) “First Lt . Eirea Lamberto and Lt . Titus were the only armored brigade sapper team that completed the competition , ” said Lt . Col . Brian T . Looney , commander of the 9th BEB , 2nd ABCT , 3rd ID . “We talk every week about how winning matters and that’s what these gentlemen did . They represented the Marne Division as Dogface sappers and crushed it . ” Eirea Lamberto and Titus look forward to future challenges , including passing their knowledge onto their Soldiers and competing in next year’s Best Sapper Competition .
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