BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Fort Custer Training center in Battle Creek is being recognized for it’s sapper units, the soldiers tasked with demolition, repairs, and breaching fortifications.
The U.S. National Guard says Fort Custer’s 1433rd Engineering Company ranked third among 27 similar units across the country in terms of skills and readiness.
Sapper units are specialized units in the U.S. Army that take part in engineering missions such as demolishing enemy fortifications, bridge and road building, and repairing facilities like airfields.
Part of the 507th Engineering Battalion, unit soldiers underwent a 10-month deployment in Afghanistan before returning home 2013. The 1433rd has also had troops stationed at bases around the world when called to duty.
The 1433rd company is one of two sapper units based in Michigan, with the other being 1431st Engineering Unit based in the Upper Peninsula city of Calumet and also ranked among the top five nationally.
