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Entrevista a un zapador

Interview with a sapper

Information and material for the Military Academies at sermilitar.com
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In this post we bring you an interview conducted on our Discord channel with a fellow sapper from the Army, we hope you like it.

Remember that you can join our Discord channel to participate in these types of interviews.

1.- Do the sappers have SERECO or do they themselves do SERECO?

Yes, in fact in all units where there are sappers there is a reconnaissance section. In my unit, for example in a Company, there is that section, which for logistical reasons is half merged with the explosives disposal section.

2.- What vehicles do you work with?

The subject of vehicles, in my unit, of sappers, the most characteristic, are the Husky and the RG-31, the famous and hateful TOAS, the VAMTAC, the Dornier and Bailey bridges, the Alacran M60, and other construction and construction machines. works, like a backhoe, that is, the typical construction machines, to give you an idea.

3.- When you go out on maneuvers, what do you do?

Depending on what type of maneuvers we are going for, if they are Alpha ones that are carried out at the Battalion level, and other types of support maneuvers for other larger units, for example, a Cavalry Battalion requests support from a section of Sappers, then let's go. added to them and what they send us and the topic of what we do, well, generic things about sappers, mine fields, fortifications, route reconnaissance, control points (check points), breach openings with pole throwing, assault on a dimension, etc.

4.- How often do you usually do maneuvers?

From what I have experienced to date, in Pre-COVID times, well depending, between 4 and 6 maneuvers a year, some of 1 week, others of 2, depending.
Later, in Post-COVID, the issue of maneuvers was greatly reduced, until they have become something more normal.

5.- Do you think you have enough free time to be able to study?

That depends on the time you want to make, how organized you are, and then what you want to do in that free time. Think that normally, without maneuvers or continuations, etc., you are free at 3:00 p.m. at the latest, and from there until 7:45 a.m. the next day you return to the routine because you have hours. Take away about 6 – 7 hours of sleep minimum, which is obvious. Well, you have the whole afternoon and some of the night to manage, if you want to go to the gym, do your shopping, and start studying for an opposition, or even go to class in the afternoon at an institute if you consider it, so you can take time if you want one. So each one will already know how to manage it and in what.

Of course, it depends on each unit because you will end up more tired from the activities you do or not, and you will want to take a nap or even do nothing because you want to relax, that depends on the units, there are some that are quieter and some that are less calm, as in everything.

6.- What is the sappers' routine like?

I suppose the sappers' routine is like in any unit. I'm going to talk about a day in my unit, around 07:45 we formed on the parade ground, where news is given to Usía, so if at that time you have to form, then there you already calculate what time you have to get up if Do you live on the Base or in your house, depending on how far it is from the Base.

Then we are doing sports from 08:00 when Bandera sounds, until approximately 09:00, then you are going to shower, clean up, change and have lunch, at approximately 10:00, start of activities again, each Company will have a topic or activity to do, depending on what is happening that day, that week or month, since that day involves minefields, or breaching, well, that is, until approximately 2:15 p.m. that everything begins to be collected in warehouses, furry or armories, and then the time until breaking ranks, which is at 2:45 p.m., well, in a rest plan, or "making a homeland", as we call it here hehe, which is talking about commanders and subordinates a little of everything, our concerns, what to do, goals, objectives, plans, a brotherhood of all, etc.

On Fridays it is the same starting time, except in the instruction part, or topics, as it is usually vehicle maintenance and Base clearance, and the departure is brought forward approximately 1 hour. This schedule above is the normal schedule, the low activity schedule, since you enter the same, but you leave that, approximately 1 hour earlier every day.

7.- What made you choose the unit you are in?

Well, when I made the application form for the 15 destinations to choose from, I put them all from the closest possible to my house, to the furthest possible from my home, making a radius of those destinations from my city until the 15 were exhausted. boxes. Also, since I have had a relative who was in Engineering, I already knew what this specialty was about, it was the one I basically knew, the rest that I listed were from all the specialties depending on proximity.

8.- What do you like most about the unit?

Well, I like the good atmosphere in general, and little by little they are improving in various aspects, but over time. The truth is that I mainly stay with people.

9.- What do you like least about the unit?

Well, the eternal cold that it always gets, hahaha, you have to get used to it, but you survive well. And that it is a unit that could be called more to go on missions, but unfortunately it goes very little or almost nothing.

10.- Is there anything you would improve?

Yes, some things, such as trying to give unit members the opportunity to go on missions, improve some of the Base's infrastructure, and provide facilities for personnel. I suppose that this is very similar to other units, it is something “general” basically…

11.- Any advice for wearing sappers well?

Surely the training of sappers is harder than that of Transmissions, or Artillery, for example, that there is more demand for sports training to be able to carry out better combat training. With a good training plan, resistance and strength, you will do well with these two previous points.

12.- Level of physical demand?

If you ask because you want to take the military exam and become a sapper, or you are in the middle of Cefot 2 doing the instruction, well, as a level of normal physical demand you do well, good strength and endurance training in running will help you a lot, When it comes to sports with running and then when it comes to instruction, with a loaded backpack and weapons, he gets along well.

13.- From your point of view, what is the main function of sappers?

Well, what I am going to comment on is what the instructor commanders that I had there taught me in Cefot 2, what they told me, is the same as what I think, because it is reality, well, in war, favoring the movement of troops allies, and hinder those of the enemy.

They favor the mobility of armies, by getting ahead of the rest of the forces, they secure roads and structures such as bridges for the passage of troops.

14.- Can any type of accessory be worn in the vest? (Extra pockets, first aid kit...)

This is a particular issue, I believe that for each unit, given that a long time ago in my unit you could carry any type of accessory, even a first aid kit on the side of the backpack, but now everything has to be regulatory army equipment, the rest things you carry, well inside the backpack, nothing on the outside, just like in the anti-fragment or peco.

15.- What is your goal within sappers, to access the moe, non-commissioned officers, cnp...?

My goal in 2022 is to access non-commissioned officers, I have already completed 1 call and have not been able to enter. If this option does not work out, I have the second option of going for those reserved for the Civil Guard. But hey, it's always good to have other options if the first one fails. There are hundreds of other oppositions that are quite interesting when it comes to improving professionally.

16.- What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

Well, let's see, if you are young and want to apply when you have finished your compulsory studies, then apply if you have a great vocation. I recommend starting from the Troop, as a soldier, seeing in the first commitment if you like military life and if you like it, then internally promote Officers or Non-Commissioned Officers. Since maybe if you go through direct access, for example to Non-Commissioned Officers, then maybe after the academy, being in a unit, you don't like that life at all or the day to day life and you regret it and then many do. They leave, as I have seen cases, examples that military life is not suitable for everyone, each person is a world and has their particularities, tastes and limits in their life. And another important thing, if you really want to enter the army, do not let it pass until almost the age limit, which you may later regret, or if you enter late, limit yourself later when you are already in the military when it comes to promotion, or improve with courses or other issues, it is also assumed that an 18-year-old kid is physically better off in theory than a 29-year-old kid (which I think is the age limit now), although in many cases as I have seen it is quite the opposite, wow.

I also recommend getting some intermediate degree before entering and if it can be a higher degree of vocational training, much better, since that can help you later when it comes to providing that knowledge in the army, you will see that. The instruction in Cefot 2 is passed well, it is smooth from my point of view, whoever does not pass it is not cut out for this life and wants to live in comfort, to live under the mantle of dad and mom, with which This is not for those people. Whoever passes the Cefot 2 instruction, as well as Cefot 1, doesn't matter to me, because in each unit, they will have their respective specific instructions, in the case of the sappers it is the IBZ (Basic Sapper Instruction), which lasts between 1 and Approximately 3 months depending on the unit. There they will press a little more and the instructor controls that you will have will be stricter, but it is “On command” for everything and go ahead, there will be bad moments when your body tells you I can't, but thanks to your mind if you manage to do it because you say if I can In those moments, when your mind tells you if I can, think about the best moments of your life, whether with family, friends, partner, etc., and thanks to that you will be able to overcome everything that lies ahead and much more.

I hope it helps and advises you all. A hug

If you want to enter the Military Academies of Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers (both in the Direct Access modality and in Access by Promotion) consult sermilitar.com the material available to prepare access or visit the online store purchase.sermilitar.com

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Filed in: Entrevistas
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