Editing Combat engineer (section)

==Terminology==
A general combat engineer is often called a ''[[pioneer (military)|pioneer]]'' or ''[[sapper]]'', terms derived respectively from the [[France|French]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] armies. In some armies, ''pioneer'' and ''sapper'' indicate specific [[military rank]]s and levels of combat engineers, who work under fire in all seasons and may be allocated to different corps, as they were in the former Soviet Army, or they may be organized in the same corps. [[Geomatics]] (surveying and cartography) is another area of military engineering but is often performed by the combat engineers of some nations and in other cases is a separate responsibility, as was formerly the case in the Australian Army. While the officers of a combat engineer unit may be professionally certified civil or mechanical engineers, the non-commissioned members are generally not.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

===Sapper===
{{seemain|Sapper}}
In the British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand armies, a sapper is a soldier who has specialized combat engineer training. The term "sapper" in the U.S. Army refers to a person who either possesses the combat engineer military occupational specialty or who has graduated from the Sapper Leader Course, more commonly called "Sapper School." In Sapper School, volunteers from the ranks of combat engineers and other military occupational specialties (most of whom serve in the [[combat arms]]) undergo training in combat engineer and infantry battle drills, expedient demolitions, threat weapons, unarmed combat, mountaineering, and water operations. Some of the training in this 28-day course, arguably one of the most challenging in the U.S. Army, features covert infiltration techniques or survival skills.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/units-tenants/USAES/Sapper | title= Sapper| website= army.mil}}</ref>

In the [[Israeli Defence Forces|Israeli Defense Forces]], sapper (פלס) is a military profession code denoting a combat engineer who has graduated from various levels of combat engineering training. Sapper 05 is the basic level, Sapper 06 is the general level, Sapper 08 is the combat engineer commander's level, and Sapper 11 is the combat engineer [[officer]] level. All IDF sappers are also trained as [[Rifleman]] 07, matching [[infantry]].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

In the [[Canadian Army]], it is a term for soldiers that have completed the basic Combat Engineer training.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.forces.ca/fr/job/sapeursapeusedecombat-5 |title=Sapeur / Sapeuse de combat |website= forces.ca |access-date=2013-01-20 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130219185200/http://www.forces.ca/fr/job/sapeursapeusedecombat-5 |archive-date=19 February 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the [[Portuguese Army]], a ''sapador de engenharia'' (engineering sapper) is a soldier of the engineering branch that has specialized combat engineer training. A ''sapador de infantaria'' (infantry sapper) is a soldier of the infantry branch that has a similar training and that usually serves in the combat support sapper platoon of an infantry battalion.

The [[Italian Army]] uses the term ''guastatori'' for their combat engineers.

===Pioneer===
{{seemain|Pioneer (military)}}
In the [[Finnish army]], ''pioneeri'' is the private equivalent rank in the army for a soldier who has completed the basic combat engineering training. Naval engineers retain the rank ''matruusi'' but bear the ''pioneeri'' insignia on their sleeves.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

The German [[Bundeswehr]] uses the term ''Pionier'' for their combat engineers and other specialized units, who are associated with Special Forces to clear obstacles and perform engineering duties. Also the combat engineers in the Austro-Hungarian [[k.u.k.]] Forces were called "Pioniere".{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

===Assault pioneer===
{{seemain|Assault pioneer}}
In the British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand armies, an assault pioneer is an infantry soldier with some limited combat engineer training in clearing obstacles during assaults and light engineering duties. Until recently, assault pioneers were responsible for the operation of [[flamethrower]]s.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

===Field engineer===
Field engineer is a term used (or formerly used) in many Commonwealth armies. In modern usage, it is often synonymous with combat engineer. However, the term originally identified those military engineers who supported an army operating in the field instead of garrison engineers who built and supported permanent fixed bases. In its original usage, "field engineering" would have been inclusive of but broader than "combat engineering."{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

===Specialisations===

Sappers specialising in [[tunnel warfare]] may be known as miners.

In the [[French Army]], combat engineers specialising in bridge-building are called ''[[pontonier]]s'', while in the [[Italian Army]], combat engineers specialising in bridge-building are called ''[[pontieri]]''.