How is the best way for a cadet to prepare for Sapper School?

I have two recommendations for you - physical fitness and land navigation. Having trouble with either of those will get you dropped faster than anything else. If you look at any of the drop lists the school posts to the social media accounts*, the majority of the attrition is due to these two things.

Sapper school has been described as a 'sprint' for all 28 days. You will be tired. You will be hungry. You will be tired. You will have information crammed into your head. You will be tired. You tie a lot of knots. You will be tired. You will blow stuff up.

Did I say you'll be tired? Did I say you need to be physically fit and have your land nav skills down cold?

Now, lucky for you, the Sapper School wants to be completely up front about the difficulty of the course. While it isn't as difficult as the other 'killer course' at Leonard Wood (the Army's Diver Course has something like a 6% pass rate), it is one of the more difficult schools in the Army. On average, only 60% people 'pass', but only 40% get enough points in the course to earn the right to wear the Sapper tab.

Make sure you check out the training material and course overview information:
Train up and videos - https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/units-tenants/USAES/Sapper/Sapper/train-and-videos
Sapper History - https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/units-tenants/USAES/Sapper/Sapper/history
Reporting information (MUST READ) - https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/units-tenants/USAES/Sapper/Sapper/reporting-information

Make absolutely sure you go through each link above and dive deep - there is a LOT of information on tasks you'll be evaluated on and the standards you will be tested to.

Good luck!
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* https://twitter.com/Official_Sapper / https://www.facebook.com/SapperLeaderCourse

1. Can't navigate? Then yer out. So pravtice with a map and compass.
2. Sapper specific acronyms you will be given are critical to memorize - but you also need to undrstand what each letter really means in detail.
3. Be physically fit. If you can do 9 Pull-ups (palms away from your face) then the pushups, situps and runs will be easier since the pullups will increase your stamina across the board.
4. Put on a rucksack with about 60 pounds and walk across-country (not on trails) for 3-5 miles daily.
5. Practice each demonition task, until you can get correct 3 times in a row without error.
6. Take a break between practice and us it to review the next task.
7. Its the little tasks that will fail you, failure to correctly place the charge, how you hold (you want all your fingers at the end of the day) the chimpers, etc...
8. Be familiaer with how Modernized Demolition Initiators (shock tube) are used with the Army's demolitions protocols.
9. Read and practice using FM 3-34.214, Explosives and Demolitions.
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Note: We used clothesline to cut up for "time fuse", laying out Det-Cord cutting charges with kids Play-Doh molded to simulate C-4. Clear Vinyl Tubing from Lowes was used to simulate MDI. Use your imagination to develop and put together a practice kit in lieu of live demolitions materials.

I went in 2010, and while I’m sure a few things have changed, the fundamental basics haven’t. Know your knots, be in great physical shape, be good at land nav (it’s one of the hardest land nav courses in the Army). Also, patrolling is not anything like what you do in ROTC. It’s very in-depth. Whatever you’ve learned about patrolling thus far barely scratches the surface. They’ll teach you what you need to know, just pay attention.

There are also some pre-reqs so make sure you read the Sapper Leader Course website and do anything it says you need to do beforehand.

It’s a 28-day sprint. You’re going to be tired and hungry, especially in the field. But it will be 28 of the best days of your life.