Pathfinders (military)
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[edit] History
During World War II, the pathfinders were a group of volunteers selected within the Airborne units who were specially trained to operate navigation aids to guide the main airborne body to the drop zones. The pathfinder teams (sticks) were made up of a group of eight to twelve pathfinders and a group of six bodyguards whose job was to defend the pathfinders while they set up their equipment. The pathfinder teams dropped approximately thirty minutes before the main body in order to locate designated drop zones and provide radio and visual guides for the main force in order to improve the accuracy of the jump. Once the main body jumped, the pathfinders then joined their original units and fought as standard airborne infantry.
After the serious problems uncovered during the parachute drop in the Allied invasion of Sicily, Allied high command questioned the utility of parachute infantry primarily because of the difficulty of dropping the infantry as cohesive units rather than as scattered groups. A review of procedures and methods resulted in the establishment of the pathfinder teams to aid navigation to drop zones. Because aircraft navigation, especially at night, was so difficult, the concept was to create specially trained teams of aircraft crews and parachute infantry that would be able to locate the drop zone, parachute into the drop zone accurately, and then set up special radio beacon sets (the Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar beacon) and marking lamps to help guide the main airborne force to the drop zones. Brightly colored panels and smoke grenades were also used for daytime drops.
Pathfinders were first used in a jump to reinforce units involved in combat in Italy in September of 1943. Pathfinders were involved in the D-Day drop of the Battle of Normandy in June of 1944, the Operation Market Garden drops to secure the bridges required for the ground units advancing into the Netherlands in September 1944, a resupply by air operation of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944, and a resupply by air operation of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division near Bleialf, Germany in February of 1945.
Though a number of paratroopers were trained as pathfinders, they did not always jump as pathfinders for all operations. The number of pathfinders for a jump varied depending on the conditions of the destination at the time of the jump. For instance, the D-Day jump for the Battle of Normandy, a night time jump, had more pathfinder teams than the jump for Operation Market Garden, a day time jump. For the Battle of Bastogne, the 101st Airborne Division was trucked to the town for its defense against the attacking German forces. Two sticks of Pathfinders were used when the 101st Airborne was resupplied from the air in order to guide the aircraft dropping the much needed supplies accurately and within the Allied lines.
Pathfinders taking part in the Allied parachute assault on Normandy on 6 June 1944, were trained by the Pathfinder School at RAF North Witham of which the USAAF designation was Army Air Force Station 479.
At 21.30 hours on 5 June, about 200 pathfinders began to take off from North Witham, for the Cotentin Peninsula, in 20 C-47 aircraft of 9th Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder Group. They began to drop at 00.15 on June 6, to prepare the drop zones for the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. They were the first US troops on the ground on D-Day. However, their aircraft were scattered by low clouds and anti-aircraft fire. Many never found their assigned landing zones. Some of the landing zones were too heavily defended, some were flooded.
The British 6th Airborne Division, which participated in the D-Day drop for the Battle of Normandy used pathfinder teams as did the British 1st Airborne Division during Operation "Market" (the parachute infantry portion of Operation Market-Garden).
The origin of US Army pathfinders has been the subject of debate. According to the late Charlie Doyle, veteran of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, "[General 'Slim Jim'] Gavin likes to claim credit for 'inventing' Pathfinders, pointing to bad drops in Sicily as the cause. Let us set the record straight: The 509th, the world's most experienced bad drop specialists, first saw the need for them."
Doyle states the Scout Company of the 509th was the first specialized pathfinder group and it began the training at Oujda, assisted by knowledge gained from the experience of the British Airborne. Company commander Captain Howland and his XO 1st Lt. Fred E. Perry developed usable techniques. The Scout Company was later reorganized as a Scout Platoon with ten enlisted men under Perry's command. Perry states, "We were equipped with a British homing radio and U.S. Navy Aldis lamps, which radiated a beam to guide planes. We trained on this procedure until the invasion at Salerno."
Doyle relates that the 82nd Airborne Division arrived from the USA and camped near the 509th PIB at Oujda. The 509th was attached to the 82nd, but the division did not initially accept the pathfinder concept until after its experience in Sicily.
Doyle adds, "At the time, Major General Matthew Ridgway and his 'All-American' staff thought they knew it all. Impressed with themselves, although they were not jumpers or experienced glider troopers, they airily dismissed the 509th and its fresh combat experiences, as well as any nonstandard/Limey concept. They would learn the hard way."
Source: "Stand in the Door! The wartime history of the 509th Parachute Infantry" by Charles H. Doyle and Terrell Stewart. Published by Phillips Publications, P.O. Box 168, Williamstown, NJ 08094
Further information on the origin of the pathfinders during World War II can be found in the book "American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II" by Jeff Moran, published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
[edit] Modern pathfinders
Pathfinders still exist in a number of armed forces around the world. Most of them are senior members of parachute units and have earned the right to wear the Maroon beret.
Pathfinders in the US Army and Canadian Forces wear the Pathfinder Badge.
[edit] Canada
In the Canadian Forces Land Force Command, airborne pathfinders are an elite group of "quiet professionals" who - in addition to securing drop zones, gathering intelligence and delivering briefings to follow-on forces - also conduct operations ranging from ambushes and reconnaissance behind enemy lines to hostage rescue. They are regarded as Tier 2 Special Operations forces.
The only way to qualify as a pathfinder in the Canadian Army is to successfully pass the Patrol Pathfinder course. It is designed to be the hardest course in the Canadian Army, and only the most physically and mentally fit pass. Historically, pass rates are less than 25%.
The Patrol Pathfinder course is conducted through the Canadian Forces Land Advanced Warfare Centre. It was previously conducted through the Canadian Parachute Centre, which has now been absorbed into CFLAWC.
The Canadian special forces unit JTF2 employs pathfinders in a variety of roles. The Canadian Special Operations Regiment also uses pathfinders.
The pathfinders of the Canadian Airborne Regiment were some of the top soldiers in Canada. Several of them served with 1 Commando. The unit has since been disbanded.
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada is a reserve unit based in Toronto that has sent candidates on the Patrol Pathfinder course.
[edit] United Kingdom
Pathfinders in the British Army form the Pathfinder Platoon of 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Pathfinder Cadre is open to any male member of the UK Armed Forces. However, many of the applicants originate from within the prestigious Para-troop/Airborne Forces. Potential Pathfinders are required to go through a rigorous selection course with many months of exhausting physical and mental tests, before even being accepted for further training, where they must then successfully pass the Patrol-Pathfinder course. It is designed to be one of the hardest courses in the Para-troop/Airborne group, with the exception of Special Forces. Only the most physically and mentally fit pass. Historically, pass rates are less than 25%, with that sum decreasing more-so for the Commando training courses, to around 10%.
It is widely believed that the British Pathfinder regiments were the first to be set up as an entirely individual section of the Parachute Assault Regiments, which are the oldest and most highly trained Airborne group in the world. The British 16th Air Assault Brigade Pathfinders train almost entirely alone, with small, four-man groups being sent on monthly excersises so as to be correctly assessed by a commanding officer and expert team on their progress upon arrival at a designated rendezvous point. The British Pathfinder Regiment is highly respected by other countries military forces, and as such they instruct other members of the British Armed Forces on the correct procedures when Sniping, and on 'Escape and Evasion' tactics, Camouflage and the principals of Marksmanship.
The British Pathfinder Regiments will very occasionally work alongside other military forces as training aids and overseers, and have worked with U.S forces on several occasions as 'buddies' while performing joint tasks and so on.
[edit] United States of America
The U.S. Army operates three Pathfinder schools. These are at the Sabalauski Air Assault School of Fort Campbell, KY [1], and another at Fort Benning, GA [2]. The third is part of Fort Benning's Army National Guard Warrior Training Center, which also conducts Pre-Ranger and Air Assault classes. The courses taught by the 101st and the WTC do not include parachute jumps. For further information on the WTC-conducted course, go to https://www.benning.army.mil/wtc/wtc/b/pf/index.htm
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell has a pathfinder unit in each of its two aviation brigades. The second was created when the division's long range surveillance detachment (LRSD) was reassigned from the division's military intelligence battalion to one of the aviation battalions and converted to a pathfinder unit. In 2006 the Long Range Surveillance Detachment in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg was likewise transferred to 2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation Regiment to create a pathfinder unit.[3]
In June 2005 the 17th Aviation Brigade in Korea was inactivated, along with its pathfinder detachment. At the time, it was the only pathfinder unit on the rolls outside of the 101st. Since then, the 82nd Airborne Division added a pathfinder unit as noted above.
The Pathfinders of the 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade were deployed to Iraq from September 2005 to September 2006. The Pathfinder Company operated in small, platoon-sized levels. The small company of about 50 men was credited with capturing countless foreign fighters, financeers, insurgents, cell leaders and terrorist masterminds. The Pathfinder Company typically travelled from target to target via UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. In addition, the Pathfinder Company was tasked with various Task Force missions that included intelligence gathering and the overall hunt for the top leadership of Al Quaeda in Iraq.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
"Stand in the Door! The wartime history of the 509th Parachute Infantry" by Charles H. Doyle and Terrell Stewart. Published by Phillips Publications, P.O. Box 168, Williamstown, NJ 08094
"American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II" by Jeff Moran, published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
