Pathfinder (military)

Pathfinders first appeared in World War II, and continue to serve an important role in today's modern armed forces, providing commanders with the option of flexibly employing air assets.

[2] The 22nd Independent Parachute Company was raised in May 1943 and was part of the 6th Airborne Division, under the command of Major General Richard "Windy" Gale.

After marking the DZs and LZs the company was trapped with the rest of the division in the Oosterbeek Perimeter, suffering heavy casualties in what is now known as the Battle of Arnhem.

[2] Towards the end of the war the 21st Independent Parachute Company went with the 1st Airborne Division as part of Operation Doomsday to disarm the German forces in Norway between May and October 1945.

[2] The 22nd Independent Parachute Company were the lead elements of the 6th Airborne Division's drop into Normandy as part of Operation Tonga in the early hours of D-Day, 6 June 1944.

[5] The company, together with the rest of the division, remained in Normandy, acting as standard line infantry, until the 6th Airborne Division advanced to the River Seine in August, returning to England in September but was sent to Belgium in December, due to the German Ardennes offensive, again fighting as standard infantrymen.

[10] When they jumped, the pathfinders many times would encounter less resistance than the follow-up waves of paratroopers, simply because they had the element of surprise on their side.

Many of the same problems were encountered, as the men were scattered as far as 65 miles from their drop zones, due to high winds and poor navigation.

[General James] Gavin likes to claim credit for "inventing" Pathfinders, pointing to bad drops in Sicily as the cause.

Pathfinders were separate teams of "advance men" who jumped in ahead of main forces to set up beacons and other guides to incoming aircraft.

With fragments of practical knowledge from the British Airborne, company commander Captain Howland and his XO 1st Lt. Fred E. Perry worked hard to develop usable techniques.

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.

A review of procedures and methods resulted in the establishment of the pathfinder teams to aid navigation to drop zones.

[13] A quarter of an hour later, the main body of paratroopers from the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR) landed right on the middle of the drop zone.

However, this was not their fault, as the mountainous terrain surrounding the area deflected the radar signals and caused the pilots to become disoriented.

[15] While the bad weather and heavy anti-aircraft curtailed the effectiveness of the pathfinder teams on D-Day, the overall airborne drop was a success.

This was true because the misplacement and scattering of the airborne forces deceived the German High Command and, as happened in Sicily, convincing them that there were far more American paratroopers present than there actually were in France.

[16] Further delays were encountered when these men had to find each other on the ground, work their way through a heavily wooded area near the town of Le Muy, and fight off German soldiers in the process.

[14] A combination of the drop taking place in broad daylight and that the Germans were not expecting an airborne attack allowed the pathfinders to land on target and guide in the rest of the paratroopers to the proper locations.

"[citation needed] In Vietnam Pathfinder Infantrymen were inserted into areas to establish landing zones for air assaults or other helicopter operations.

[18] The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which had deployed to Southeast Asia in September 1965, departed South Vietnam in April 1971.

These were the USAR platoons, their locations and the commands to which they were assigned: The Army National Guard activated five pathfinder detachments.

The Dutch pathfinders platoon maintains close cooperation with their Belgian counterparts, with joint training facilities and exercises.

[21] The Air-Land Pathfinders Company (Companhia de Precursores Aeroterrestres) is a special reconnaissance support unit of the Parachute Troops of the Portuguese Army.

[22] Following the 1982 Falklands War, 5 Airborne Brigade was established as a light, rapid reaction force for similar requirements.

The brigade identified a requirement for an independent intelligence collection capability, deployable into a hostile or non-permissive environment ahead of the main force so in 1985 the Pathfinder Platoon was established.

An Army News Service article dated 10 September 2014 noted the activation of a new company within the 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

"[32] Jump status for the two pathfinder companies in the 101st was terminated on 16 October 2013, resulting in the elimination of the last parachute billets in the division.

[37][38] In July 2020 the Army announced that it was considering terminating its Pathfinder course at Fort Moore, Georgia, by the end of the Fiscal Year 2021, and it later decided to do so.

[40] The website for the ARNG Warrior Training Center, also based at Fort Moore, showed no class dates past the end of FY 2021.