Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Anita Stratton | A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter drops ready-to-eat meals at a drop zone coordinated by...... read more read more
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Warrenton, Ore.—“Wow, a bald eagle,” said a Soldier, after seeing one in the most unlikely of places. “Today, it’s the anniversary of D-Day, we are Soldiers on the beach studying to be Pathfinders and we see a bald eagle. What can be more amazing than that?”
National Guard and Active Duty Soldiers attended Pathfinder school at Camp Rilea, Warrenton, Oregon, for 14 days in June, preparing Soldiers to become proficient in air mobile operations.
The Pathfinders of World War II were specially trained elite fighting men who volunteered to be among the first Allied Soldiers to parachute into occupied France. As part of a pre-invasion, the Pathfinders were “to seize the drop zones and use special radio sets and signal lanterns to bring Allied aircraft onto the target areas,” as reported in the article “The First Into France—Meet the Elite ‘Pathfinders’ of the Normandy Invasion” published by Military History Now.
During the course, students are trained and evaluated in establishing helicopter landing zones, pick-up zones and drop zones. They must memorize nomenclature, tables, formulas and algorithms in just a few days. Out of 51 potential, 29 graduated.
“It was very mental,” said 2nd Lt. Michael Joyner, platoon leader, 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment, Indiana Army National Guard. “The material was not too difficult, but the amount of time, volume of information and the ability to retain all that information was hard—harder than my class in biochemistry.”
The course is intense. The students not only need to know how to set up the zones, they must know all facets of ground-to-air operations.
Staff Sgt. Ben Lloyd, instructor, Warrior Training Center (WTC) Mobile Training Team (MTT), Army National Guard, explained other aspects Soldiers learn in the course. “They learn study habits, how to read a map for reference while on the radio to calling in the aircraft, how to sling load a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), and how to properly prepare the vehicle for resupply in remote locations,” he said.
The high concentration of coursework means not all students will earn the Pathfinder patch.
“Students fail at the helicopter landing zone written test and the drop zone written test,” said Capt. James Sturges, executive officer assigned to the MTT for Air Assault, Pathfinder and Rappel Master courses. “We see a higher attrition rate here at Camp Rilea than other sites.”
Staff Sgt. Nicolas Harris, noncommissioned supply officer, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, Colorado Army National Guard, explained how he felt going through the course. “This is the worst thing I have ever done in the Army,” he said. “So much information in 14 days.”
Despite the challenge of the course, the students help each other retain the necessary information to pass the tests. Joyner explained how it’s not a competition; it’s teamwork.
“Everyone helped everyone else,” he said. “Those who knew math, helped those who didn’t, and those who could remember things well, helped others with tidbits of information and memory tools such as [mnemonics].”
The pass rate for this course was 56 percent. The class began with 52 students, but only 29 of them graduated.
“I’ve seen a higher pass rate than usual here at Camp Rilea since I have been teaching,” said Lloyd, who has been an instructor for almost two years, teaching nearly 15 classes all over the United States.
Training culminates with a three-day hands-on field training exercise, where the students put their newly learned knowledge to work. They call in aircraft and coordinate landing, drop and pick up zones by calculating location and terrain, elevation, and weather.
As a symbol of freedom stretches from the beaches of Normandy to the beaches Oregon, these Soldiers are sharing an honored history.
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2018 15:35 |
| Story ID: | 281189 |
| Location: | WARRENTON, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Beaches, Boxes and Bald Eagles, by SFC Anita Stratton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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