By Army Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa
Florida Army National Guard
STARKE, Fla., Sept. 26, 2014 - National Guard soldiers from Florida and Wisconsin recently completed a rigorous two-week specialized course in North-Central Florida, earning the right to wear the coveted Pathfinder Badge.
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Under the guidance of instructors from the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center, 49 soldiers from the two states recently graduated from the Pathfinder Course at the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center here. The intense course mirrors the Pathfinder training for active-duty soldiers and enables the graduates to establish safe landing zones for aircraft, paratroopers, and air assault units.
Army 1st Sgt. Jessie Parsons of the Warrior Training Center said the course is fitted into a two-week block of instruction so National Guard soldiers can attend the course as part of their annual training. Parsons and seven other instructors challenged their students to learn all aspects of landing zone operations -- from supporting a helicopter sling-load mission to setting up navigational aids for incoming aircraft.
Demanding responsibilities
"The job of the Pathfinder is to be the technical adviser to the ground-unit commander on multiple operations -- sling-load operations, drop zone operations, troop movement, air assault planning, air assault insertions and even aerial resupply," Parsons explained.
Since the course started in early September with 65 officers and enlisted soldiers, nearly 25 percent of the students were unable to keep up with the rigorous and demanding academic expectations. Parsons said that a 75-percent graduation rate is actually pretty high for the course.
Challenging course
"This is one of the most academically challenging courses that a lot of these students will ever take," Parsons said, explaining that the Pathfinder soldiers are expected to memorize and comprehend large amounts of information in a short time. Precise arithmetic skills and attention to detail must be demonstrated before a soldier can graduate and pin on the flaming winged-torch worn by qualified Pathfinders.
On Sept. 24, the students participated in a final field training exercise, working with Florida Army National Guard aviators to complete a variety of missions throughout the 73,000-acre installation using CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
For one mission, the soldiers were airlifted by teams to Camp Blanding's northern section, where they set up an actual Ground Marked Release System drop zone using signaling panels. After the drop zone was established, a Black Hawk dropped a supply bundle by parachute into the area designated by the ground teams.
Realistic exercises
Capt. Jonathon Bruister, a Pathfinder student who serves as commander of the Florida Army National Guard's 221st Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, explained that the practical exercises during the course's final week were a welcome relief from the academic aspect of the course.
"This has been very difficult. All of the expectations that we were told coming into the course definitely hold true," Bruister said. "It has been mentally exhausting and frustrating, but it is very rewarding."
1st Lt. Justin Hofmann of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 257th Brigade Support Battalion said that actually being able to practice with the helicopters was helpful because he has had few opportunities to work with aircraft at his unit.
"We learned a lot," Hofmann said. "The training was good. The environment was good -- nice and hot as compared to Wisconsin."
Making better soldiers
Florida Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Giovanni Torres echoed the sentiments of the other Pathfinder students in that the academic portion was truly the toughest part of the course. He also affirmed that it will make him a better soldier.
"It required us to do a lot of memorization and formulas and a lot of things we don't do on a daily basis. But it has been a really good experience to learn new things and actually apply them," Torres, a member of HHC, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, said. "It will definitely help me with my attention to detail, because this whole course is about attention to detail."
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