5th Infantry Platoon (Pathfinder)(Airborne)

[bryang]

U.S. Army Reserve unit, the 5th Pathfinder Platoon was stationed at Fort Meade, MD, and technically (officially) came under the 97th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM). In reality the platoon provided Drop Zone support to the 11th Special Forces Group (Airborne), which was also headquartered at Fort Meade (the 5th Pathfinders shared building/barracks space in 11th Group area). The Pathfinders worked closely with the 180th Aviation (Ft Meade), which flew UH-1 and CH-47 helicopters.

 

The 5th Pathfinder Platoon frequently deployed to West Germany, where it would train with its "sister" unit the 11th Combat Aviation Group Pathfinder Detachment.

 

The 5th Pathfinder Platoon was disbanded in the late 1990's, as a result of reorganization of Reserve and National Guard units.

 

 

 

[bryang]

[patches]

Nice posting bryang.

[TTB]

The 5th Infantry Platoon (Pathfinder) was activated as an Army Reserve unit at Fort Meade, MD, on 1 April 1978. Its initial members came from units within HQ 11th SFGA to which it was attached for administrative and parachute support. (The 11th had a rigger section at Fort Meade.)

 

Pathfinder units are normally assigned to Aviation units, and although there was a USAR Aviation unit at the post airfield, for peacetime purposes the 5th was attached to HQ 11th SFGA. At the time one of the members of the 5th noted that although the Aviation unit was aware of the 5th's presence, it was content to do without the unit in peacetime. If mobilization took place, then it might have been interested, but not until then.

 

Although attached to the 11th SFGA, the 5th wore the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 97th ARCOM, which was the SSI of the WW II 97th Infantry Division. (Under an exception to policy, DA allowed ARCOMs to use the number and wear the SSIs of then-inactive Reserve infantry divisions; however, ARCOMs were not entitled to the lineage and honors of the divisions, as DA policy does not permit TDA organizations, such as ARCOMs, to perpetuate the lineages and honors of TO&E organizations, such as infantry divisions.) Prior to receiving its own wing trimming ("oval"), members of the 5th wore the wing trimming of the 11th SFGA; however, wearing of Class A uniforms was extremely rare, so it really wasn't an issue.

 

Members of the 5th wore the 97th ARCOM SSI with a blue and white Airborne tab. According to The Institute of Heraldry, Airborne tabs are an "intrinsic part" of an SSI and are not to be added on top of the SSI of a non-Airborne unit for members of a subordinate Airborne unit. The SSI is supposed to be the same for all, regardless of jump status; however, over the years this limitation has been widely ignored as personnel weren't aware of DA's policy on Airborne tabs or chose to disregard it.

 

Although it may have seemed like the 5th was activated to provide DZ support to the 11th SFGA, that was not the case. Long before the 5th was activated, HQ 11th was running its own DZs and continued to do so after the 5th was inactivated. Likewise, all of the geographically-distant elements of the 11th, all across the eastern USA, ran their own DZs, as did the widely-scattered elements of the 12th SFGA in the western USA.

 

In the early 1970s the first USAR pathfinder unit, the 26th Infantry Platoon (Pathfinder), was activated in Wichita, KS, using the lineage of a former Scout Dog platoon from WW II and the Korean War. Next activated was the 27th in Dallas, TX, which had no history. Its number may well have been chosen because it was the next after 26, but that has not been confirmed. Then came the 5th in 1978, reactivating the lineage of an active duty unit that had been at Fort Rucker, AL, from the early 1960s to 1975, when it was expanded and reflagged as Company C (Pathfinder), 509th Infantry. (The first pathfinder unit at that post, which later became the 5th, was the Pathfinder Section activated in 1960 under HHC, 2d Battle Group, 31th Infantry, a schoolhouse training organization that differed from the regular battle groups of that era.) Later came the 54th in Wenatchee, WA, and then the 79th in Fort Douglas, UT. Not long after the 79th was activated, Army policy on Pathfinder units began to change and, at the time of its inactivation, it had only been active for four years. (A note on the 79th: Its flash and wing trimming were clearly based upon the design of the 79th Infantry Division that had been based across the country in Pennsylvania. Although they had the same number, there was no historical or lineage connection between the 79th Infantry Platoon (Pathfinder) and the 79th Infantry Division.)

 

No other USAR pathfinder platoons were attached for admin or other support purposes to USAR SFGA units.

 

During its early years the 5th was not capable of supporting parachute jumps conducted by the 11th SFGA as it lacked personnel, training and equipment. Until the unit began to receive slots to send personnel to the Pathfinder course at Fort Benning, GA, in 1980s, only the platoon sergeant, SFC Mike Parris, was pathfinder-qualified, having attend the course years earlier. Basic uniform and equipment items were often lacking, so unit members dug into their footlockers at home for items from their prior service years or looked in Army surplus stores for what they needed. Eventually the unit built up to a strength of 22 personnel -- three six-man teams, a platoon commander, a platoon sergeant, and an RTO for each.

 

In the early 1980s the 5th had ATs (two-week annual training) with the Pathfinder Platoon, 82d Aviation Battalion, 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Later it was Capstone-aligned with the Pathfinder Platoon, 11th Aviation Group (Combat) in Schwaebisch Hall, GE, and went there on multiple occasions for its ATs. (The 11th Avn Gp fell under VII Corps. Initially the group's pathfinders, numbering about a dozen, wore the light blue Infantry School flash as an expedient. Later it was able to get TIOH to approve the wear of the old HQ 11th Airborne Division wing trimming with a matching beret flash based on tracing its lineage back to the pathfinders of the division. This was short-lived, however, due to the platoon's inactivation in 1988. Also, the 180th Aviation Company, mentioned earlier, was not at Fort Meade, but rather under the 11th Aviation Group in Germany. Flying CH-47s and nicknamed "Big Windy," an image of its unofficial insignia adorned one of the hangar doors at the airfield.)

 

During the latter part of its existence the 5th was reassigned to the 31st Aviation Group, a newly-activated unit at Fort Meade, and switched from wearing the 97th ARCOM DUI (Distinctive Unit Insignia) to that of the 31st. This reassignment was initially regarded as a plus since it would put the 5th with an aviation unit where it belonged; however, it didn't work out as desired. Unit members found themselves being used for the Group's details, such as running the rifle range when members of the 31st needed to undergo weapons qualification. A veteran of the 5th remarked that the unit was never again able to conduct training on the level that it had previously done.

 

A change in Army policy led to the inactivation of all USAR pathfinder platoons at the end of Fiscal Year 1990 (30 Sep 1990). Instead of having pathfinder units, DA believed it only needed to have pathfinder-qualified personnel in such places as a unit's S-3 section. (Note: Someone having attended the course in the past is no substitute for having a team of qualified personnel with ongoing experience, as well as being properly equipped for the mission.) A couple of weeks prior to the inactivation the 5th made its final jump over the post airfield at Fort Meade.

 

The Army National Guard had five pathfinder detachments (not platoons) and all of these units were inactivated as well.

[SOG RT Mamba]

 

Bryan Greaves ,Brave Soldier.👍