United States Army Pathfinder School

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United States Army Pathfinder School
A Pathfinder directs an aircraft onto a drop zone at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
Active	1943–Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Military training
Role	Special skills training
Part of	Army National Guard Warrior Training Center
Garrison/HQ	Fort Moore, Georgia
Motto(s)	"First In, Last Out"
Insignia
Headgear worn by special skills instructors, known as "Black Hats"
US Army Pathfinder Badge, awarded upon graduation

Overview of what is learned at the U.S. Army Pathfinder School (2:22)

The United States Army Pathfinder Course trains military personnel in the U.S. Army and its sister services to set up parachute drop zones and helicopter landing zones for airborne and air assault missions.^[1]

The two-week course trains Pathfinder candidates to navigate on foot; conduct sling load operations; establish and operate a helicopter landing zone; provide air traffic control (ATC) and navigational assistance to rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft; and establish and operate parachute drop zones (DZs), including computed air release point (CARP) DZs, ground marked release system (GMRS) DZs and Army verbally initiated release system (VIRS) DZs.

All training and airborne operations are conducted in accordance with FM 3-21.220 (Static Line Parachuting Techniques and Training) and FM 3-21.38 (Pathfinder Operations).

Pathfinder training is conducted by the 101st Airborne Division's Air Assault School at Fort Campbell, Kentucky,^[2] and by the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center Mobile Training Team at Fort Moore, Georgia.^[3]