It’s Time To Retire The Pathfinder Badge

It’s Time To Retire The Pathfinder Badge
by Scott Faith

The de-activation of the Pathfinder Company at Fort Campbell and the Army’s decision to do away with Long Range Reconnaissance and Surveillance Detachments (LRRS-D) got me thinking:  why do we even have Pathfinder school anymore?

Don’t get me wrong, Pathfinder was a tough course, and I proudly wore the winged torch for much of my career.  But the only reason I went to the school was for the badge, and if most people are honest with themselves, that’s why they went too.  After all, the course is often derisively referred to as “Badgefinder.”

I learned some useful skills in Pathfinder School, but I probably didn’t need to go to a dedicated school to learn them.  The hardest part about Pathfinder was memorizing the capabilities, tables, and charts necessary to calculate things like forward throw, HLZ and DZ sizes, and cargo capacity.  Those are important things to know how to do, but (like for Air Assault School), you will rely on hard copy versions of that information, not your memory, if you need to do it for real.  Additionally, most of the people who attend Pathfinder end up never being in a Pathfinder unit, much less use those skills operationally.

Pathfinder has a long and proud history, but it has outlived its utility.  It’s time to furl the school’s colors, retire the badge, and put those resources to better use.