 Click the Cover to Order 
|
|
First Airborne American Operation
 The Allies’ first major airborne assault occurred in June 1943 as the 82nd Airborne Division jumped into battle near the city of Gela on the island of Sicily. More than 200 C-47s participated in this history making night, mass tactical airdrop. Poor visual references and 35 mile per hour winds wrecked havoc - with two battalions landing 30 miles off the drop zone (DZ) - and a third 55 miles away! Despite this lackluster start, paratroopers were able to slow a German counterattack and gave sea-borne forces time to gain a foothold at the beach-landing site. General Gavin, deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, decreed that future paratroop operations must include some means of placing more personnel on the objective.
Thus, Army Pathfinder teams were born. In Gavin’s plan, specially trained (pathfinder) troops would jump in and establish electronic and visual aids for
the main assault force. The visual aids employed by these early pathfinders were burning buckets of gas-soaked sand and the Eureka radar beacon with its 10-mile range filled the role of an electronic navigational aid (NAVAID). Despite the limits of their equipment, the DZ acquisition aids and the communications abilities of the pathfinders made an unbeatable combination. Subsequent parachuting operations were far more successful. Thus the seeds for future Combat Control Teams were planted by General Gavin in the early days of World War II.
|
|
Air Commando Association Combat Control (Wikipedia Site) Sgt. Mac's Bar |
