44 Pathfinder Platoon The 44 Pathfinder Platoon is part of 44 Pathfinder Company of the South African Army , within 44 Parachute Brigade and 1 Parachute Battalion respectively . The Pathfinder is a trained and specialized soldier who performs covertly behind enemy lines , either in small groups or in collaboration with other reconnaissance units . History of the Pathfinders in 44 Parachute Brigade . 44 Pathfinder Company 1980 – 1982 . In the early 1980s and following the creation of Zimbabwe a number of former Rhodesian Army soldiers joined the SADF on short contract . Some were absorbed into 32 Battalion and others , mainly Rhodesian professional soldiers , were recruited by Col . Jan Breytenbach into 44 Parachute Brigade to serve as a new fighting arms within the brigade . These British , Rhodesian and American Troops were at that time humorously referred to as ' The Philistines ' because of their haughty attitude towards counter - insurgency warfare . After their selection and induction these recruits underwent further training in bush warfare and conventional pathfinding methods as a part of 2 pathfinder selection courses . This training by early 1981 produced sufficient personnel to be deployed on active service . Their envisaged role was to conduct mobile , fighting patrols deep inside Angola . They were highly trained in counter - terrorist operations and already self - sufficient and in most cases independent from the rest of the SADF . They were based at Ondangwa , South - West Africa ( now Namibia ) and from there they would launch patrols into Angola mostly led by Colonel Breytenbach . This force in its short and controversial history proved to be highly successful and when Colonel Breytenbach left the Brigade in 1982 they were disbanded . Before its eventual disbandment the Pathfinders were involved to a degree in giving instruction to 44 Parachute Brigade ’ s Citizen Force Paratroopers , however on the completion of their one - year contracts some chose to leave the SADF whilst others which were the majority , were transferred to 32 Battalion . 44 Pathfinder Platoon . In 1976 , 1 Parachute Battalion possessed a limited pathfinder capability in a small group of permanent force members who were Drop Zone Safety Officers and Freefall qualified . These comprised the following : Capt . J . E . Rabie Lt . J . C . Van Wyk 2 Lt . M . Ellis 2 Lt . M . J . Boon Sgt M . P . J . Liebenberg Cpl . D . W . Van Zyl and Cpl . J . J . Grobler . The Battalion had no other specialized training except that of paratrooper soldiering . With fixed posts within the Battalion , these members only grouped as and when the situation required and then mainly for the purpose of training . With the success and learnings from Operation Reindeer in May 1978 , it became clear that a method for ensuring correct and safe dropping , grouping and extraction of paratroopers was urgently needed . In order to have the capability to covertly insert behind enemy lines , and do reconnaissance on the target , the Battalion would need to create a formal structure , command system , specialized equipment and operational procedures to support this . The then Commander of 1 Parachute Battalion , Col . D . J . Moore , requested Maj Joos Rabie to formulate staff , equipment tables and to establish guidelines for the formation of an extended Pathfinder capability within the unit . The blueprint used was a culmination of the British SAS , USA Pathfinders and the Reconnaissance Regiments ( Recces ) of the SADF . The objective was to train the Pathfinder to be on par with the Recces ' in their training schedule regarding land warfare , but specializing in pathfinder and airborne operations . 2Lt . Jacobus . C . Hoon and 2Lt . Pierre Lundberg together with Cpl ' s I . J . Pretorius and Daniel . J . Schutte were the first Permanent force leader group who trained the first group of Pathfinders in September 1978 . The first group . This first group consisted of the above four members as the leader group and nine national servicemen , namely , Lt . P . I . Niewoudt Lt . V . Nel Sgt . L . Ackerman Sgt . D . Nibet Sgt . J . Keuler Sgt . M . A . Nel L / Cpl . L . L . M . van Tonder L / Cpl . C . Landman L / Cpl . M . Steyn L / Cpl . H The new Pathfinders undertook Recce Scheduled Training at Fort Doppies in the Caprivi Strip , South - West Africa , incorporating minor tactics , survival , tracking and bushcraft . All other Courses like freefall , field medic s , signaller s , drop zone safety and others were done in Bloemfontein . Specialized equipment was also acquired to enable the Pathfinders to better fulfill their role , including amongst others , strobe light s ( DZ marking ) , special webbing , back packs and weaponry . This resulted in the Pathfinders in general being far better equipped in comparison to the other Paratroopers of the unit . Pathfinders also adapted and operated using camouflage uniform s and Soviet Block weaponry whilst on manouvres behind enemy lines . With the War in Angola being relatively low in intensity , the first group of Pathfinders were seconded to the Special Forces ( Selous Scouts ) of Rhodesia where they did further orientation courses and were deployed operational in the Rhodesian Bush War . With the first Pathfinder group of 1978 having been trained it was decided to train new National Service Pathfinders on a yearly basis from then onwards . The recruiting process . Although by 1979 there were two National Service intakes each year , one in January and the other in July , in order to keep the Pathfinder small and elite Pathfinder selection took place only once a year in January . Pathfinder candidates were all volunteers taken from the members of 1 Parachute Battalion who had already successfully completed the 1 Parachute Battalion physical selection ( PT Course ) and Basic Parachute Training , and been awarded their Parachute Wings . Essentially selection for the Pathfinder Company followed a fairly standard Special Forces selection process which included working closely with existing South African Defence Force ( SADF ) Special Forces units . Because only two years of full - time service was anticipated , followed by a further ten years of Citizen Force service , National Service Pathfinder ' s were not required to meet the stringent selection requirements of a career Special Forces soldier . They were however still expected to be able to perform core pathfinder operations and basic reconnaissance operations in support of 44 Parachute Brigade efficiently and effectively to Special Forces standards . Requirements . Pathfinders were required to operate behind enemy lines in small teams ( two to six ) for extended periods , often under conditions of enduring physical , mental and emotional stress and fatigue , while carrying out their primary and any other supporting tasks to effective completion . They were expected to be able to operate far behind enemy lines for up to two weeks at a time without resupply , while carrying full operational kit that included all necessary water and food , personal weapons and ammunition , radios and ops medic kits , LZ / DZ marking equipment , survival equipment , camouflage equipment , specialist weapons with extra ammunition , demolitions equipment , and any other specialist operational equipment . They would often walk for twenty kilometres or more , especially during the infiltration phase , during the day or at night in hostile environments , all the time maintaining strict discipline in anti - tracking , personal camouflage , noise suppression , and generally leaving no trace of their presence . They were also required to be able to set up small ‘ invisible ’ hides where they could lie up during the day undetected by herder s looking for ‘ enemy ’ tracks and signs . The National Service Pathfinder was expected to demonstrate mental , physical and emotional toughness under conditions of stress and discomfort while maintaining high standards of personal discipline . He had to be able to think and act clearly and effectively and take leadership where necessary to complete the mission at hand regardless of the circumstances . It is clear therefore that although the national service Pathfinder was not a professional or career soldier , he had to be able to perform similar tasks a professional Special Forces soldier and therefore the selection process could not be ‘ diluted ’ too much from standards required for career soldiers . The selection process implemented was therefore structured to weed out candidates who could not meet the required standards and criteria for extended external operations and any other Pathfinder operational requirements . Training . At the beginning of each January intake , soon after arriving at their allocated Infantry Unit , prospective Pathfinders would initially volunteer for service with 1 Parachute Battalion where they needed to pass a pre - selection for entrance to carry out Basic Infantry Training with 1 Parachute Battalion at Tempe in Bloemfontein . Three months of Basic Infantry Training followed , designed to prepare troops for the intensive five - week selection process they had to pass to get their Parachute Wings as members of 1 Parachute Battalion . The two - week Parachute Battalion ‘ PT Course ’ that followed basic training had a high fall out rate , and was designed to weed out those who would not be suitable for operational service with 1 Parachute Battalion . For fourteen days candidates would begin each morning with roughly four hours of Physical Training , which aside from the usual punishing array of military PT exercises also included ‘ Pole - PT ’ with heavy telephone pole s , ‘ Marble PT ’ with concrete block s affectionately referred to as ‘ Marbles ’ , boxing sessions , ‘ buddy - carrying ’ sessions and runs with full kit and rifles , endless circuits of the Parachute Battalion obstacle course , and ‘ Rifle - PT ’ sessions . Each afternoon after lunch candidate ’ s would then have to complete a long run , often over a couple of hours carrying poles , vehicle tyres and each other with rifles and kit , interspersed with a bunch of back - breaking exercises that the instructors would conjure up en route . Two weeks of afternoon runs included at least a few 21 - kilometre runs and a couple of the dreaded ‘ De Brug ’ runs back from the De Brug training area thirty or so kilometres away . At the end of the two - week PT Course , six tests of strength , endurance and coordination had to be successfully completed in required time limits . Candidates who failed any of these tests would either be sent back to their unit , or , if fortunate , be allocated to a non - operational role within the Parachute Battalion to try again at another time . After the PT Phase successful candidates would have to successfully complete the three - week Basic Parachute Training course , after which they would receive the coveted Maroon beret and Parachute Wings . Usually directly following the Wings Parade for newly qualified Paratroopers , the Pathfinder Company leadership and instructors would assemble everyone at the main parachute training hangar and give a detailed presentation on the work and functions of the Pathfinder Company , flowing which volunteers would be called for . Recruiting in 1979 . In 1979 , because of the large number of troops volunteering for Pathfinder selection , an initial pre - selection was conducted at the Hangar in Tempe just after the Wings Parade . Volunteers were gradually eliminated based on Instructor ratings , shooting scores , basic fitness , and general performance during Basic Infantry Training . Forty candidates were finally selected to be sent to the Military Medical Institute ( MMI ) in Pretoria to undergo the SADF Special Forces Medical and Psychological Evaluation . The Special Forces evaluation took place at MMI over three days , and included an array of comprehensive physical examinations by a team of specialist doctors , various co - ordination and fine - motor tests , aptitude and intelligence test s , logic and reasoning tests , high - altitude tests in the compression chamber , and a complete psychological evaluation . Following the psychological evaluation candidates were each interviewed individually by a psychologist as well as by a board of selectors . On return to Tempe the Pathfinder candidates waited for two weeks before they were informed of the results , and ten unsuccessful candidates were returned to the regular Parachute Battalion Companies . The remaining thirty candidates then commenced eight months of selection and training , beginning with the Military Operational Freefall Parachute Course , conducted over six weeks . Candidates were taken from static line through to day and night high altitude freefall jumps with full Pathfinder extended external operations kit and specialist equipment . Freefall jumps were made from various fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft including Cessna , Kudu , C - 130 and C - 160 , Dakota , and the Super Frelon helicopter both at night and during the day . Progression Tests were conducted at the end of each phase of parachute training , and a further nine candidates were returned to the regular Parachute Companies before the end of the course . The remaining twenty one candidates were then sent to Fort Doppies , the Recce training base in the Caprivi Strip to complete Minor Tactics , and Bushcraft and Survival Training . They were joined by their ‘ seniors ’ , the 1978 Pathfinders who served as assistant instructors . Instructors from Reconnaissance Commando and 44 Parachute Brigade conducted the Minor Tactics and Bushcraft and Survival training . From this time on buddy ratings were employed on each course to assist in the final selection process . Following the 1979 intake . Courses that followed for the 1979 intake included Special Forces Ops Medics , Advanced Signallers , Section Leaders , Forward Air Control , Landing Zones and Drop Zones ( Pathfinder Operations ) , Basic Demolitions , Basic Reconnaissance , Enemy Weapons and Tactics , Escape and Evasion , and others . At the end of this approximately eight - month period of selection and training Major John Murphy was seconded from 1 Reconnaissance Commando to the Pathfinder Company as Commanding Officer . Soon after taking command of the Pathfinder Company in late 1979 , Major Murphy and a group of Selous Scouts conducted an intensive two - week bush warfare orientation near Beitbridge , and in early November 1979 the Pathfinders were then deployed into Rhodesia , where they operated from bases in Gwanda , Rutenga and then the Chiredzi / Triangle area , working variously with the Selous Scouts and Rhodesian African Rifles ( 2RAR ) on OP / Reconnaissance operations and on Fire Force deployments . Some external operations were also conducted into western Mozambique during that time in conjunction with a larger force from 44 Parachute Brigade . Major Murphy introduced a system into the selection process whereby he would only recognise individual Pathfinders as having ‘ qualified ’ after taking into account ‘ buddy ratings ’ following ‘ real life ’ operations and deployments , and them having seen action or being in contact with the enemy . He was adamant that he had to be confident and comfortable that he could operate with the men under his command under any circumstances of war or otherwise . With the intensity of the Rhodesian war at that time and especially with the number of fire force deployments going out , this was soon accomplished , and a few Pathfinder candidates were returned to their units after a brief period on operations in Rhodesia . The remaining Pathfinders from the 1979 Pathfinder Company intake served in Rhodesia until May 1980 under Major Murphy before being extracted and re - deployed to the South West African / Namibian operational area for the rest of their two - year National Service . There they conducted various reconnaissance operations into Angola , Zambia and along the South West African / Namibia border . They would join the fire force operations with 1 Parachute Battalion and 44 Parachute Brigade companies whenever possible and also conducted some search and rescue operations . Major John Murphy was killed in an unfortunate military freefall parachute accident , and the Pathfinder Company continued operations under the command of then Captain Dries ' Rooies ' Veldhuizen . After 1980 . The Pathfinders who served with the second group of the Pathfinder Company ( 1979 ) , which soon became 44 Pathfinder Company under the command structure of 44 Parachute Brigade , cleared out of National Service directly from operations in Angola in early January 1981 . They were : JR Mossner , PJ Lander , JD Fourie , MW Tullis , DJ Blom , LA Meyer , PG Figg , JA Pienaar , RJ Crisp , MJ Trenor , SD Hansen , AP de Beer , MJ Reid , JC Greyling , JSF Coetzee , CE Riekert , PD Wehmeyer , and AC Robertson . LJ Lombaard would also have served to the end but was injured in an unfortunate training accident before completing the Pathfinder training . Some members went on the serve with 32 Battalion ( Recce ) , and the various Reconnaissance Commando s as career soldiers . The 1980 Pathfinder Training of National Servicemen also saw the amalgamation of a permanent force group consisting mainly of foreigners who joined the SADF after the independence of Zimbabwe . " The Philistines " , as they became known , were officially formed in Nov 1980 by Col Breytenbach , the Officer Commanding 44 Parachute Brigade and they were named The Pathfinder Company . Their appointed Commanding officer being Captain Botes , who served with 32 Battalion and their Company Sergeant Major , Warrant Officer Second Class ( WO2 ) , or Seargent Major , McAleese ( Former British SAS ) . This group of Pathfinders did not fall under the command of 1 Parachute Battalion but rather 44 Parachute Brigade . With the passing of the command of 44 Parachute Brigade from Col . Jan Breytenbach to Col Bestbier In January 1982 one of the first actions was the disbandment the Brigade ' s Pathfinder company and the transferring of those who were still under contract to the SADF to 32 Battalion . Only five members remained and these men formed the core of the training wing . They were WO2 Peter McAleese , Sgt Derek Andrews ( Selous Scouts ) , Cpl Terry Tagney ( RLI ) , Cpl Chris Rogers ( RLI ) , and Cpl Jock Philips ( RLI ) . They remained at the Brigade until December 1983 . 1981 saw another fresh intake of National Servicemen being trained as Pathfinders to be operationally deployed at the beginning of 1982 . The regime and training cycle was the same as per previous 2 training intakes namely at Fort Doppies . Operations . Operational Duties ( Ondjiva — Angola : January 1982 – August 1982 ) . The command of this group fell under Jamie Hill ( 1st Pathfinder Group 1976 ) and Paul Troll . Both Hill and Troll were from 44 Parachute Brigade . The Pathfinder group teamed up with 101 Battalion South West African Territorial Force ( SWATF ) who mainly served as trackers , translators , backup firepower ( 60mm Mortar s and LMGs ) and the Pathfinder group acting as team leaders and medics . They operated in small ( 4 man ) teams ( 2 Pathfinders and 2 101 Battalion Ovambos ) looking for weapon caches and doing counter insurgency operations for the upcoming expected rainy - season offensive . For their service this group of Pathfinders were awarded the Chief of the SADF Commendation Medal . After the initial deployment at 101 , Capt Pierre Lundberg who was a member of the initial group was again asked to command the national service pathfinders , which he did until the end of 1982 . He was also joined by Lt John Tawse and both served in this capacity until leaving at the end of Jan 1983 where each respectively joined 4 Recce in Langebaan and 31 Battalion Recce at Omega , Caprivi on a permanent basis . After this departure the Pathfinders had no Permanent Force leadership for almost 4 months until Capt John van Aswegen ( Former Rodesian SAS and 1 and 6 Recce ) took over as the Pathfinder Commanding Officer . All the subsequent Pathfinders groups followed the similar training schedule as the first three groups in regime and quality . In November 1983 John van Aswegen moved to 44 Parachute Brigade and became the new Commanding Officer of the newly formed 44 Parachute Brigade Pathfinder Company . Pathfinder statistics . From 1978 until October 1989 and at the end of the bush war ( Citizen Force Members ) . 98 members successfully completed course during their National service , of which 62 members attended citizen call - up camps . A further 86 members did training camps or Brigade exercises and 67 members participated in operations in the SWA / Angola Operations Area . As at December 1989 the company strength stood at 86 members . The Pathfinders were a relative small group of soldiers . By comparison , the Reconnaissance Regiment from the formation of 1 Recce Commando at Oudtshoorn in 1972 , to end of the Angolan / Bush war ( 1989 ) has over 450 qualified Recce operators ; an average of 26 to 27 operators a year , while there were only 98 qualified Pathfinders from 1978 up to 1989 , an average of 9 Pathfinders per year . Pathfinders were also the only Special Forces troops in the SADF that mostly comprised national service members with only their officers being Permanent Force members . In comparison the Recce Regiments and 32 Battalion members were required to join the Permanent Force ( 5 years ) or at least in short - term duty ( 3 years ) . Synopsis . The fact that the Pathfinders were National Servicemen worked in certain instances against them . The leader group in 1 Parachute Battalion and 44 Parachute Brigade ( comprising mostly career soldiers ) , followed the age old tradition of the British Army with their very strict rank and chain of command with limited understanding of Special Forces work . Their application of the warfare doctrine “ shock and awe ” was in contrast to special operations which revolved around clandestine and reconnaissance operation . The small , close - knit elite unit function worked best when run in an egalitarian manner . The differentiator being that a strong chain of command existed well in such a unit however with no one working hard at wielding power . In most instances the Pathfinder with the most experience assumes command for that specific operation which sometimes superseded the command of a Colonels or Sergeant Majors . This being totally out of the norm of a regular army . In units like the Recce Commando ’ s and 32 Battalion the ethos of Special Forces were well understood and practiced by the leader group . In contrast the Pathfinders were an isolated group in the Parachute battalion , as their war doctrine and command ethos differed radically from that of the normal Paratrooper Companies . This situation was further exacerbated with the Commanders lack of understanding of how to use specialist ’ s forces . This led to amongst other , airborne battle - handling courses being presented at the newly formed 44 Parachute Regiment ( Downgraded from Brigade to Regiment in 1999 following a transformation of the SADF to SANDF ) The issue as described is discussed and dealt with and every junior officer in the airborne attends . Most of the Citizen Force Pathfinders needed refresher courses where the latest battlefield lessons were imparted to them during this call - ups . The officers and many groups of Pathfinders were also trained by elements of Recce Regiment and many of the battlefield experience the Recces acquired were also transferred to the Pathfinders . With the transformation and new dispensation in the National Defence Force , combat experience and lessons learned on the battlefield that was transferred from one Pathfinder group to the next , was unfortunately lost and many of the leader group have subsequently left the service .