Irving C. Pahl

Colonel Irving Pahl entered military service at Hartford, Connecticut 13 February 1939 and served two and ¾ years as an enlisted man. He received his commission through Officer Candidate School, graduation 7 November 1941. He served as Motor Officer, Port of Embarkation, San Francisco, California (1941), before joining the 186th Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Division (1942). He went on to the 158th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division in 1943.  He served as a Platoon Leader in both regiments.  In 1944 he became Executive Officer of Pioneer Company at Camp Hood, Texas.  He completed airborne training at Fort Benning to become a company commander there.  In 1945 he served as assistant G1 with the 82nd and 17th Airborne Divisions in Europe.  The colonel was Assistant S3 at the Replacement Depot, Southampton, England, before joining the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg to serve in various capacities. He next served as Information and Education Officer, Headquarters, 25th Infantry, Fort Benning (1946-47). He was then assigned as PIO Officer and Assistant S2 in the SC Military District, Columbia, SC.  He returned to Fort Benning in 1950 to serve in Headquarters, Ranger Training Center, as Assistant Infantry Instructor and Detachment Commander.  In 1952 he was assigned to the 14th Infantry, Korea, where he served in staff and command positions. He next served in staff positions at Headquarters, 508th Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  He joined Headquarters, 508th Regimental Combat Team at Fort Campbell and Japan in 1955; and remained in various command and staff positions until 1956. He served as Executive Officer and S3 of the 501st Airborne Infantry, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell from 1956-57. He was then assigned to Headquarters, Third U.S. Army, Fort McPherson, Georgia, where he served as Assistant and Assistant Chief, Infantry Unit, Combat Arms Branch, Training Division, G3 Section. In 1961 he served in the Personnel and Administration Division, Headquarters, U.S. Army, Europe.  He then joined Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 505th Infantry, also in Europe, serving in command positions. From 1963-65 he served as Chief, Operations Division, and school secretary at the U.S. Army Intelligence School, Fort Holabird, MD. In 1965, he assumed the duties of Director, Department of Combat Intelligence at the Intelligence School. His next assignment was with the US Defense Attache Office in Czechoslovakia, where he served as Army Attache.  He returned to the States in 1969 to become Deputy Chief of Staff at Fort Jackson. On 1 November 1969 he became Assistant Chief of Staff, G1, Fort Jackson, and was assigned as Assistant Chief of Staff, G2, on 11 June 1970, later redesignated Director of Security. | He was assigned to Vietnam in 1971 and on 4 June became the ACofS, G-2, of First Field Forces Vietnam, later redesignated as the Second Regimental Assistance Group.  He was at the same time the Intelligence Advisor to the 2nd ARepublic of Vietnam Corps. While his area of responsibility was all of Military Region II, he was principally based in Pleiku. He returned to the United States on 2 June 1972 and was again assigned as the Director of Security, Fort Jackson. For his service in Vietnam he was awarded the 1st Oak Leaf Cluster to the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with Gold Star and the Honor Medal, First Class. | Colonel Irving C. Pahl was born in Oconto, Wisconsin. He attended Federal Junior College, Hartford, Connecticut. His military education includes: Basic Airborne and Jumpmaster Course (1944), Ranger Course (1951), and Associate Infantry Officer Advanced Course (1955), all at the U.S. Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia; the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and Atomic Weapons Employment Officer Course, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (1960); and CBR Weaponry at Dugway Proving Grounds, Dugway, Utah (1963).