Conditioned for courage: Airmen train to jump into battlefield assignments

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Holly Brown, Military Training Instructor
  • 321st Training Squadron
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  Jumping from an aircraft can be risky and what a jumper doesn't know can cause death or serious injury and scrub the mission.

"The capability of the operator determines whether you're a quick reaction force verses becoming a victim," explained Tech. Sgt. Marc Esposito, 342nd Training Squadron instructor, adding that constant practice, with safety as a top priority, leads to mission success.

Several military parachutists from the 342nd Training Squadron jumped over the 37th Training Wing Parade Field Jan. 13 as a practice and training exercise, part of a comprehensive training program at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The program prepares Airmen for battlefield assignments such as Pararescue, combat control, tactical air control party and special operations weather technician.

The parade field is a certified drop zone the 342nd TRS uses twice a year. The squadron operates in several locations around the country, maintaining 188 jumpers. Forty of the jumpers are at Lackland, and last year they jumped a combined total of 2,500 times.

"We vary our jump locations in order to combat parachutist complacency, vary landing patterns and adjust to different wind speeds and directions," said Capt. Nick Jeffers, director of operations for the 342nd TRS. "Altering the drop zone serves as additional challenges for HALO operations - to challenge ourselves and to keep our brains, skills and reactions sharp."

The squadron also trains in HALO, or high altitude - low opening, and HAHO, or high altitude - high opening techniques. In the HALO technique, the jumper opens his parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time. With HAHO, the jumper opens his parachute at a high altitude, just after exiting the aircraft. Opening the
parachute at a high altitude allows jumpers to travel, undetected, for hundreds of miles.
Jumpers train with top-of-the-line equipment and each scenario is geared toward the operational environment including night, tandem and water capabilities.

"These capabilities allow us to bring any assets needed to the mission," Esposito said, adding the operators support missions with other agencies such as the FBI, CIA or the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Stability is key to a successful jump Esposito said.

"Leaving the plane at 14 to 15,000 feet and traveling at 150 miles per hour - the relative position of your body determines its stability - which is crucial in order for jumpers to stay together; say, during a night jump where only small glow sticks on the backs of our helmets are visible to each other."

Esposito said putting a hand out of a car window going 60 to 70 miles per hour is a good example of how wind affects a jumper's body during a controlled fall.

Staff Sgt. Tim Mertz, an instructor with the squadron, explained why proficiency in jumping is vital to the battlefield mission.

"A lot of people think we're just a bunch of cowboys, jumping for the fun of it," he joked. "But practice is so important. Every small detail affects the jump. You have to know how to compensate with your body so you don't lose control of your positioning."

Controlling body position during a free fall is a basic jump qualification, but in the battlefield, these Airmen are strapped with an average of 60 to 80 extra pounds of equipment.

"If I have a weapon sticking up into my shoulder, keeping it from full mobility, I might have to compensate by bringing the other shoulder back," said Mertz as he demonstrated a mock fall in a prone position.

Instructors are required to jump at least twice a quarter to maintain their qualified status. Most of the instructors in the 342nd TRS have been qualified jumpers for several years. After the instructors complete their four-year tour, they return to the battlefield. The jump training program allows instructors to return to their missions as experts.

"Jumping is one of the safest ways to get into the mission," Esposito said. "Once we get into the location - that's when things get complicated. So the jump has to be second nature."