Photo By Staff Sgt. Angela Ohearn | Sgt. Maj. Sebastiaan Kievith, left, a jumpmaster from the Netherlands trains...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Jumpmasters from the Netherlands participated in the 18th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop here during December 2015 to contribute to the airborne community and train with six other partner nations and U.S. jumpmasters.
Operation Toy Drop, hosted by U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), was one of the largest, combined airborne operations in the world. The event’s primary mission was to collect toys from various donators around the Fort Bragg, North Carolina, community to be distributed to children in need this holiday season.
Jumpmasters spent the week a week preparing for Operation Toy Drop’s main event, “Jump Day,” which happened Dec. 5, 2015. Since then, the jumpmasters have trained and jumped with U.S. paratroopers and partner nations.
“We’ve gone through how to properly inspect the aircraft, how to load the jumps up and everything and give the commands at each aircraft,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Colby Scidmore, a jumpmaster assigned to assist the Netherlands’ jumpmasters while they are here for Operation Toy Drop. “I answer any questions that they have regarding the way we do things compared to how they do things, because their commands are a little bit different."
For Sgt. 1st Class Ruud Van Dillen, a jumpmaster from the Netherlands, this was his fifth year coming to America to represent his country for Operation Toy Drop.
“It’s a good thing for us to give something back for the paratroopers and the airborne community,” Rudd said. “It’s also good training for our new jumpmasters because of the different airplanes, which they can get used to from different countries.”
The jumpmasters trained on several different types of training platforms. The Boeing C-27, the C-130 Hercules and the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter were among the types of aircraft used.
“A lot of people, I know from my unit especially, we don’t get to see these type of platforms,” Scidmore said. “We don’t jump C-27s, UH-60s, any of the rotary wing platforms. ... This is really great experience for them to get out there and try something different. And even for myself, this is my first time being able to be a jumpmaster on these kinds of platforms. It’s really great for me, because I can take back and train up all my jumpmasters on how to properly use these platforms.”
Experience is a quality Netherlands has brought to the table each year they’ve participated in Operation Toy Drop, Scidmore said.
“All of them have a couple hundred jumps to over 1,000 jumps,” he said. “So they’re very experienced and knowledgeable on how they do things.”
When the jumpmasters weren’t training, they spent free time getting to know one another better, Scidmore said. It’s this hospitality that helped make the Dutch jumpmasters feel welcomed.
“[The U.S. jumpmasters] are very willing to help us ... Also after work times, so that’s nice,” Rudd said. “They are nice. They’ve shown hospitality.”
The Netherlands plans to continue to participate in Operation Toy Drop for years to come, Rudd said.
It’s this support from partner nations that has made Operation Toy Drop successful since its inception in 1988. Thanks to all of its contributors, Operation Toy Drop has received and donated over 100,000 toys to underprivileged children.
“It’s important to give something back,” Rudd said.
| Date Taken: | 12.08.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2015 13:30 |
| Story ID: | 183968 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 162 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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