SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE, FRANCE -- Soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division participated in a week-long series of events to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of D-Day during World War II.
Specialist Stanford Horbacz, a medic with the 29th Inf. Div., and Spc. Amanda Nguyen used their talents to support a deployment of paratroopers near here June 4, 2017. Horbacz provided medical support, while Nguyen learned and deployed new skills on wind measurement instruments used in airborne operations.
When deploying paratroopers, gauging wind speed and direction is crucial to mission success. Lack of accurate calculation could result in missing the drop zone and paratroopers landing in unsafe circumstances. Nguyen with monitored these factors in order to make an informed decision about the safety of a plane jump.
“I learned so much,” Nguyen said. “I have never participated in an airborne jump before.”
The jump was also a first experience for Horbacz, even though she is a trained and qualified medic.
“Being a medic at an airborne operation is a little different than duty at a place like a rifle range,” Horbacz said. “The possible injuries are different. Also rather than waiting for something to happen, we need to check every Soldier as they hit the ground to make sure they are all right.”
Horbacz’s job involved traversing an American football field-sized drop zone for more than four hours, scanning the skies and getting a thumbs-up from every Soldier in her area of operation. As the first person on the scene after a landing, she also helped with common problems experienced by paratroopers such as runaway parachutes.
Though it was difficult work that may have brought them out of their comfort zone, 29 Infantry Division soldiers fully embraced their tasks and made the mission a success, contributing to the safe passage of hundreds of paratroopers.
| Date Taken: | 06.05.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.05.2017 16:14 |
| Story ID: | 236421 |
| Location: | FR |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 29th ID Soldiers support airborne drop in France, by MSG Sean McCollum, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
