Photo By Sgt. Mike MacLeod | Army 1st Sgt. Scott Thomas of Company C, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry...... read more read more
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By Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
CAMP RAMADI, Iraq — Breeding confidence through competence was the goal of jumpmaster instructors as they led senior parachutists of the deployed 82nd Airborne Division through a jumpmaster refresher course, Feb. 7, to prepare them for training jumps in Iraq.
Three "black hat" instructors from the Fort Bragg, N.C., Advanced Airborne School recertified all 16 jumpmasters with 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist), who took part in the course, said Sgt. 1st Class William Johnson, non-commissioned officer in charge of brigade airborne operations.
As a former senior instructor at the Advanced Airborne School, Johnson described the task of a jumpmaster as one of "extreme attention to detail."
"People are surprised by the level of attention to detail required of a jumpmaster," said Johnson. "Jumping is one of the most dangerous things that we do. The jumper may not be able to look at the universal static line and tell that anything is wrong with it, but the jumpmaster will."
Sgt. 1st Class Robert Schultz, the senior member of the visiting team, said that it is critical for a jumpmaster to recognize "what right looks like" and what can go wrong with any piece of a jumper's equipment.
Due in large part to the diligence of jumpmasters, the vast majority of parachuting injuries are not caused by equipment malfunction, but rather, mistakes that Paratroopers make when releasing the universal static line upon exiting the aircraft and when landing, he said.
During the refresher course, instructors retrained jumpmasters to guide jumpers through pre-jump, jump and landing skills, but the majority of the time was spent on conducting proper equipment checks, called jumpmaster personnel inspections, or JMPIs.
"You want to have these skills burned into your soul, so that, without thinking, you can spot problems when they occur," said Johnson. "A jumpmaster is not going to be able to read from the [Airborne Standing Operating Procedures] while standing in the door of a moving aircraft," he said.
To be recertified, jumpmasters were required to JMPI two jumpers in less than 4 minutes, 30 seconds, performing dozens of checks in a nearly seamless process, said Johnson.
"The jumpmaster instructors did a great job," he said, noting that any instructor from the Advanced Airborne School has his implicit trust.
"There's no one in the world that is better at delivering paratroopers behind enemy lines than the 82nd Airborne Division, so imagine how good the guys that teach the jumpmasters have to be," said Johnson.
If executed as planned, the airborne jumps to follow the refresher course may be the largest parachute operation into a combat zone since 2003. About 500 paratroopers are scheduled to participate, said Johnson.
The legacy unit of 1/82 AAB, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, has made five jumps into combat zones, including four during World War II and one in 1989 into Panama.
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 02.09.2010 01:11 |
| Story ID: | 45118 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 610 |
| Downloads: | 318 |
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