U.S. Army Parachute Riggers conduct rigging operations

Photo By Sgt. Nicole Taylor | A U.S. Army Parachute Rigger prepares to rig supplies on Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii, Oct. 30, 2023. The Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) is the Army’s newest Combat Training Center (CTC) and generates readiness in the environments and conditions where our forces are most likely to operate in. JPMRC 24-01 includes over 5,300 training participants, from across the U.S. Joint Force, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Thailand.  

HAWAII, UNITED STATES

10.30.2023

Story by Sgt. Nicole Taylor 

25th Infantry Division   

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – U.S. Army Parachute Riggers from both Active Duty and Reserve components repaired, built, packaged and conducted maintenance on parachutes as well as secured supplies, equipment and vehicles for airdrops throughout the Pacific during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) rotation 24-01.

JPMRC is the Army’s newest Combat Training Center (CTC) and generates readiness in the environments and conditions where our forces are most likely to operate in. JPMRC 24-01 includes over 5,300 training participants, from across the U.S. Joint Force, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The 4th Quartermaster Company, 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 11th Airborne Division and 824th Quartermaster Company, 275th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 518th Sustainment Brigade, have been working alongside one another out of a warehouse on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, in support of 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, as the division hosts JPMRC.

There are many different factors that go into rigging, rather than just preparing cargo and parachutes.

“We are dropping 35 heavy equipment platforms for 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division and 108 Controlled Delivery Systems (CDS) Bundles for the RTU so they can continuously get re-supplied throughout their entire training exercise,” said Army Warrant Officer Trevor Colclasure.

Colclasure said they provide the logistical transportation of all the different classes of supply, including rolling stock, to different islands throughout the Pacific. He added that the workload of this exercise alone is three times as much as normally seen anywhere else in the world.

A key advantage to air drops is that they can be pinpointed to a specific location and helps to get supplies to Soldiers faster.

“Aerial Delivery is essentially logistics for the sky,” said 1st Lt. Jean-Marie Djidjoho. “If you think of anything, riggers can rig it and drop it out of the Aircrafts.”

It takes a special team to efficiently prepare chutes and aerial delivery loads, hence why a Riggers are taught to live by the motto, “I will be sure, always.”

• Date Taken: 10.30.2023
• Date Posted: 11.08.2023 14:24
• Story ID: 457436
• Location: HAWAII, US