On a bright Thursday morning, cheers erupted from the shoreline of Lake Garda as Sgt. 1st Class Turner Williams, a medical noncommissioned officer, leapt from a military aircraft and parachuted into the lake’s blue waters—his family watching from ashore.
Williams was one of 226 paratroopers who participated in 173rd Airborne Brigade's water airborne operation on April 10, 2025, alongside 200 additional paratroopers executing helocast jumps from 12th Combat Aviation Brigade's low-flying aircraft. The exercise—held on Italy’s largest lake—demonstrated the 173rd Airborne Brigade's capability to conduct rapid, flexible entries into environments where conventional drop zones are unavailable.
From the shore, Turner's spouse,...
