A hushed calm settles over the land as everyone strains to see and listen for the C-130 in the distance. The 421st Quartermaster Company (Airborne) is now 45 minutes behind schedule for their training exercise. Slowly, as the drone of propellers begins to pick up, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Rich, safety team leader, picks up his radio, “We’re at three knots, out.”
Finally, the C-130 passes over at 1,000 feet. Two containerized delivery systems fly out the back. Cargo parachutes engage and moments later soldiers are following, static lines safely clipped. One after another, parachutes burst open and soldiers glide gracefully through the sky.
“All chutes accounted for, sir,” says Staff Sgt. Wade Catlett, malfunctions non-commission officer. Landing safely, the soldiers gather their chutes and head toward their rally point.
For this mission the unit did an airborne exercise utilizing resupply methods of air drop delivery using CDS containers dropping MREs and simulated oil. The 352nd Company receives this resupply, explained 1st Sgt. Jimmy Bowers, jump master, of the 421st QMC (airborne) a veteran of more than 150 jumps.
“I’ve done water jumps, I’ve landed in trees before, I’ve done all the good and the bad of jumping and I still want to do it, so it is an addiction. You enjoy it. You want to jump whenever you can,” he explained.
Though the rush is a factor, these paratroopers don’t just jump for the adrenaline. They have jobs after the jump.
“We provide a service to the other soldiers as well. We’re resupplying them to keep them moving as well as our soldiers,” explained Bowers.
It is the job of the 421st to fly into a combat zone where there is little access to roads and transport; then drop needed supplies to be picked up and utilized by the soldiers on the ground. This is meant to be a quick effective method of resupply in order to keep the ground troops safer than in a regular ground resupply mission.
“They don’t have to sit and wait, because honestly, transportation will bring attention to where they are going. If you resupply by the sky at night while the enemy is maybe a couple of clicks away, they can recover their resupply of ammunition or whatever they need and move out before the enemy gets there,” said Bowers, “We can supply 120 … tons per day to anywhere and everywhere that needs to be dropped. That is why we consider the world our drop zone.”
With the Airborne wings come risk and heartbreak as well.
“I know of a few sprained ankles and I did have a friend of mine die in [Advanced Individual Training] during one of our jumps. It was almost three months ago. I jumped immediately after in AIT and that is why I got two jumps. You’re only supposed to do one during AIT. I did it to get over the fear,” said Pfc. Jason McDaniel, a parachute rigger with the 421st.
McDaniel is also what airborne qualified soldiers would call a “Cherry,” a soldier that has not performed a jump outside of a training environment. These soldiers are identified by the red tape covering their helmets.
Non-commissioned officers in the unit make shapes with the tape on top of Cherries’ helmets, such as propellers and fins, to embarrass these new soldiers. Some have even earned nicknames from the shapes on their helmets.
One such soldier is Pvt. Sean Bryant who has earned the nickname “Sky Shark” from his cherry helmet.
After the jump, he summed up the experience. “It’s a big rush. It’s like no other. I can’t even explain it.”
| Date Taken: | 06.19.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.13.2010 17:29 |
| Story ID: | 54553 |
| Location: | FORT HUNTER-LIGGETT, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, 421st QMC trains for deployment to Afghanistan, by SPC Aloree Amodt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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