Photo By Ardian Nrecaj | Paratroopers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division,...... read more read more
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CAMP MERECHAL DE LATTRE DE TASSIGNY, Kosovo - The sun was bright and the sky was crystal blue as Spartan paratroopers packed the skies in Kosovo.
Fifty paratroopers from Multinational Battle Group-East conducted the first ever U.S. Army parachute jump in Northern Kosovo outside of Camp Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny (CMLT) Feb. 26.
U.S. Army Spc. Anthony Steele, a native of Washington, D.C., an intelligence analyst with the Liaison Monitoring Team (LMT), 1st Squadron (Airborne), 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, participated in the jump.
“It was a beautiful day to be an airborne Soldier,” said Steele. “Today I jumped out of a UH-60 black hawk for the first time in Kosovo, and it felt great. The landing was one of the softest landings I’ve ever had.”
The rain the night before nearly canceled the jump for the Paratroopers and the parachute count was cut in half.
“I was really excited to finally jump in Kosovo,” said Steele. “I didn’t know if I was going to get the opportunity because of the weather, but I was grateful for the chance.”
The drop zone was new for MNBG-E jumpers. Previous parachute jumps by Army airborne units in Kosovo have either been conducted on or near Camp Bondsteel, which is in the southern half of Kosovo south of Pristina.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Adam Toland, a native of Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, the theatre spectrum manager, and a jumpmaster for MNBG-E, said the Paratroopers had a successful jump on the new drop zone.
“We have been jumping on Camp Bondsteel on the circular drop zone and it isn’t a very big area to drop jumpers,” said Toland. “The team here decided to look for other places to jump and put our pathfinders to use to survey drop zones and do what they went to school to do.”
The pathfinders with 4/25 established a drop zone on a farm field right outside of CMLT.
“This is a larger drop zone [than on Camp Bondsteel] which is always a good thing; it means more green light and more jumpers out of the aircraft at one time,” said Toland. “It was just a great location and a great day to jump.”
“No one got hurt, and all of the jump master teams were certified today so it was a great day for us and a great day for airborne operations,” said Toland. “Sparta lives.”
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2015 10:56 |
| Story ID: | 155542 |
| Location: | CAMP MARéCHAL DE LATTRE DE TASSIGNY, ZZ |
| Hometown: | BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, SC, US |
| Hometown: | WASHINGTON CITY, DC, US |
| Web Views: | 859 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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