1-158’s LRS team jumps its goodbyes

Photo By Ensign Margaret Taylor | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Chris Love, the commander of C Company (long-range surveillance), 1st Squadron, 158th Cavalry Regiment, Maryland Army National Guard, waits to jump one last time with his unit on July 18, 2015, over Little Orleans, Md. The LRS unit, which is based out of Hagerstown, is scheduled to be disbanded in August. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Margaret Taylor, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)  

LITTLE ORLEANS, MD, UNITED STATES

07.18.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Margaret Taylor  

29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

LITTLE ORLEANS, Md. – Soldiers from C Company, 1st Squadron, 158th Cavalry Regiment, based in Hagerstown, conducted the unit’s last parachute jump July 18 at the Bitner drop zone in Little Orleans.

The long-range surveillance unit is scheduled to be disbanded in August, and all C Company Soldiers will be reassigned to other units in the Maryland Army National Guard or in surrounding states.

“It was good to jump with my team,” said Spc. Josh Utz, a senior LRS scout and a resident of Edgewood. “We’ll keep in touch. I’m going to miss it.”

Approximately 100 Soldiers participated in the exercise, most of whom were from C Company. They were also joined by guests from other units, such as the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion.

The Soldiers were taken into the air in groups of about 24 at a time: Six went up in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, and the others in a CH-47 Chinook. The aircraft made multiple passes over the Bitner drop zone – farmland owned by the local Shipley family – and Soldiers parachuted down six at a time.

Several Soldiers also demonstrated their fast-roping skills by zipping down lines hanging from a hovering Black Hawk.

The jump almost didn’t happen. Bad weather between Little Orleans and Edgewood, which is where the helicopters flew from, delayed the event throughout the morning.

Fortunately, the storms passed and the aircraft were able to fly out to meet the jumpers in the early afternoon.

First Lt. Chris Love, a resident of Columbia and C Company’s final commander, said this last jump with his team was bittersweet.

“This is a unit that has run itself for a long time – it’s been easy to command,” Love said. “It was awesome to jump with these guys one last time.”

• Date Taken: 07.18.2015
• Date Posted: 07.21.2015 08:09
• Story ID: 170646
• Location: LITTLE ORLEANS, MD, US
• Hometown: COLUMBIA, MD, US
• Hometown: EDGEWOOD, MD, US
• Hometown: HAGERSTOWN, MD, US