5th Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company builds alliances at International Jump Week

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Wyatt | A paratrooper glides under a Maneuverable Canopy 6 parachute, which is steerable and not used during large airborne operations due to the risk of paratroopers colliding with each other or “stealing” the air needed for a paratrooper above them July 7, during International Jump Week at the Alzey Drop Zone. This parachute is unlike the T-11 parachute used for most U.S. airborne operations in which the paratrooper has little control and has to land where the wind takes him. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Justin Morelli, 982nd Combat Camera Company)  

KAISERSLAUTERN, RP, GERMANY

07.09.2015

Courtesy Story

16th Sustainment Brigade

By 1st Lt. Daniel Chivers
16th Sustainment Brigade

RHINE ORDNANCE BARRACKS, Germany – Soldiers of the 5th Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company and Airmen of the 435th Contingency Response Group hosted International Jump Week 2015 at Rhine Ordnance Barracks in Kaiserslautern July 7-9. The skies were full with 200 paratroopers from ten countries gaining knowledge of techniques, procedures, and equipment used by partner nations and building alliances within the international airborne community.

“During International Jump Week, I built partnerships with our North American Treaty Organization allies and earned British wings,” said Master Sgt. Stephen Nelson, a Contingency Air Traffic Controller from the 435th Contingency Response Group.

The week was an opportunity for the airborne community to jump with maneuverable canopies. Most nations, including the United States, use non-maneuverable canopies during static line operations, in which the jumper attaches his parachute to the aircraft so that it pulls
automatically when he exits. Static line jumps are customary when dropping many paratroopers at once and they run the risk of colliding. For some paratroopers this was their first opportunity to jump with the Maneuverable Canopy 6 parachute.

International Jump Week concluded with a formal wing exchange ceremony in which the jumpmasters of each country awarded airborne wings to paratroopers from partner nations. Poland, France, Estonia, Greece, Germany, Britain, Czech Republic, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States awarded wings to foreign paratroopers.

• Date Taken: 07.09.2015
• Date Posted: 08.24.2015 11:06
• Story ID: 174035
• Location: KAISERSLAUTERN, RP, DE