Photo By Sgt. L'Erin Wynn | A jumpmaster with the 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment performs a jumpmaster pre-inspection...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- One hundred paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division completed a "friendship jump" into Sicily Drop Zone on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Nov. 5, 2015.
As a show of our multinational interoperability and as the grand finale of Combined Joint Operations Access Exercise 16-01, U.S. paratroopers with the 82nd Abn. Div. and Canadian paratroopers with the 3rd Royal Canadian Regiment made a total of five lifts and 20 passes in a Canadian CH-47 Chinook helicopter to complete the Canadian Airborne training that will earn them their Canadian jump wings.
Though all jumpers, both U.S. and Canadian, involved are airborne qualified, the paratroopers fulfilled the obligation of completing the groundwork to legitimize the wearing of foreign wings.
"The Canadians put them through the same process that they do for a jump refresher training," said Capt. Mark Zwirgzdas, commander, 2nd Battalion, 325th Air Infantry Regiment, 82nd Abn. Div. "We will earn their jump wings by jumping with their chutes, their jumpmasters and in this case - their CH-47 Chinook aircraft. They earned our jump wings when they jumped out of C-17s."
In honor of a job well done, the 2nd BCT held a ceremony followed by a cookout for their international partners. The U.S. and Canadian paratroopers continued to build camaraderie and pinned each other with wings to culminate the training and jump.
Soldiers are allowed one foreign award for wear on the Army Service Uniform, Zwirgzdas said it's an honor and an all around good look.
"It shows that America supports interoperability with other forces," said Zwirgzdas. "A sort of exchange for 'esprit de corps.' We jump with them, they jump with us and we share a common paratrooper background."
Another commonality was the Canadian combat team's use of other forces to help complete their mission.
In true CJOAX fashion, the 3rd RCR brought along their air force, the Canadian 450th Tactical Helicopter Squadron, to fly the aircraft out of which the Paratroopers jumped in the same way that the 18th Air Force flew the U.S. bird during jumps.
As far as contrasts, the only ones to note were the round-shaped, modified T-10 Delta parachute used by the Canadians versus the cruciform T-11; there's a two-second activation difference, the reserve differs and there's a faster rate of descent: 18 feet per second for the T-11 compared to 21 for the T-10. These differences were accounted for and covered during the refresher training.
All of this amounts to learning from and with another nation in order to strengthen our own.
Opportunities to cultivate operational understanding through working with NATO allies ensures readiness amongst nations. Zwirgdas said support is also gained with combined exercises such as a CJOAX.
"You get to see how they do things. Some things we will take from them and incorporate into our battalion teachings," said Zwirgzdas. "They have a different viewpoint than we do and are taking things from us and applying them back in Canada."
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2015 22:25 |
| Story ID: | 181388 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 900 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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