XVIII Airborne Corps upholds annual tradition of all-female jump in honor of International Women’s Day.

Photo By Sgt. Erin Conway | Paratroopers pose for a photo before an all-female airborne jump in honor of International Women's Day at Fort Bragg, March 15, 2023. This year, 66 women made up the annual jump.  

UNITED STATES

03.15.2023

Story by Sgt. Erin Conway 

18th Field Artillery Brigade

International Women’s Day was recognized on March 8 this year. When Sgt. 1st Class Samantha Essig, assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps as the assistant commanding general of operation’s driver, realized the Corps had a jump already planned for just a week later, she pushed for it to be an all-female jump in celebration.

“Back in 2011, when I was a private, Corps was doing these,” Essig said.
Essig, a jumpmaster and third-generation paratrooper, said when she first joined the Army, positive female role models were few and far between. Reflecting on her time in service, Essig said she didn’t find a positive female mentor until she was a staff sergeant.

“That’s changed across Bragg and is evident in the strong female leaders on the line right now,” she said referring to the Soldiers sitting in the pax shed, rigged up and waiting to board the C-130. “Hopefully, the newer Soldiers are looking at them and thinking ‘I want to be her when I grow up.’”

The jump this year consisted of 66 women, including 13 female jumpmasters, seven of whom were pulling jumpmaster duty. The women came from XVIII Airborne Corps, the 16th Military Police Brigade, the 20th Engineer Brigade, USACAPOC, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade, and the 82nd Airborne Division. For Maj. Talisa Dauz, an engineer assigned to HHBN, XVIII Airborne Corps as an S3 operations officer, this was her second time participating in an all-female jump.

“My first one was in 2015, and the Army has made great leaps and bounds to make it an annual tradition on or around the eighth of March,” Dauz said.

For her, as she expressed to the group of women before the jump, these sorts of events are important because it enables women in the Army to network, bond, and share experiences with each other.

“I absolutely care about the lethality of females in our organization and in the units,” Dauz said. “Using different resources we have to maintain the best we have and then becoming a more lethal force through our highlighted differences is a great thing to capitalize on.”

In contrast to Dauz, a major with experience on an all-female jump, this was a first for 1st Lt. Melissa George, assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade. George, who has been in the Army for three years now, said the experience was great.

“Being an engineer, you don’t have a lot of females around you,” George said. “Today, seeing an all-female jump with a lot of female jumpmasters, it’s really cool.”

Like George, Pvt. Dayane Cruz, a chaplain assistant assigned to HSC, XVIII Airborne Corps, experienced the jump honoring women for the first time. Cruz joined the Army and became airborne 10 months ago.

“It’s empowering,” Cruz said. “And Maj. Dauz was able to empower us by talking about unity and sticking together and finding female mentors, so it’s pretty cool.”

After rigging up and being JMPI’d by the female jumpmasters, the group of women boarded the plane, while reflecting on how far women have come in the military and how empowering it is when women lift each other up. Unfortunately, high winds prevented the jump from happening, but regardless events like these help women empower other women, no matter the rank or position.

“These events are important because it’s providing a touch point - an outreach - to let the women we have know that some of the struggles we have had before, we don’t have do on our own anymore,” Dauz said. “Someone has forged ahead for us and now there is a pathway with so many helping hands that are just a phone call away.”

• Date Taken: 03.15.2023
• Date Posted: 03.16.2023 19:08
• Story ID: 440613
• Location: US