HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii -- Imagine being 10,000 feet up and the temperature drops, wind rises, and suddenly you hear someone shout, “Jump!” At that moment, you then make your way to the back of the helo and take the jump of a lifetime.
Soldiers assigned to Special Operation Pacific Command experienced this scenario, Sept. 22, at Drop Zone Lightning during para operations training held to maintain proficiency.
“We help the Army with this kind of training, periodically, and it’s really fun,” said 1st Lt. Joseph Overstake, squadron pilot, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 home based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.
“They do this training for the same reasons Marines do their training. Marines qualify with the rifle every year to maintain their ability to shoot and to show they remember the fundamentals. Army soldiers are doing the same thing with the jump training they’re doing.”
Capt. Brian E. Friestman, HMH-463, said that the soldiers did the training jump from two different heights.
“The first jump will consist of seven jumpers jumping from ten thousand feet,” said Friestman. “This is considered a ‘halo’ jump or high-altitude, low-opening jump.”
“This jump kind of makes me nervous,” said Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Williams, Special Operations Pacific Command. “But I’ve done it before, and we’ve been trained really well, so I know I’m safe — it’s just the jitters.”
Williams said that the soldiers start training for their jumps weeks before the actual jump.
Overstake explained the halo jump is actually the safer of the two jumps soldiers will be performing, even though it is from a higher altitude.
“The next jump they will be doing is from fifteen hundred feet,” said Freistman. “We will have forty-five soldiers jumping from this distance. We will take fifteen jumpers up at a time, and five jumpers will jump every time we fly over the drop zone. We’ll land and get the next fifteen jumpers and so on.”
The second jump is a lot more dangerous because of the minimal amount of time the jumper has to deploy their parachute, according to Overstake.
“The second jump is considered a static-line jump, because it utilizes a line and cord to automatically deploy the chute when the jumper jumps,” said Overstake. “The point of this is to get the chute out as soon as possible. If the chute does fail, the jumper will more than likely not have enough time to deploy the second chute. Even if the jumper did deploy a second chute, it wouldn’t have time to slow the jumper down before he hits the ground.”
Safety is the most important aspect to consider when it comes to this type of training, said Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg Phillips, weapons sergeant, Special Operations Pacific Command.
“Each jumper is checked by at least four different people,” said Overstake. “The crew chiefs on the plane and jump masters all check the jumper as well, before the jump. The most important thing is safety. The last thing we want is someone to get injured or have a fatal accident.”