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Jump School - Fort Benning, GA
At Jump School, you'll be introduced to your best friend - your parachute. You'll get to know everything about it. How to wear it, adjust it, use it, the works. You'll also learn all the techniques needed to accomplish your mission with absolute confidence. How to stay loose; get ready for impact; let your legs absorb the shock; roll and collapse your chute quickly; release your harness; unsling your weapon; and deploy into position.

Airborne officers are considered to be among the Army's most valuable combat officers. (Every member of the Rangers and Special Forces - two of the Army's most elite corps - is airborne-qualified.)

And not only Infantry officers can benefit from "going Airborne." Being airborne-qualified will enhance an officer's value to the Army and enhance his or her own chances for a valuable career.

This is a three week school conducted at Fort Benning, Georgia. At Airborne school, soldiers will train along side Regular Army officers and enlisted men and women, as well as members of the other armed services, to jump from Air Force aircraft (C130 and C141). Upon completion of the course, soldiers will earn the coveted jump wings and be parachutist qualified! This course is extremely safe and boosts the confidence of all who have the opportunity to attend.

During the first week, students encounter daily physical fitness and basic parachutist training. They are taught how to wear the parachute harness and how to use special training apparatus. The mock door allows the student to learn the proper method of exiting an aircraft; the parachute landing fall platform assists the student in developing proper parachute landings; the lateral drift apparatus develops the proper technique for controlling the parachute during descent; and the 34-foot tower exposes the student to the physical sensation of the actual jump.

The second week of training is a learning reinforcement period with continued physical training and the addition of more apparatus such as the swing landing trainer, which teaches the student to deal with oscillation and landing falls. In this second week, the cadet is also taught landing procedures and recovery from the drag. Parachute jumps from the 250-foot tower culminate this week of training and constitute the final transition from ground training to actual parachuting.

During the evaluation phase, or jump week, the student makes five qualifying jumps. Three use the conventional parachute and two more jumps use the new steerable parachute.

Successful completion of the previous weeks of training prepares you for Jump Week. Graduation is normally conducted at 0900 on Friday of Jump Week at the south end of Eubanks Field on the Airborne Walk. However, if weather, or some other reason delays the scheduled jumps, graduation may be conducted on Fryar Drop Zone (DZ) after the last jump. Guests and family members are welcome to observe all of the jumps at the DZ, attend the graduation ceremony, and participate in awarding the wings. Fryar DZ is located on the Fort Benning Military Reservation. To get to Fryar Field DZ, visitors should drive to Lawson Army Airfield (LAAF). Drive to the left around LAAF. At the stop sign turn left and drive about 5 miles to the next stop sign. Follow signs to the drop zone parking area. Following graduation you are allowed to depart for leave, or your next duty assignment.

Throughout the fast-moving course of instruction, mental alertness and physical conditioning are emphasized. Physical conditioning is a must prior to attending this course. Airborne School is designed for those who possess the desire, motivation and courage to join the elite fraternity known as "THE AIRBORNE."

WARNING: WHEN CONDUCTING PHYSICAL TRAINING PRIOR TO THE BASIC AIRBORNE COURSE AT YOUR HOME STATION, DESIGN A PROGRAM TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING: COMPLETION OF A 5 MILE RUN WITH A TIME OF 45 MINUTES OR FASTER AFTER CONDUCTING 30 MINUTES OF STRENUOUS ACTIVITY (MUSCULAR STRENGTH EXERCISES, MUSCULAR ENDURANCE EXERCISES, CALISTHENICS, AND GRASS DRILLS).

You must be physically fit before you start the BAC. The physically weak are more likely to either not complete the course because of an injury, or fail the course due to an inability to qualify on the training apparatuses. You will have PT the first period each day, followed by seven hours of demanding, vigorous training.

Typical PT Session. You must qualify during daily PT by completing the exercises and distance run. Any student who fails to complete two runs during the entire course will be eliminated from training. A typical daily PT session includes warm up exercises, calisthenics, guerilla/grass drills or a 3.2 to 4 mile formation run. Males and females run in the same formation during PT and the average pace is 9-minutes per mile.  Train now and get fit - check out the Army Special Forces Workout to prepare you for Airborne School.

Brigade-sized airdrop exercises are performed at Pope AFB, NC.  Five thousand 82nd Airborne troops are taking part in an aerial assault exercise called Large Package Week. The quarterly training exercise sharpens the airdrop capability of aircrews from the Air Mobility Command and the 82nd Airborne.  During this Large Package exercise, paratroopers practice jumps out of C-130 and C-17 aircraft while assembling in their battle-ready units on the drop zone.  Units will practice airfield seizure tactics and assemble with their heavy equipment such as artillery pieces.  All personnel and equipment are airdropped from USAF airdrop aircraft and culminates in a large-scale brigade ground exercise.

Being an Airborne unit, parachuting is "a way to get to work" for the men of Special Forces. Their platforms for the jumps include C-141, C130 Air Force aircraft and UH-60, UH-1H, and CH-47 Army Helicopters. SF chutes also vary. The most common static-line parachute is the MC1-1C, which is maintained and packed by the Support Company Riggers (MOS 92R). SF soldiers have to jump once every three months to stay "current". They also make night jumps which are the preferred method of tactical parachute infiltration.

Select members of Special Forces also are trained in HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) operations. For these highly trained SF soldiers, HALO is the best "way to get to work". These super paratroopers can be miles from their target (Landing Zone) when they exit their aircraft and "glide" their way in for a safe, clandestine landing.

Large Package Week - Brigade Airdrop & Airfield Seizure
A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules passed overhead and green parachutes dotted the evening sky above nearby Fort Bragg on May 11. Eight seconds later, the first Soldiers from the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps charged across the ground launching a simulated airfield assault.

The Large Package Week exercises showed the vital role bluesuiters play in joint operations to help Soldiers bring the fight to the enemy, officials said.

Aircraft involved in the week’s exercises were four C-130 Hercules from here, and six from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., as well as two C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Charleston AFB, S.C., and McChord AFB, Wash. Together they dropped equipment and about 800 paratroopers, said Master Sgt. Brian Harriman, the exercise’s production supervisor from the 743rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron here.

Airmen and Soldiers train together during the exercises which are designed to help prepare the 82nd Airborne Division’s incoming Ready Division. Sergeant Harriman said the Ready Division Soldiers are typically on alert for six weeks and must be capable of deploying anywhere to conduct combat operations within 18 hours.

The majority of training occurs at night because that is when Soldiers typically go into battle, said Maj. Chul Lee, command post chief.

“Night operations lessen the threat (of) exposure and also increase the element of surprise against enemy targets,” he said.

Airmen are vital to the 82nd’s capabilities to perform its mission, Sergeant Harriman said.

“The Air Force role is critical when a crisis breaks because (the airlifters get) the 82nd Airborne’s Ready Division where it needs to go,” he said.

Along with actual airlift missions, Airmen must also manage and maintain all participating aircraft. Roughly 90 maintainers from the 743rd AMXS take part in the training, and they prepare the “packages,” which include equipment like military vehicles.

Sergeant Harriman said he recognizes and emphasizes the importance of joint operations for accomplishing America’s national objectives.

“The key to success is two services operating as one unit to get the job done,” he said.

82d Airborne Division - The All Americans
Fort Bragg is known as the "Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces". Fort Bragg houses the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps. The U.S. Army Special Operations Command and the U.S. Army Parachute Team (the Golden Knights) also call Fort Bragg home.

From their inception to their patch, these units have a legendary history.  The "AA" on the 82 Airborne Division patch stands for "All American".  The XVIII Airborne Corps is known as the Purple Dragons.

Fort Bragg units include the 1st Corps Support Command, 44th Medical Command, XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery, 18th Aviation Brigade, 35th Signal Brigade, and more.

Soldiers of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division stream out from two U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemasters III over the Sicily dropzone at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sept. 11, 1997. The soldiers are rehearsing to take part in the longest distance airborne operation in history during Exercise Central Asian Battalion '97. Exercise Central Asian Battalion '97 involves more than 900 military personnel from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan who are training with over 500 U.S. military troops to hone their skills in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. The exercise will enhance regional cooperation and increase interoperability training among NATO and Partnership for Peace nations. The exercise is being held in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, and Chirchik, Uzbekistan. DoD photo

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