LISTEN: National Airborne Day Behind the Scenes

Author Paul Johnson

September 25th, 2022 12:00 AM

Listen now, as Sunny 94.3’s Paul Johnson takes a dive into National Airborne Day at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This segment, which originally aired August 16, 2020, features interviews with Advanced Airborne School trainers and 11th QuarterMaster unit parachute packing and inspection personnel.

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  Sunny 94.3's Paul Johnson was outfitted with 53 pounds of parachutes and gear for the jump plus 10 pounds more for the rifle. Radio operators and cooks might carry an additional 60 lbs more.

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  Jump Master Personnel Inspection "circles", where Airborne Jump Master candidates learn to spot deficiencies in buddy-assisted mounting of parachutes and equipment on a paratrooper. Jump Masters learn to inspect the work of buddies and correct ANY and ALL problems BEFORE the jump. Failure to spot any errors before sending a paratrooper out of an aircraft's jump door can lead to injury or worse, so Jump Masters are taught to be meticulous inspectors of the work of others in stringent time constraints. The quality of such inspections in tight timeframes is the sum and substance of a Jump Master's hard-earned qualifications.

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  SSGT Ray Burns helped visitors as one of the Jump Master training instructors. Sgt. Burns outfit me with the complete set of parachutes, gear and weapon for our media-day jump demonstration. Presently, he's one of two Chief Jump Master Personnel Instruction course instructors!
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  Sgt First Class James Grimes helped visitors as one of the Jump Master training instructors.

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  Sgt First Class Daniel Maramonte demonstrates the device which keeps the chords of a deployed parachute apart and untangled during a jump.

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  Warrant Officer Ian Dimmick, the top enlisted supervisior in the 11th Quartermaster unit, responsible for receiving, packing, inspecting and certifying (5 times per each of the 13,500 chutes packed per year), storing and issuing them again. Safety and Customer Service are the goals to which they are sworn.

• 82nd Airborne Division Troops Are Deployed To Mideast, As U.S. Braces For Iran’s Response To Killing Of General Qasem Soleimani

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  FORT BRAGG, NC - JANUARY 04: U.S. troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division wait at Green Ramp before they head out for a deployment to the Middle East on January 4, 2020 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Soldiers from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd are part of the approximately 3,000 troops being deployed as tensions increase with Iran in the region after a U.S. airstrike killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. (Photo by Andrew Craft/Getty Images)

• 82nd Airborne Troops Return From Deployment To Iraq

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  FORT BRAGG, NC - JULY 30: Sgt. Patrick Hopkins (R) of Jacksonville, Florida kisses his fiancee Cara Benz as he returns from a year-long tour in Iraq with the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division July 30, 2010 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Over 300 paratroopers in the 1st Brigade of the storied 82nd Airborne returned today to their families, who waited in a large hall adjacent to the flightline. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• Members Of The 82nd Airborne Deploy To Iraq

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  FORT BRAGG, NC - JANUARY 3: Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division wait in line to board a plane at Pope Air Force Base, January 3, 2007 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Approximately 3,300 members of the Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division will be deployed to Kuwait by the end of this week. (Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images)
• U.S. Soldiers Deploy From Ft. Bragg, North Carolina

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  POPE AIR FORCE BASE, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 13: Members of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment Brigade Combat Team from Fort Bragg, North Carolina listen to instructions shortly before boarding aircraft February 13, 2003 at Pope Air Force Base, in North Carolina. The soldiers are bound for Kuwait. (Photo by Bob Rives/Getty Images)

• Paratroopers From The 1st Brigade Combat Team Arrive Home From Iraq

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  FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA - JULY 13: Family and friends welcome approximately 300 Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team as they return to Fort Bragg July 13, 2008 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The unit's area of operations spanned across western, central and southern Iraq, and over the course of a 13-month deployment. The 1st BCT suffered 8 soldiers' deaths. (Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images)

• Members Of The 82nd Airborne Deploy To Afghanistan

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  FORT BRAGG, NC - JANUARY 10: Approximately 150 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division get ready to deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on January 10, 2007 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Approximately 5,000 paratroopers will be deploying to Afghanistan, with the scheduled rotation expected to last one year. (Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images)
• 82nd Airborne Division Troops Are Deployed To Mideast, As U.S. Braces For Iran’s Response To Killing Of General Qasem Soleimani

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  FORT BRAGG, NC - JANUARY 04: U.S. troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division get some rest at Green Ramp before they head out for a deployment to the Middle East on January 4, 2020 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Soldiers from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd are part of the approximately 3,000 troops being deployed as tensions increase with Iran in the region after a U.S. airstrike killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. (Photo by Andrew Craft/Getty Images)

• 82nd Airborne Division Troops Are Deployed To Mideast, As U.S. Braces For Iran’s Response To Killing Of General Qasem Soleimani

  Share

  FORT BRAGG, NC - JANUARY 04: U.S. troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division board a bus as they head out for a deployment to the Middle East on January 4, 2020 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Soldiers from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd are part of the approximately 3,000 troops being deployed as tensions increase with Iran in the region after a U.S. airstrike killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. (Photo by Andrew Craft/Getty Images)

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Author Paul Johnson

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