View Full Version : RLTW, kinda... :]
Someone got some splaining to do...
Army Rangers caught high and dry while parachuting
By Greg Morrison, CNN, 7:45 AM EST, Fri February 22, 2013
(CNN) -- They are widely considered among the top in the U.S. military.
But for three Army Rangers who got stuck in trees while parachuting Thursday afternoon in Washington state, their only aim was to get down.
The members of the 75th Ranger Regiment -- a U.S. special operations force -- were training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when they jumped from a plane and got entangled in towering evergreen trees that canvass the sprawling military installation between Tacoma and Olympia.
Video from CNN affiliate KOMO showed rescue workers climbing the trees to reach the stranded soldiers.
They were ultimately brought down safely and with only minor injuries, said base spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield.
"(The soldiers had) a couple of bumps and bruises," Dangerfield said.
Dangerfield noted that this was the second time in the past year alone that parachutists have gotten hung up in tall trees around the base.
The Rangers were training on the West Coast facility, nearly 3,000 miles from the regiment's home base in Fort Benning, Georgia. According to the regiment's website, its members make up "the Army's premier raid force" and they are "always combat ready."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/us/washington-army-parachutists-stuck/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Shit happens. I had more than my share of tree landings in 1st Batt. It was the price you paid for doing night, CARP jumps with non-steerable parachutes.
Sounds to me like their jumpmasters need some remedial training. In 16 years as a JM I don't think I ever put anyone in the trees.
UWOA (RIP)
02-22-2013, 15:14
My first night jump was during SFOC. We were jumping a postage stamp DZ in a noticeable crosswind using MC1-1 chutes. The jump altitude during the MACO briefing was 1250 ft. I remember going out the door of the C-130 and after going thru my sequence I looked down at billowy masses that looked like clouds. Of course they weren't and the whole team ended up in the trees. I was lucky, coming to rest suspended about ten feet above the ground. The student officer filling the 91B slot (a guy named Barrett who had been one of my TAC officers when I was going thru OCS not more than two months prior) was not so lucky. He initially landed in the top of a tree and his chute deflated; he broke free and then fell fifty feet to the ground, breaking his leg. Made me an instant believer in luck.
Where were you a JM? I didn't have that problem in SF either....because we use GMRS or VIRS and, frankly don't jump as much at night, less people, etc. Granted I was in 1st Batt in the early 80s, but tree landings were not that uncommon.
UWOA (RIP)
02-22-2013, 15:25
Sounds to me like their jumpmasters need some remedial training. In 16 years as a JM I don't think I ever put anyone in the trees.
As a jumpmaster I never put anyone in the trees either, but I agree with sinjefe, shit happens. There are too many variables, which is why we rehearse a different prep for a tree landing to avoid skewering vital organs/arteries. Just my opinion.
I JM'd in the 82nd, 5th and 20th Groups. I guess it could happen on rare occasions but I feel that a good JM should and could hold the stick if the A/C isn't in proper location for the drop.
Just my opinion.
Guys went in the trees all the time on the Robin Sage insert.
No tree too tall , just call Bravo 27th Engineers Rough Terrain baby!!!!:p
Sounds to me like their jumpmasters need some remedial training. In 16 years as a JM I don't think I ever put anyone in the trees.
You had no jumps in Panama I would venture. I had a few French Cut unplanned H2O as well as tree landings on Gatun DZ.:D
UWOA (RIP)
02-22-2013, 19:11
You had no jumps in Panama I would venture. I had a few French Cut unplanned H2O as well as tree landings on Gatun DZ.:D
Ahhhh, Gatun DZ. Heard a story while I was in Panama (don't know if it's true) about a night drop on Gatun DZ.
Seems one of the QPs went wide of the DZ and saw the reflection of the small canal (not Gatun Locks) adjacent to the DZ, and saw he was gonna land in it.
He prepared for a water landing, shedding his helmet, inflating his B-7 waterwings and releasing his ruck. He continued to watch the shimmer of the water as he descended and readied himself to hit the water ... until he made contact with the macadam road surface and felt the pain of contact with an unforgiving surface......
JJ, love the thread title...knida????
N=nowledge??...you're not a Ranger by chance are yee...LOL:D
longrange1947
02-22-2013, 20:26
Got quite a few jumps and JM jumps and yes I have put guys in the trees. Almost all my jumps were visual release, but if the DZSO screws up the panel placement, no matter how good you are the jumpers, as least some are going into the trees. Turner DZ at Devens in 69 was actually a 2 - 3 person DZ but 4 went on a regular basis, that is how the DZ was enlarged originally, cut down trees getting chutes out. When I returned to Devens in 74 I could not believe the size of Turner and it got bigger.
I have seen CARP jumps, and there was a period when they were forced on us, in which as DZSO, I was trying to stop a jump in which the aircraft flew exactly opposite of the wind right down the edge of the DZ, yep, all in the trees.
Take care blaming the JM for a tree landing, and for those of you that never did it, congrates, but my bet is you used Sicily, Normandy and Holland a lot. Try some of the postage stamp DZs we used in the 70s. They were cleared for 6 Conventional and 12 SF. :munchin
Basically there were two types of jumpers, those that went in the trees and those that will go in the trees. :D
Utah Bob
02-22-2013, 20:45
Hoo, as they say, aaah! :D
GnSurfin
02-22-2013, 21:27
No tree too tall , just call Bravo 27th Engineers Rough Terrain baby!!!!:p
The tradition is still alive and well. The only thing that has changed is the name of the company. I've got a few RT jumps and theres nothing like jumping off the tailgate and seeing a forest beneath you. :D
The tradition is still alive and well. The only thing that has changed is the name of the company. I've got a few RT jumps and theres nothing like jumping off the tailgate and seeing a forest beneath you. :D
Too cool, I think I like you! Mntgoat was in B co with me back in the "olden days" (circa 93ish)
longrange1947
02-22-2013, 23:03
The tradition is still alive and well. The only thing that has changed is the name of the company. I've got a few RT jumps and theres nothing like jumping off the tailgate and seeing a forest beneath you. :D
Went to Rough Terrain School in Taiwan in 71. 1st Group (Oki) sent a team down there about every other course. Hit a rice paddy that had just been filled, hard as rock with a thin layer of scum. Missed the road between the two paddies but he chute landed on the road so I didn't have a bad shake out. Fuzzy Thurston hit a rock wall full tilt as we crashed through the tree/brush. Knocked him a bit senseless for a bit. Get times and stories on that trip, great 30 day course, great 20+ jumps.
The team before us had a Lt step on a tree branch to retrieve his chute and slice his Scrotum open. Shouldn't have removed his jump suit. :munchin :D
No guarantees with military parachuting which is why there is hazardous duty pay.
Everything's a go and some jumper makes a weak exit, has a triple Mae West, deploys his reserve, and drifts off into the woods.
You compute for the winds...and the air goes dead as the a/c approaches on final.
The winds have been calm the entire time you've been preparing the DZ...and all of a sudden pick up for no reason just as the first jumper exits the a/c.
You compute wind direction...and damn if they don't begin to swirl or change direction coming out of some friggin canyon or such once the jumpers are out (happend to us near Heber Canyon, UT).
Time of day and a jumper or two hit a thermal...and off they drift into the only copse of trees for 20 miles around.
And then there's AWADS...and you never know what you'll see until you break through the clouds at 200' AGL. Surprise.
It's a calculated risk - and s**t happens...and I still miss it all. ;)
Richard :munchin
blue02hd
02-23-2013, 08:53
It's my opinion that civilian stories like this only help those with limited understanding of the routine requirements our military places on soldiers. Most civilians would never even consider jumping from a perfectly good airplane, let alone at night, with xxx pounds of equipment made by the lowest bidder. I miss my days as a Ragnar in Ft Lewis.
Not enough to go back though,,,,,,
:D
It's just how we sometimes go to work.
What's that old saying... Trees Happen!
and what Richard says...
longrange1947
02-23-2013, 09:28
No guarantees with military parachuting which is why there is hazardous duty pay.
.......................................
And then there's AWADS...and you never know what you'll see until you break through the clouds at 200' AGL. Surprise.
It's a calculated risk - and s**t happens...and I still miss it all. ;)
Richard :munchin
Shut down McRidge Impact area in 88 due to an AWADS, We were on 66D when we heard chutes opening. HALO AWADS attempt on St Mere. They came down in the impact area behind 66 range complex. Similar to the debacles with CARP. :munchin :D
blue02hd
02-23-2013, 09:37
Shut down McRidge Impact area in 88 due to an AWADS, We were on 66D when we heard chutes opening. HALO AWADS attempt on St Mere. They came down in the impact area behind 66 range complex. Similar to the debacles with CARP. :munchin :D
So what kind of windage call did you make on a 3d ascending target.. :D
Mr Furious
02-23-2013, 09:39
Shit happens. I had more than my share of tree landings in 1st Batt. It was the price you paid for doing night, CARP jumps with non-steerable parachutes.
Yup, sometimes even steerable ones too. Night CARP and that awkward moment when you realize you are screwed the second the chute opens. I was the door jumper and the SGM was #2. All of us trying to make it to the DZ the entire way down; the first three in the stick were doomed. I remember feeling like a pinball coming down through the oaks. I clearly remember the SGM yelling for all the wildlife to hear that he was going to kill the young Air Force Captain after he got down. I can laugh at it now, but wasn’t laughing then.
69harley
02-23-2013, 10:16
[COLOR="Lime"]
And then there's AWADS...and you never know what you'll see until you break through the clouds at 200' AGL.
200 Inches"? Those would be some pretty low clouds!
longrange1947
02-23-2013, 10:18
200 Inches"? Those would be some pretty low clouds!
AWADS was done in complete fog with "clouds" on the ground at times. It was a joke, AWADS that is. :D
69harley
02-23-2013, 10:28
I remember AWADS all too well. Always got a chuckle when the Air Force said they could pin point heavy drop vehicles to within 15 meters.
Ahhhh, Gatun DZ. Heard a story while I was in Panama (don't know if it's true) about a night drop on Gatun DZ.
Seems one of the QPs went wide of the DZ and saw the reflection of the small canal (not Gatun Locks) adjacent to the DZ, and saw he was gonna land in it.
He prepared for a water landing, shedding his helmet, inflating his B-7 waterwings and releasing his ruck. He continued to watch the shimmer of the water as he descended and readied himself to hit the water ... until he made contact with the macadam road surface and felt the pain of contact with an unforgiving surface......
I broke my L5 on Gatun DZ in a situation similar to that in '90. They didn't XRay it 'til '92, and I got bitched at for not running well during PT the whole time. :D
They did a MRRB and took me off Jump Status, so I retired.
UWOA (RIP)
02-23-2013, 11:09
It's just how we sometimes go to work.
What's that old saying... Trees Happen!
and what Richard says...
LMAO!
At least toggles give you some control on your landing site.
200 Inches"? Those would be some pretty low clouds!
:D
This was a "This is Spinal Tap" airborne operation...
Stonehenge (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1015690/spinal_tap_stonehenge/)
miclo18d
02-23-2013, 12:58
3 tree landings.
2 in 3rd Ranger Batt... 1 on McKenna MOUT DZ... 1 on Fryar DZ (McChord C-141s) almost an impossibility. All T-10
1 in SWCS on St Mere, high winds...was up about 60 ft in the top of a long leaf pine. MC1-1
One HALO jump at Raeford had all but me and my TS land in trees or off DZ on a night jump high winds....it was snowing at altitude, exit was over 401! The only reason I made the DZ was I turned into the wind as soon as my chute opened and held it all the way to the peapit. Winds on the DZ were fine, like 6 kts.
Stiletto11
02-23-2013, 22:30
Bring back the MC -1B:D
ZonieDiver
02-24-2013, 07:34
While in Training Group in '70, most of a C-130's worth of jumpers went into the trees on St. Mere - CARP was blamed.
Our Bn Cdr (2nd Bn/IMA) went into the trees. The only three - that I know of - who didn't: James "Dutch" Coblyn (about 145 lbs), me (about 155), and a cook we called "Tiny Tea Spoon"!
craigepo
02-24-2013, 19:41
Getting hung in a tree on fort Lewis sucks. Those are some really, really tall trees. Lowering the reserve to climb down doesn't help--still too far off the ground.
As an aside, hanging from a tree in a t-10 harness is a quite painful experience.