RLTW, kinda... :]

[JJ_BPK]

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/was...html?hpt=hp_t3

[sinjefe]

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.

[CW3SF]

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)]

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.

[sinjefe]

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)]

Originally Posted by CW3SF

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.

[CW3SF]

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.

[Dusty]

Guys went in the trees all the time on the Robin Sage insert.

[SF18C]

No tree too tall , just call Bravo 27th Engineers Rough Terrain baby!!!!

[Joker]

Originally Posted by CW3SF

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.

[UWOA (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Joker

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.

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......

[glebo]

JJ, love the thread title...knida????


N=nowledge??...you're not a Ranger by chance are yee...LOL

[longrange1947]

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.

Basically there were two types of jumpers, those that went in the trees and those that will go in the trees.

[Utah Bob]

Hoo, as they say, aaah!

[GnSurfin]

Originally Posted by SF18C

No tree too tall , just call Bravo 27th Engineers Rough Terrain baby!!!!

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.