Setting the example: Jumpmaster earns Senior Parachutist Badge

When Sgt. Nicholas L. Schuch exited the left door of the C-130 Hercules aircraft in the early evening of Aug. 7, he had a lot more to look forward to than making a safe, soft landing on Nijmegen Drop Zone on Fort Bragg.

The jump served as the final gate the jumpmaster needed to pass through to earn the Senior Parachutist Badge.

To earn the second-to-highest badge a jumpmaster can be awarded, Schuch completed a minimum of 30 airborne operations, 15 of which were with combat equipment and two of which were at night. He also jumped during five mass tactical airborne operations and completed follow-on missions.

The team leader, assigned to Company A, 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, said while he is humbled to be a senior rated parachutist, he said earning the badge was not about his accomplishment; rather, it was about being a leader in the All American Division and setting the right example for his Paratroopers to follow.

"When I was a private, my squad leader was a jumpmaster and he really took me up under his wing and taught me everything it is I need to know about being successful," Schuch said. "I kind of wanted to follow in his footsteps."

True to the commitment he made early on in his career as a heavy vehicle operator, Schuch attended jumpmaster school as a sergeant and has been doing his part to ensure for jumper safety since he graduated the course in January 2013. He said becoming a jumpmaster is the most important qualification a leader in the 82nd Airborne Division can obtain.

"In the 82nd Airborne Division … our mission statement is to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours of notification, conduct a parachute infantry assault, seize the objective and be prepared to conduct follow-on missions," Schuch said. "If we can't, as leaders, be a jumpmaster and show them we're going to actually achieve this goal … then we're not exactly setting the right example.

"If you want your people to follow you, or if you want your Soldiers to believe in you…show them you're willing to go out there for a few weeks, stick with the grind and work really hard to achieve this goal of being a jumpmaster," he continued.

Schuch said becoming a jumpmaster was important to him personally because he wanted to be the subject-matter expert for the Paratroopers on his team.

"Sgt. Schuch is … quite easily the best [sergeant] in my company," said Capt. David Poe, commander of Company A, 307th BSB. "He's one of those guys who constantly outperforms his peers in everything he does."

Poe said Schuch has won noncommissioned officer of the quarter boards at the battalion, brigade and division level, and that he's slated to compete in the Sgt. Audie Murphy Club board this month--and that's all while taking care of his Paratroopers and performing extra duties as the company's field sanitation officer and aircraft logistics representative.

Schuch said earning the Senior Parachutist Badge wouldn't be his last accomplishment.

"I worked for a few years [to obtain] this and it's a … gratifying experience, he said. "I'm definitely excited to continue on and do bigger and better things and show my Soldiers and my peers that these are the things you achieve when you work hard."