FORT BENNING, Ga., (Aug. 19, 2015) -- More than 230 paratroopers jumped onto Lawson Army Airfield Aug. 15 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Army Airborne School.
In 1940 the U.S. War Department approved the formation of an airborne Test Platoon under the direction and control of the Armys' Infantry Branch.
Out of the 180-plus Soldiers who volunteered, two officers and 48 enlisted men were chosen based on their high standards of health, fitness and a written test.
The "Test Platoon" paved the way for future paratroopers and opened the U.S. Army to a whole new way of fighting - Soldiers who were both air-and-land capable and Infantrymen who could fly.
"The very first jump by the Test Platoon took place on Lawson Army Airfield. Its exciting for current members of 1st (Battalion Airborne), 507th (Parachute Infantry Regiment), with paratroopers across the airborne community to jump onto Lawson as a part of that celebration," said Capt. Jesse J. Sheehan, Battalion S3, 1st Bn., 507th PIR.
During the commemoration, the past touched the present as parachutes opened one by one above the airfield. For two hours, Soldiers jumped onto the same field where 75 years prior the first American Infantry Airborne jump took place.
The Liberty Jump Team kicked off the event by performing a static-line parachute demonstration from a vintage World War II C-47 aircraft that was built and flown in WWII. The team used WWII uniforms and equipment, including Normandy D-Day M1942 jump suits and M1C steel helmets, representing paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions.
"Seeing the paratroopers in the original uniforms that were worn in WWII was amazing," said Whitney Pinkerton, whose husband is currently attending Airborne School. "It really hits home how much the program has grown, and how important those original jumpers are for today's program."
Following the Liberty Jump Team, two UH-60 Black Hawks from the Pathfinder School carried pathfinder students jumping with MC-6 parachutes to demonstrate how they secure and set up a drop zone for a main element to conduct Airborne operations.
Finally, the remaining jumpers exited from two C-17 and one C-130 planes, using modern parachuting and exiting techniques with MC-6 series parachutes. Each plane did several passes, dropping roughly 16 paratroopers per pass.
The event ended with all of the paratroopers who jumped marching across the air field, and a static display of the WWII plane and a Black Hawk being set up for attendees to view.
"I believe it's important to honor those who made history," Sheehan said. "The original Test Platoon were two-time volunteers in a time of war - they volunteered to serve not only in the Infantry, but in the Airborne Infantry. Its humbling, especially when you consider the airborne was an unknown concept during that time."
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