AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar -- "Parachute riggers" is the term used to describe members of the U.S. Army Reserve's 824th Quartermaster Company -- although that name doesn't fully describe the vital work these Soldiers do every day. These riggers don't actually pack the parachutes that Soldiers use when jumping out of plane, but they do prepare the vital supplies and equipment that are necessary for aerial delivery to Soldiers in the field.
"Our mission is to provide theater airdrop capabilities and support to both coalition and U.S. forces," explained Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kim Clark, commander of the 824th Quartermaster Company.
Food, water, fuel and ammunition are some of the more typical items that the 824th Quartermaster Company prepares for aerial delivery to remote locations. However, they are prepared to deliver anything that a unit might need on the front lines.
"We can drop pretty much anything in the military inventory," said Clark.
Aerial delivery operations allows expeditionary or isolated units to receive the sustenance and equipment they need when they are cut off or far removed from supply lines. The possibility of aerial supply delivery allows forward units in hostile or austere environments to continue their mission despite the limitations in their area of operations.
"Parachute riggers provide an essential support function in response to emerging situations. When typical means of delivering supplies via ground or air land are not available, riggers deliver those essential supplies from the sky via parachute so that our coalition and partner forces can continue the fight," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Kanzler, the airdrop systems technician for the 369th Sustainment Brigade.
The process of rigging a delivery begins when the quartermaster company receives a directive from their higher headquarters. "Planning is key to our mission," said Sgt. Timothy Williams, Joint Airdrop Inspector of the 824th Quartermaster Company. "Once we know it's coming, we backwards plan. We start doing everything up to that point backwards. We get all the supplies we that we need. We figure out how much we'll need and we start building."
For the 824th Quartermaster Company, the walls of their non-descript workshop at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar are lined with shelves of supplies. When a directive for a supply mission comes down the pipeline, the riggers begin with a wooden board that is cut to fit the load and then drill the board with holes to secure various tubing and webbing that will contain the supplies. The supply load may consist of anything from a few cases of water and food rations, to 55 gallon metal drums and large cardboard bulk containers.
After securing the webbing, the riggers stack large pieces of energy dissipating material around the supplies, commonly referred to as "honeycomb," to absorb the impact when the load lands. This honeycomb material resembles large, thick corrugated cardboard, and the amount needed depends on the speed at which the load will fall from the sky. The higher the velocity, the higher the honeycomb needs to be stacked in order to ensure the load isn't damaged when it hits the ground.
The loads are then fitted with a parachute. Unlike the parachutes used to drop airborne personnel, the parachutes that are affixed to these sustainment loads are packed by civilian companies and delivered to the riggers, ready to go. The parachutes come in various sizes, but essentially come down to two types: high and low velocity. The airdrop altitude, available drop zone area, and the materiel being dropped determines which type of parachute is used.
In addition to the precision with which they assemble and pack vital supplies for troops on the field, Army riggers are also very particular about their appearance. They wear signature red baseball caps in order to distinguish themselves from other Soldiers, so they can be quickly identified in case of an issue with the supply drop.
"A lot of people don't understand exactly what we do as riggers," Thomas explained. "We do our jobs just like everybody else and a lot of people wonder why we wear the red hats. And this is why we wear the red hats."
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