LINCOLN, Neb. - Twenty-eight Soldiers serving in the Nebraska Army National Guard’s 2-134th Infantry Battalion (Airborne) jumped from a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the Alaska Air National Guard during training Sept. 29.
“This was the first jump from a C-17 in Nebraska in the entire time I have been here and maybe the first ever,” said 1st Sgt. Jeremy Borrell. “The crew was outstanding and one of the pilots had flown our larger jump last year at Fort Riley.”
The Soldiers took off from Lincoln Airport and landed at Husker Drop Zone near Mead, Nebraska.
The C-17 crew also performed a pregame flyover Sept. 30 in Lincoln before the University of Nebraska football game against the University of Michigan.
“It was great that we were able to leverage this asset in Nebraska for multiple missions and create a win-win scenario,” Borrell said.
The jump was at risk of cancellation due to strong winds on an unseasonably warm fall day, but as the jet approached Husker Drop Zone, the wind speed stayed under the predetermined acceptable limit.
“I would rate this jump a 6 out of 10,” Cadet Samuel Rosa said. “The landing was a little rough, and the biggest factor was probably the wind. Right before I jumped, it was 11 knots, just under the limit.”
Rosa is a member of the Army National Guard and Army ROTC at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Soldiers of the airborne Army National Guard unit usually jump at least once per quarter to maintain proficiency as paratroopers in addition to their regular duties and military occupational specialties.