US, allies join forces for International Jump Week

Published July 29, 2016
By Airman 1st Class Joshua Magbanua
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- The U.S., along with seven other allied nations, united for International Jump Week 2016, July 24 through 28 at several different military installations in Germany.

Paratroopers from Germany, France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Kosovo, the Czech Republic and Israel joined forces with U.S. military members to perform high-altitude, low-opening and static line jumps from C-130J Super Hercules from the 37th Airlift Squadron and U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

“We do this every year in the summer with our partner nations,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Danielle Dowds, 435th Contingency Response Group logistics officer. “The events have been wonderful; it’s just a fantastic opportunity to get together with our partner nations, share our experiences and share our love for being airborne.”

The weeklong event began at Rhine Ordnance Barracks, with a welcome from U.S. Air Force Col. Patrick Daly, 435th Contingency Response Group commander. For the next four days, the coalition gathered at Ramstein Air Base in the morning to don their gear and board the aircraft. Afterwards they flew to Bitburg Airfield where the jumps were conducted.

Hosted by the 435th CRG, International Jump Week is intended to build camaraderie between U.S. troops and their allies. It also gives them the opportunity to exchange methods pertinent to airborne operations.

“Our jumpmasters link up with theirs and we all have tactics, techniques and procedures that we learn from each other,” said Dowds, who participated in the jumps. “It’s truly an honor to share this capability together and to learn from each other.

“This is a huge [partnership-building] event for the 435th CRG; so hosting this every year amongst all the airborne events that go on throughout the year, this camaraderie is at the heart of all of it,” Dowds continued.

Cpl. Ian Chapman, British army reservist, was also happy to be able to work with the allies of his country.

Chapman said he attended International Jump Week last year but was not able to jump every day due to inclement weather. He voiced his enthusiasm about being able to go on every jump this year.

“I had a fantastic time,” said Chapman, “Everybody’s gotten on like a house on fire; it’s been really good vibes all week. The guys have been great and the organization’s been great; [they’re] blessed and wonderful people.

“It’s worth the effort [of traveling to Germany]; it really is,” Chapman continued.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Christopher Deans, 37th Airlift Squadron chief of scheduling, was pleased with the performance of the troops during the week.

“International Jump Week so far has been a great success,” said Deans, who served as the 37th AS mission commander for the C-130Js involved in the event. “This is one of the great opportunities of being stationed at Ramstein - being able to work with our NATO and European partners to build partnership capacities all over Europe so in the future we can work well together.”

Deans said International Jump Week will help make airborne operations much smoother now that the U.S. and its allies are more familiar with each other’s ways of operating.

The multinational event helped open the door for U.S. troops to better understand their foreign counterparts and incorporate some of the allies’ techniques in their own operations.