PREPARE TO LAND!

Submitted by AFPAO on Mon, 03/25/2019 - 10:35

“Paratroopers – a member of a group of soldiers who are trained to jump out of airplanes using a parachute” – Merriam Webster.

On 03 March 2019 at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, another batch of brave uniformed men and women joined the elite Airborne Family. Coming from the different units of the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Navy, these men and women displayed courage by defying gravity in order to call themselves “AIRBORNE.”

In order to make this milestone happen, the 207th Tactical Helicopter Squadron (207THS) of the PAF was tapped as the primary platform to conduct the qualifying jumps of the Basic Airborne Course (BAC) Class 123-19 under the Philippine Army’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The trainees were guided by the jumpmaster who facilitated and controlled the exiting paratroopers. Over the landing zone, the jumpmaster orders the jumpers to “prepare to land!” Upon hearing this command, the jumpers prepared to exit the aircraft, jumped into the air, and parachuted safely to the ground.

A trainee/jumper must safely accomplish 5 successful jumps in order to complete the training. The training concluded with no major injuries or any untoward incident among the instructors, students, and crew of the said flight. Finally, with the support given by the PAF, these airborne personnel will be added to the pool of paratroopers who can be called when the Filipino people need their service.