The exercise “FALL WIND 2020” has mobilized nearly 500 Legionnaire paratroopers throughout Balagne for a week. The first phase involved dropping divers of the nautical company at sea from French Air Force helicopters to scout the enemy bastion of the Ile Rousse. After 36 hours of fierce fight in the maquis against opposing force, the […]
“Take cover! Bring up the PIAT!” – Anthony Hopkins as Colonel John Frost of the British Parachute Regiment in the movie “A Bridge Too Far”. The issuing of that command on-screen was my first introduction to the rather odd looking, and oddly named, “Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank”, or PIAT for short. The first light anti-tank […]
On 1 September 2020, during a ceremony at the Boeing Ridley Park, Philadelphia (PA) facility, Boeing delivered the first MH-47G Chinook Block II to the US Army. The US Army appears to stalling the replacement of its current fleet of CH-47F helicopters with the improved CH-47F Chinook Block II, but the US Special Operations Command […]
The French Air Force’s jump school, École des troupes aéroportées (ETAP), last week conducted the final parachute jumps from the C-160 Transall aircraft as it is retired from service. The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany that has been in service for more than […]
Airborne’s been practicing safe social distancing since before it was cool…. Sky Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade make their way to an aircraft in preparation for airborne operations. When they jump the Jumpmasters will maintain a one-second interval between jumpers, jumpers will maintain a sharp lookout during descent to avoid fellow jumpers, will slip right […]
In honor of National Airborne Day yesterday, and to give credit where it’s due to these other pioneers and unsung heroes… The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was nicknamed “Triple Nickles” because of its numerical designation and because 17 of its original 24 “colored test platoon” were from the 92nd Infantry (“Buffalo Soldiers”) Division of the […]
President George W. Bush created National Airborne Day in 2002. It was created to honor all current U.S. Airborne Forces, and to commemorate the first parachute jump of 48 volunteer members of the U.S. Army Parachute Test Platoon on August 16, 1940. After months of restriction due to Covid-19, U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to 2nd […]
Heckler & Koch became famous and successful with a range of roller-delayed blowback small arms they manufactured from the early 1960’s up to the early 1990’s. So successful were these firearms that the name HK basically became synonymous with the roller-delayed blowback system. It may surprise some folks however to learn that HK did not […]
General Douglas MacArthur signing Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri, 2 September 1945. Photo Credit: US National Archives. ********************************** With the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed by atomic weapons, the will of the Japanese leadership was tested. Then it came the news that the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, with troops crossing into […]
Mask up, hook up! Last week Canadian Army members completed the Static Line Square Canopy course with COVID-19 protocols in place at the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre in Trenton, Ontario. Canada entered the airborne world with the creation of two airborne battalions in 1942 that were initially trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA, and […]