CRG, Army build airborne partnership with France

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amanda Dick
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
PAU, France --  Members of the 435th Contingency Response Group enhanced the relationship between U.S. and French military forces March 1 through 5 here as part of a French airborne mission.

Consisting of 19 Airmen from the CRG and eight Soldiers from the 5th Quartermaster Company based out of Panzer Kaserne, Germany, the 27-member team trained and jumped from both U.S. and French aircraft with more than 30 paratroopers from the French military to develop and integrate airborne operations between the two countries.

"This is for building partnerships, building friendships, training and learning about our NATO partners," said Master Sgt. James Turner, 435th Security Forces Squadron heavy equipment operator and jump master. "Another one of the things we do is build a baseline here for operating. Anytime we come out here and start dealing with foreign military and NATO partners, it's to build partnerships, so we can come back and conduct training."

For the French, this mission helped gather knowledge from another country.

"The main gain for us together, for the United States and French, is the knowledge of the other because in today's engagement in Afghanistan or elsewhere, people are supposed to work together," said French Army Maj. Peter Prodhomme, Headquarters École des troupes aéroportées (ETAP), or School of Airborne Troops, instructor.

Before any French military member could jump from the aircraft, they were trained on how to properly use U.S. parachutes.

"We did what we call pre-jump, which is pretty much a hands-on 'safety briefing,' for lack of a better term, to describe all the events, all of the things that take place and all the actions when you're jumping out of a perfectly good airplane," Sergeant Turner said. "Jumping out of an aircraft can be a very unsettling experience for a lot of inexperienced people. You have a tendency to go through the motions, but we're trying to counteract that. We're trying to do something that's counterintuitive -- make people jump out of a plane and be completely aware of everything they're doing, while they're doing it."

French paratroopers had the opportunity to jump twice from a C-130J Super Hercules attached to the 37th Airlift Squadron located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, while airborne qualified Airmen took the time to conduct standard jump training in a new country.

"I think any time you have the opportunity to jump with a NATO partner or foreign country you try to be the first to raise your hand," said Capt. Robert Magee, 435th CRG airborne qualified contingency operations chief. "One, it's an opportunity to step out and show a country what the United States can do as far as airborne capabilities. But in addition, to take back some of the knowledge, skills and capabilities the foreign country has as well."

On top of the training CRG members gave to the French, they were also taught by French Army Master Sgts. Loïc Neveu, ETAP first sergeant, and Stephane Paternotte, ETAP jump master, on how to use French parachutes; Airmen also had the opportunity to jump from a Casa aircraft.

"Honestly, the first time you do anything different like jumping out of a plane, you're a little nervous," Sergeant Turner said. "You don't know what to expect from the parachute or the aircraft, but it was awesome. It was a little faster, but the exit was more forgiving than the American exit is on the C-130 and with the MC-1 Delta. It was an awesome experience."

Not only was this a chance for the Air Force to connect with French military, but it also opened up the opportunity to work with the Army.

"The 5th Quarter Master Company is pretty much like a sister unit of ours," the master sergeant said. "We entered into a partnership with them a long time ago when we first stood the CRG up, and that relationship has been ongoing since 1999. They're more than just a support unit that folds our parachutes; they're a part of CRG. Every airborne event we do, we try to incorporate the 5th QM with us on all of it."

For members of the company, it was a chance to see new places.

"We came out here to support the Air Force," said Army Specialist Eric Meneses, 5th QM Company parachute rigger. "We brought our parachutes, so we were down here to do rigger checks and make sure nothing was wrong with the equipment, and got to do some jumping along the way. It's been a great experience to get to jump in France."

Having the Army riggers with the CRG provided an added advantage.

"First of all you have the subject matter experts on the ground, and that's extremely important," Sergeant Turner said. "If we have an issue that goes beyond our training, then the guys who deal with the parachutes on an everyday basis are right here, easily accessible to us. Second, as I've said before, for the services they provide to us. They're a lot more than a support unit, they're family."

For one Airman, his ties to the Army and airborne operations run deep.

"My grandfather was with the 101st Airborne Division and jumped into North Korea and was killed in action," Captain Magee said. "To have a family member like that, who is in my opinion a hero and fought for our freedom, inspired me not only to join the military, but to seek out a unit where I could do airborne operations as well -- to give me a little bit of a taste of what he experienced when he served in the military. The first opportunity I got to step off a plane for the first jump was very emotional as far as my connection back to my grandfather."

And, that connection began before his first jump.

"My grandfather went through the same airborne basic school I did when he pinned on his jump wings, and I pinned on at the same place," said the captain, who has completed 16 jumps. "It was pretty nostalgic; it made me feel like I was doing some really positive things not only for the AF, but for my family as well."

As Captain Magee explained, his family is one that consists not only of the immediate members, but also within the realm of the skies.

"The airborne family encompasses every individual that's ever put on the wings -- active duty, guard and reserve Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines -- anybody who's ever put on these wings is part of that family," the captain said. "It's a unique family, but it's a very elite family because not everybody wears the wings. And, it has always included the foreign partners ... it's just an opportunity to see what their wings can do for us, and what our wings can do for them. It's pretty neat; it's enjoyable."

A sentiment which is shared with his French counterparts.

"Airborne are family because from soldiers to high level officers everybody passes through the door when we are supposed to jump," Major Prodhomme said. "So, it's a very important thing that gathers every paratrooper from every country."

Bringing together paratroopers is what missions like these are for.

"When you talk building partnerships, there's a great cooperation between different NATO nations, but when you add airborne operations to it, then it becomes building 'extreme' partnerships," Captain Magee said.

As the mission neared the end, a ceremony was held to present each paratrooper with the other service's wings.

"It was incredibly moving to be a part of something like that," Sergeant Turner said. "It just reaffirms your brotherhood as paratroopers, that bond ... it just makes it stronger. You do it so much, you train and it becomes routine, you start thinking this is an everyday thing, it's not really anything special and you kind of forget about it; you lose respect for it. Something like this, it makes you get your reverence back for it."

The CRG is part of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The AGOW is one of two air ground operations wings in the Air Force and consists of more than 1,300 members among three groups and 11 squadrons with 19 geographically separated units located across 14 sites.