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... AIR AND LAND
BY CPL Andrew Hethrington
Edition 1171, July 26, 2007 |
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MORTAR CREW: Ptes Chris Redman, Michael Crank and Frank Attard, all 2RAR, prepare to fire during a live practice at Shoalwater Bay Training Area. Picture: Cpl Chris Moore
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TAKING THE PLUNGE: 3RAR soldiers leap from a C-130 during a parachute insertion; Ptes Kevin Toonan and Lorenzo Romolo are right ready to go; and two parachutists gently descend.
Pictures: Cpl Ray Vance |
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IT is 1700h and it’s getting dark and cold. Soon 3RAR’s “sky soldiers” will be delivered to DZ Kapyong in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA).
Four hours ago they were in a hangar at RAAF Base Richmond, more than 1500km away, checking their own and their mates’ combat equipment, putting on and tightening parachute harnesses and chest webbing, and receiving safety briefs before filing aboard three Hercs grasping their Kevlar helmets.
The unit rehearsed for the jump earlier in the year at a combined-arms training activity in Townsville, now it is time to put all the hard work and preparation into action during Exercise Talisman Saber.
During the four-hour flight soldiers caught up on sleep, had a joke with mates, applied cam cream, pondered their exit from aircraft and a safe landing, rehearsing in their minds their own and their section’s role in the exercise and rechecking gear and harnesses before jumping from the Herc.
As the aircraft approaches the drop zone the 3RAR soldiers aboard receive warnings on when the jump will occur and on the ground spectators predict where the soldiers will land.
Inside the three Hercules the paratroopers stand up, attach their parachute static lines to the static line cable on the aircraft wall, shout their number in the jump queue and confirm if they are OK to jump.
When it was time they exit the two rear doors of the aircraft in quick succession, two jumpers every two seconds.
From the ground in the dimming light the parachutes resemble a cam-green blossoming flower as they open.
As the aircraft departs the drop zone area, an eerie silence falls over the soon-to-be 3RAR-claimed battlefield. All that can be heard is the occasional combat pack hitting the ground, shortly followed by soldiers doing the same.
After quickly finding their bearings, packing away their chutes, the soldiers put on their heavy combat packs and ready their weapons to begin patrolling to find section mates.
For the members of 3RAR the battle has only just begun. |
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