JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division conducted an all-women jump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, March 7, 2023.
The airborne operation recognized the importance of Women’s History Month, and marked the first all-female jump in 11th Airborne Division history.
“Women’s History Month reminds us that the Army’s strength is its people,’ said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commander of the division. “Being a diverse force makes us stronger and better.”
Every battalion in the Spartan Brigade was represented in the jump, as well as members of the headquarters and headquarters company and division staff.
“It is a privilege and an honor to be a member of the team and to be able to be in the first jump within this division as an all-female team,” said Staff Sgt. Amanda Wohlmaker, squad leader for Bravo Company, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion.
Spc. Jayln Sphon, a paratrooper assigned to the 725th Brigade Support Battalion, carried her father’s Navy parachutist insignia during the event, recognizing her family’s generational heritage of leaping from aircraft.
The 50-woman jump was supported by the 19th Airlift Wing based at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, who are in Alaska for exercise Predictable Iron.