Service members participate in Jump Week

A UH-60 Black Hawk flown by the, 1st battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, U.S. Army Alaska Aviation Task Force, ascends at Malemute Drop Zone, on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 18, 2016. Two Black Hawks carried 64 jumpers in 12 passes to kick off the Jump Week training exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Javier Alvarez)

Service members participate in Jump Week

Airmen and Soldiers look on as fellow jumpers descend toward their target at Malemute Drop Zone, on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 18, 2016. Throughout the training exercise, service members performed parachute jumps out of UH-60 Black Hawks and C-17 Globemaster IIIs. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Javier Alvarez)

Service members participate in Jump Week

Published April 27, 2016
By Airman 1st Class Javier Alvarez
JBER Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- It's not Superman. It's even better!

Airmen and Soldiers parachuted out of UH-60 Black Hawks and C-17 Globemaster IIIs, as part of Jump Week, a training exercise, on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 18 to 22.

The goal of the training is to increase jump proficiency, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Lombard, 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment's Tactical Air Control Party.

"They'll jump one lift after another," Lombard said. "If there are any mistakes, the jumpmaster will point it out. If they have a bad jump - maybe they landed wrong, or exited the aircraft a little sloppy - they'll clean it up for the next jump."

The 64 participants - from JBER; Hurlburt Field, Florida; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and Fort Benning, Georgia - jumped all four days, with some jumping multiple times per day, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Ryan Saltzgaber, 3rd ASOS personal parachute program manager. Three of the jumpers performed their first jump out of training.

"They're called a cherry jumper if they have not had a jump outside Airborne School," he said.

All other jumpers have had at least six jumps to include the five performed in school.

While the training encompasses a lot of self-improvement aspects, it also allows for service members to build community among the other special operations units, Saltzgaber said.

"We're the primary jump unit in [Pacific Air Forces]," he said. "Some of our standard operating procedures differ from other units. With the training, we can [compare and critique each other.]"

Further benefits of the training come in ensuring unit deployability.

"We support the [4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division]," Saltzgaber said. "We train up here in Alaska to meet that mission. We have to train in airborne operations, so when we deploy with them, we will be able to conduct our job."