News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Warriors
By Oliver Townsend
from the Sky
;.
"Look out below!" is a cry that is heard many
times these days at Fort Benning, where the Army's
Provisional Parachute Group is now in training.
At present the Parachute Group consists of the
Five Hundred and First and Five Hundred and Second
Parachute Battalions, and the Five Hundred and
Third, which has just been organized. One more,
the Five Hundred and Fourth, is scheduled to be
formed November 1. When complete, the four battalions
will be manned by approximately 1,500 officers
and men.
Although actually a part of the Infantry, parachute
troop training is pertinent to the Air
Forces, for airplanes must be used to transport
paratroopers to the scene of their operations, and
must protect them from enemy air power. Cargo
planes being used for training purposes at the
Benning training center are being supplied by the
Fiftieth Transport Wing, under the conmand of Lieut.
Col. Fred S. Borum.
Officers and men of the parachute battalions are
rated as "Parachutists," and include volunteers
from all branches of the Regular Army, National
Guard and Officers' Reserve Corps. Parachutist
officers are entitled to flying pay (temporary
status), and the men as often as possible are being
given Specialist First Class ratings.
Qualification requirements for parachutists are
stiff. Not only must applicants pass a rigid
physical examination, but they must also have a
working knowledge of map reading, radio opera tions,
sketching and the handling of explosives and demolitions.
They must be unmarried, between 66 ~nd
74 inches in height, must demonstrate outstanding
personal initiative and must be between the ages
of 21 and 32. Majors cannot be over 40 years old,
captains and lieutenants not over 35.
In addition to the other requirements, enlisted
applicants for transfer to the parachute battalions
must have had at least six months service in the
Regular Army, and at least one year of their enlistment
fo go. Regular ArmY officers must have
had one year with troops, and reserves at least
six months. In spite of the rigid requirements
more than twice the number of men necessary to fill
the four parachute battalions have already volunteered.
JUs t added to the Five Hundred
and Fi rst and Five
Hundred and Second Battalions have been two officcers
and 15 Medical Department enlisted men, chosen
from an overflow list of volunteers on the basis
of high standards of physical ability and profes-
11
sional attainments. This medical force, all of
whom will be qualified parachutists, will accompany
the regular parachute troops when they jump from
airplanes, and will set up aid stations in the
combat area to handle casualties until evacuated
to hospitals.
Special medical equipment, which can be dropped
without damage by parachute in standard air-delivery
containers, wi 11 be used by the new medica 1 detachment.
It will include bandages, dressings, medicines,
splints, blankets, surgical instruments,
litters, sterilizers and other items necessary for
the proper care of casualties in the field. Additional
medical troops for the newly organized Five
Hundred and Third Battalion are being selected at
the present time.
One of the surest signs that the parachutist has
become a definite part of the United States Army is
the fac.tthat he has been given his own spec ia 1 insignia.
'~is is worn above the left breast pocket
of the jacket or shirt, and consists of a replica
of an open parachute placed between a set of silver
wings which curve upward.
Parachute troop training is now being carried on
under ~he direction of Lieut. Col. W.C. Lee, Inf.,
on a 900-acre tract of land adjoining Lawson Field
at Ft. Benning. At present there are two buildings
on the field, one for indoor training, and one for
maintenance. Part of the indoor training program
consists of making short jumps with the aid of
suspension harness, designed to teach novices how
to land properly in order to avoid shock. Since ')
the paratrooper in actual combat drops at the rate
of from 16 to 23 feet per second, depending upon
the weight of his equipment, it is important that
a proper understanding of the landing technique be
gained at the very outset of his training.
In the Fort Benning maintenance building parachutesaredried,
cleaned, mended and packed. Each
man must pack his own parachute, and, since his
life depends upon it, this is one of the most important
parts of his early training. Parachutes
are packed on the usual long, specially-constructed
tables. An unusually painstaking task, it usually
takes from four to five hours to complete.
The paratroop training program, which lasts six -~\
'weeks, is divided into two parts--preliminary and t
advanced. Preliminary training, in addition to
instruction in fundamentals, consists of several
jumps from a 125-foot tower, and as many individual
novice jumps from airplanes as are necessary. In
the advanced training stage at least two mass p1a-