Wing hosts jumpmaster course

  • Published
  • By Tech Sgt. Katie Spencer
  • 459th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The 920th Rescue Wing hosted a Rescue Jumpmaster course here, Aug. 4-22.
 
The RJM course provided pararescuemen with the skills needed to be responsible for the overall safety and execution of a jump mission. The students learned how to accurately determine wind speed in order to safely jump from an aircraft, position cargo on a target on the ground or water and release it from the ramp of a plane, how to safely conduct personnel jumps on both land and water during day and night, amongst other tasks. The course is required for PJs to advance in upgrade training.   "The RJM course is the most advanced form of parachuting the Air Force has," said Master Sgt. John Lane, an instructor for the course from the 68th Rescue Flight, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. "It is also the most accurate. We use Army jump school fundamentals, since they are the proponents of jumping with a good course and career-wide standard, and do it with a rescue mind-set."
 
The course included PJs from Active Duty, Guard and Reserve, spanning more than 10 rescue units who participated in the 21 days of training. The first week consisted of classroom instruction. The second week, the students practiced static-line jumping. And the final week, the teams focused on the free-fall aspect of pararescue.
 
Nine PJs from the 308th Rescue Squadron participated in the course, all of whom had already served as vital members of their team. They use the course to build pararescue skills.
 
"The RJM course is great," said Tech. Sgt. Jason Broline, a student in the course and pararescueman for the 308 RQS. "It's well planned out and structured to give us the tools to advance in our training. Everyone in the course has a foundation to build from, and guys are doing a great job at absorbing information and then turning around and executing later." Since the 308th hosted the event, they provided their own assets for the course--a parachute drying tower, boat support, landing ranges, facilities and personnel to help run the training.
 
"Whatever we can do to help out to get the training units going," said Senior Master Sgt. Mike Ziegler, the operations superintendent of the 308 RQS. "It's going to be the next generation of guys coming out. So, by everyone pitching in and doing their part, it makes it easier."
 
Aside from the squadron doing their part to help the course run effectively, the wing assisted as well.
 
"The finance office has been huge for us," said Ziegler. "The wing commander supports us whole-heartedly. He allocated funds to help support this mission. He assisted in a lot of inner-flight agreements so my guys can fly on other planes. The operations group commander and the maintenance group commander support us entirely. It's a huge relationship builder." While the 920 RQW hosted the course and provided resources, it's the mission of the 68 RQF's Flight Training Unit to instruct and train all U.S. Air Force pararescuemen in skill upgrades and proficiency training.
 
"We stood up the FTU to teach rescue jumpmasters, combat leadership and confined-space rescue," said Lane. "My focus is that the PJs and rescue support are getting the best training they can, and that's part of us building up the program so the next generation can succeed."
 
The Guardian Angel community did research and found that PJs from different units weren't receiving the same level of training. The FTU is a way to bridge that gap and create a standard throughout the pararescue career field.
 
"We want confident and competent jumpmasters," said Lane. "They need to have a merge between knowledge, skill and leadership. I won't expect anything less. We train them on equipment, fly them, and they are extremely accurate. Because someone's life is going to depend on it."