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Paratrooper, 21, posts smiling selfie just moments before being killed in parachute jump from Blackhawk helicopter at Fort Bragg
2021-04-22
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]
  • Spc. Abigail Jenks died Monday in a training jump at the North Carolina base

  • Jenks was conducting a static line jump from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter when she suffered the fatal injury, officials said

  • Few details were released about the accident, as the investigation continues

  • In a static line jump, the chute is deployed via a cord attached to the inside of the aircraft on one end and the top of the skydiver's deployment bag on the other

  • This type of jump involves a very short free fall before the chute is deployed and is often used for jumps from lower heights of around 1,000 feet or less

  • Fort Bragg officials released Jenks' identity Wednesday, saying Jenks was originally from Gansevoort, around 50 miles north of Albany, New York

  • She had joined the Army in October 2018 before being assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, as a paratrooper

  • Governor Andrew Cuomo paid tribute to the New York native and ordered flags to be flown at half staff across state buildings in her honor from Thursday

  • This is the second death in less than a year among the 82nd Airborne Division
Posted by:Skidmark

#12  And I also like MANY others, have the classic photo of the tops of my boots and my knees in the breeze on the way down after my chute deployed.

The camera is not the problem. Wait until the AAR and report before you go slagging the soldier.
Posted by: These Forkbeard7574   2021-04-22 22:15  

#11  Accidents happen yearly, and this is likely one of those, especially on a hop-n-pop out of a smaller helicopter vs a ramp jump off a Chinook, or ramp or door jumps off larger aircraft.

UNlike you, I have several selfies I have taken on static line jumps - if it was a hollywood jump. This wasn't likey the soldier's error. Full battle jump requires a lot more attention for deployment, drop discipline and proper landing, so that might be an issue.

But disciplining soldiers for a camera in what looks to be the ramp area before they even boarded and after they finished gearing up exept for the headgear? Swiskof you're full of it on that if you think its a discipline problem. Pics there have been going on ever since cameras were common, as long as they didnt violate Opsec. Have you even been in the Army in the past 20 years?
Posted by: These Forkbeard7574   2021-04-22 22:13  

#10  I'd have serious questions for the safety officer and/or crew chief about why this young lady wasn't benched as soon as the camera came out.

And I think I know the answer already. No, I would not want to discipline our high profile Female 82nd Airborne Combat Infantry candidate, especially such a high profile and flashy training task likely with a diversity kommissar and camera crew waiting at the drop zone.

No, she was not allowed to be yelled at, disciplined, and even let to fuck off during a very dangerous training, endangering herself and her teammates, and because of that we had a safety slip up and she is dead.

This is the fault of those who set, or rather, lower the training standards.

Among them, are the politicians like Cuomo.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-04-22 20:44  

#9  Well at least she died smirking
Posted by: Gromoth Hatfield8596   2021-04-22 20:03  

#8  Ah'm gonna project 'hazing'.
Long fall off a short rope.
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-04-22 18:08  

#7  For some reason I'm reminded of "Private Benjamin".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-04-22 15:27  

#6  There's about three outhouses full of wrong in this story.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-04-22 15:19  

#5  I went through Jump School in Feb of 1993. I was subsequently awarded my gold Navy/Marine Corps wings a year later after the requisite number of jumps from different aircraft and 6 months in a jump billet.

Suffice to say ...this activity requires one to be 100% focused on the task at hand and all the things that can go wrong. Very little room for error at 1000ft AGL. RIP soldier.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy   2021-04-22 13:55  

#4  Sad. But who lets them have cell phones in training?
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-04-22 12:46  

#3  ..why should they have any cell phones in a tactical situation, training or real world? Practice Opsec so it becomes automatic.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2021-04-22 12:04  

#2  Playing with selfies distracts from what one is actually doing. The 82nd Airborne might want to consider taking all cell phones as trainees board the airplane, returning them on the ground.
Posted by: trailing wife   2021-04-22 11:59  

#1  There aren't too many things that can go wrong; chute malfunction or intentional.
Posted by: JohnQC   2021-04-22 09:02  

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