The Navy SEALs and other secretive units are quietly battling a frightening rise in parachute deaths
By: David Larter and Meghann Myers, February 4, 2017 (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Terrance Payton)
Navy SEAL Jason Kortz was 10,000 feet over Perris, California, about to perform his first a high-altitude, high-open jump while wearing night vision goggles and weighed down with bulky, cumbersome combat gear. America's elite special operations troops conduct such training missions to prepare for the types of high-stakes, clandestine missions that have become a centerpiece of the U.S. military's war on terrorism.
Tragically, this jump was also Kortz's last.
As a student in the Navy’s Advanced Tactical Air Assault Course, Kortz had completed 32 prior free-fall jumps. But this training mission was much more complex — and it became a catastrophe almost the instant he exited the aircraft. Tumbling head over heels at speeds exceeding 100 mph, Kortz panicked. He was unable to arch his body and stabilize the fall, military investigators concluded.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/navy-seals-green-berets-delta-force-army-rangers-parachute-deaths
