Soldier from the Army’s elite Delta Force died last month after a free-fall parachute training accid

[rangerrebew]

Soldier from the Army’s elite Delta Force died last month after a free-fall parachute training accident the military did not make public

    Sgt. Maj. Christopher Nelms, 46, died from injuries sustained when his parachute didn't fully deploy during a training jump on June 27
    Nelms was said to have been serving in Delta Force at the time of his death
    He received multiple valor and service awards during his 28-year Army career
    The military did not originally reveal that Nelms died during a training accident

By Maxine Shen For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:12 EDT, 4 August 2018 | Updated: 16:22 EDT, 4 August 2018

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6027125/Delta-Force-soldier-died-June-free-fall-training-accident-military-did-not-make-public.html

[Elderberry]

Do they jump with no reserve parachute? Does anyone know.

[endicom]

Do they jump with no reserve parachute? Does anyone know.

He may have been too low. Here's a different Sgt.Maj.:

In free-fall operations, the jumper isn’t attached to a static line that automatically deploys the parachute. Instead, the jumper free falls before deploying the chute."

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/02/08/army-ranger-died-during-free-fall-training-in-january/

Here's this Sgt. Maj.:

He was quite the guy.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/08/03/army-delta-force-sergeant-major-dies-in-free-fall-parachute-training/

[sneakypete]

Do they jump with no reserve parachute? Does anyone know.

@Elderberry

NOBODY jumps without a reserve chute. "Stuff happens",though. A jumper could get knocked unconscious by loose equipment,a HALO jumper might pass out from lack of oxygen if his breathing system malfunctions,the reserve chute can get hung up in the main chute as it "streamers" (spins and twists without opening because the suspension lines are wrapped around it),or could just have a heart-attack or black out due to some unrelated health issue.

[sneakypete]

He was quite the guy.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/08/03/army-delta-force-sergeant-major-dies-in-free-fall-parachute-training/

@endicom

Yes,he was.

[Elderberry]

NOBODY jumps without a reserve chute. "Stuff happens",though. A jumper could get knocked unconscious by loose equipment,a HALO jumper might pass out from lack of oxygen if his breathing system malfunctions,the reserve chute can get hung up in the main chute as it "streamers" (spins and twists without opening because the suspension lines are wrapped around it),or could just have a heart-attack or black out due to some unrelated health issue.

I was just stuck on this statement: “He was fighting it the whole way down,” said a former Delta Force officer familiar with the accident.

You never get the whole story though. His reserve must not have cleared the main canopy. That's why we were taught to catch the reserve in your hands when you pull your reserve, and throw it down and away to help it clear. But it's a crap shoot.

[sneakypete]

I was just stuck on this statement: “He was fighting it the whole way down,” said a former Delta Force officer familiar with the accident.

Seems obvious to me he was trying to untangle a streamer/

You never get the whole story though. His reserve must not have cleared the main canopy. That's why we were taught to catch the reserve in your hands when you pull your reserve, and throw it down and away to help it clear. But it's a crap shoot.

I was always told once I got to SF that the best thing to do if you got a streamer was to hit the Capewell releases and let it fly away,and then pull the reserve handle.

You would think on a HALO drop that he would have had enough time to do what he needed to do,wouldn't you? That's one nice thing about HALO jumps. You are up high enough to give you plenty of time to correct any boo-boos unless another jumper slams into you and injures you or knocks you out.

AFAIK,they don't teach that to jumpers in the regular airborne units because they have so many jumpers in the air at one time and just so low (1200 feet) that chances are it would cause someone else problems. Or at least back in my day,the Stone Ages. For all I know,the conventional airborne units may be jumping modern versions of the MC-1. I kinda doubt it,though. Once again,not a whole lot of training and not much time or room to maneuver in chutes you can actually steer.

[truth_seeker]

My father-in-law packed chutes in the Army, and jumped into Germany WWII. Purple Heart.

Served in the Reserves, after WWII, as lieutenant. Very proud patriotic son of immigrants.

 

[sneakypete]

My father-in-law packed chutes in the Army, and jumped into Germany WWII. Purple Heart.

Served in the Reserves, after WWII, as lieutenant. Very proud patriotic son of immigrants.

 

[Elderberry]

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/02/04/the-navy-seals-and-other-secretive-units-are-quietly-battling-a-frightening-rise-in-parachute-deaths/
Your Military
The Navy SEALs and other secretive units are quietly battling a frightening rise in parachute deaths
By: David B. Larter and Meghann Myers   February 4, 2017



A SOCOM spokesman, Ken McGraw, expressed confidence that any shortcomings in the jump-training program have been identified and addressed.

But internally, SOCOM officials have struggled to identify a definitive cause behind the unsettling trend, and they have declined to discuss any lessons learned from the force-wide investigation. A Military Times review of accident investigations involving Army, Navy and Air Force special operations personnel revealed troubling training shortfalls, lapsed jump qualifications, and a number of accidents and deaths at least partially attributed to overconfidence on the part of the jumpers or the trainers. To that end, the spike in deaths has raised the question of whether there is a cultural problem inside some parts of Special Operations Command, and whether its fraternity of elite warriors fostered a complacency that undermined safety.

"Being ‘special’ shouldn't be an excuse to cut corners or accept needless risk in either training or operations," said one retired senior special operations officer whom Military Times asked to review the findings. The retired officer spoke on the condition of anonymity. "When the mission requires, you assess risk, carefully mitigate it and drive on. ... That's different than being improperly trained or careless. Attention to detail and adherence to safe operating procedures is even more fundamental to elite force operations than conventional units," the operator said.

More at link above.

[Elderberry]

One jokester who packed one of my chutes put a whole lot of twists in the lines.

When my chute opened I was spinning like a top.

[sneakypete]

One jokester who packed one of my chutes put a whole lot of twists in the lines.

When my chute opened I was spinning like a top.

@Elderberry

You had a partial streamer.

Hitting the ground while still spinning can be VERY painful.

[darroll]

RIP Soldier

Could it have been a Mae West? (Both chutes  open)

[sneakypete]

RIP Soldier

Could it have been a Mae West? (Both chutes  open)

@darroll

A Mae West is when some of your suspension lines are looped over the top of your main chute,making it look like a big bra. You can almost always just "shake" on your risers or pull a diagonal slip and get the lines to slide off the slick nylon.

[Elderberry]

@Elderberry

You had a partial streamer.

Hitting the ground while still spinning can be VERY painful.

No I had a full opening once all the lines between me and the chute unspun, respun, unspun. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

[Elderberry]

RIP Soldier

Could it have been a Mae West? (Both chutes  open)

A shipmate I was jumping with, his second static line jump, he was backflipping when he jumped from the Cessna. He had a Mae West and he was so excitable he had to use one hand to steer his other hand to deploy his reserve. So he had an almost full main and his reserve up and he was dropping so slow he was drifting out of the drop zone and toward the high tension power lines. He was taught you can't maneuver with two chutes up, but he said he was pulling toggles like crazy. Well those power lines were a long way off, but look close when you are up there.

He screwed up somehow on every jump.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Horrible.

RIP.

[Elderberry]

Hitting the ground while still spinning can be VERY painful.

Yep hitting the ground IS PAINFUL.  My first jump I landed in a plowed up corn field and twisted my ankle. No matter, I just laced up my Georgia Giants as tight as the laces would take and kept on jumping. We quit, a couple of weeks later, cause we all knew it was a matter of time before Tim killed himself. He was that bad. It took about a year before the color left my ankle.

My last time jumping I was watching a Marine trying to hit the spot with his rectangular Ram-Air? parachute. He came in too high and stalled out his chute and came straight down. He hit the spot and I could feel the impact through the ground. I guess everyone felt it, cause most all the onlookers ran out to him. He was fine. He didn't even fall over.

[darroll]

@darroll

A Mae West is when some of your suspension lines are looped over the top of your main chute,making it look like a big bra. You can almost always just "shake" on your risers or pull a diagonal slip and get the lines to slide off the slick nylon.

Thanks....