Posted on 07/18/2013 11:51:46 AM PDT by servo1969
Stick Commander footage of 3 PPCLI paratroopers being "Off-dropped" during Ex Maple Flag.
Nothing says pucker factor than the fear of a pine tree up the tail!
FYI, drills worked, amazingly only one minor injury.
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Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as The Patricias) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Forces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAvPEzvrbX8
I flew a CH-53 helo on a low level night paratroop drop on Camp Lejeune.
Believe me, we REALLY worried that our navigation & wind calculations were correct so that something like this did NOT happen!
This was in the days before GPS.
They all landed in the correct drop zone.
Wheeew!
That was no tree landing. In a real tree landing you end up 40 feet up in the tree astride a very large branch. Brings a whole new meaning to the word “hurt”.
You’re right.
You should tell them that directly.
When I was a lad in the ‘50s, the local war heroes were Princess Patricia vets. They were tough b*stards.
My experience with professional soldiers is that there is no risk in telling them what I think. They know they could kill me in a blink of an eye — and I know they won’t.
Yes, and its not landing in a pine tree that is pretty supple but rather its the upper layer of a triple canopy jungle and your leg is broken.
Wow. In what country was that?
Panama at the Gatun drop zone. Fortunately it wasn’t me but we had a devil of a hard time getting the guy down as he was caught up in the tree about 60 feet above ground.
Watching that, all I could think was, “not the damned trees AGAIN!”
Good for you guys handling a tough situation.
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