In September 2023, as part of an adventurous training exercise, four members of 4624 Movements Squadron and three from 501 Logistics Support Squadron attended a parachute training course at the Army Air Training Wing at Airfield Camp, Netheravon. They spent 1.5 days engaged in jump tuition before learning how to pack their own parachutes. Adverse wind and cloud conditions prevented them from then undertaking jumps from an aircraft as scheduled, but they were able to test their climbing skills on the Wing’s indoor climbing wall. Once the weather conditions improved, they boarded their aircraft and all successfully jumped from 4000ft, using a static line. A few even managed to get a second jump.
The introductory brief to the course focused heavily on fear management and the need to manage, overcome and achieve, something everyone on the course felt very proud to have accomplished. AS1 Ramesh commented “I was scared to my core; you could see the fear in my eyes……Once I jumped and got the parachute under my control, it was completely a different experience…This course has taught me that I can do anything! Trust myself, trust the training, trust the equipment….It is a life skill which can be applied in your daily life.”
Flight Lieutenant Scott Quayle, Officer commanding C Flight, 4624 Squadron
