By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Pew PatriotsPew PatriotsPew Patriots
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Reading: Army to recode 20,000 parachutist jobs in major airborne restructuring
Share
Font ResizerAa
Pew PatriotsPew Patriots
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Search
  • Home
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
Army to recode 20,000 parachutist jobs in major airborne restructuring
Tactical

Army to recode 20,000 parachutist jobs in major airborne restructuring

Jimmie Dempsey
Last updated: April 9, 2025 7:52 pm
Jimmie Dempsey Published April 9, 2025
Share
SHARE

The Army will recode nearly 20,000 paid parachutist positions in a major restructuring of its airborne forces aimed at improving readiness, service officials said.

The recoding means the positions will remain airborne billets, but soldiers will no longer be required to maintain jump status or receive jump pay.

Over a five-month period beginning last September, two dozen Army organizations met to examine the service’s requirements for airborne operations and training, Lt. Gen. Gregory Anderson, head of the 18th Airborne Corps, told Army Times.

RELATED

Since 2006, the Army has kept 56,756 paid parachutist positions on its rolls, Anderson said. For reference, the entire force of Army parachutists that jumped into Normandy during World War II was 13,000 troops.

In recent years, limited aircraft availability, especially C-17s and C-130s, has contributed to an overall “decline in collective airborne proficiency,” Anderson said.

As a result, assets used to maintain the jump status of the more than 56,000 positions has come at the expense of keeping the assault force — the combat troops in immediate response missions — at a high level of readiness, the three-star said.

“We started to assume risk with the high-end forces that have to be ready to go tonight,” Anderson said. “This is not about saving money; it’s about getting readiness to where we need it.”

Below are the parachutist position recodings by command; these figures are estimates by the U.S. Army and are not yet finalized:

  • 9,000 – Army Special Operations Command
  • 3,600 – Army National Guard
  • 3,500 – Army Forces Command
  • 1,900 – Army Reserve
  • 1,000 – Army Pacific
  • 850 – Army Europe and Africa

Currently, to maintain jump status, a parachutist must jump four times each year.

“What ends up happening we take fewer aircraft, same jump requirements and units doing everything they can to achieve basic airborne currency,” Anderson said. “In many cases, they were not meeting even currency.”

The Pentagon requires the Army to produce 15,000 parachutists at the ready at any time.

As the organizations analyzed this requirement, training needs and the demands of maintaining the force from riggers to jumpmasters, they had to ask tough questions, Anderson said.

“Are support battalions going to jump into a combat situation with the assault echelon?” Anderson said. “Or would they come in later some other way?”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told Army Times in an email statement that the adjustments will prioritize training and resources where they are needed most.

“Too many positions were allocated outside the direct combat force. This was a drain on resources and we’re fixing it.”

Soldiers in the affected billets will still be airborne trained and if they transfer into an assault position, they will be retrained with a refresher course and put on paid jump status, Anderson said.

“These decisions help make our paratroopers more proficient by concentrating on those who could be jumping into combat,” George said.

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

Read the full article here

You Might Also Like

US military eyes joint technology through Japan space partnership

FN Awarded Contract for M240 and M249 Machine Gun Barrels

SHOT Show 2025 Roundup: Modern Sporting Rifles and Large-Format Pistols

TommyBuilt MP7: Making The MP7 Unobtanium No Longer

Review: Military Armament Corporation MAC-5

Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

We Recommend
Anti-Israel mob descends on Brooklyn College in NYC as agitators brawl with police, get tased
News

Anti-Israel mob descends on Brooklyn College in NYC as agitators brawl with police, get tased

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 9, 2025
Josaia Raisuqe, rugby star who won silver at Paris Olympics with Fiji, dead after accident involving train
10 Ways To Hide Your Survival Garden
Shedeur Sanders’ first look at Browns locker has Deion Sanders cracking jokes: ‘Let’s go #2 I mean #12’
Up to 1,000 transgender troops being separated under new Pentagon memo
U.S. and China Edge Toward Trade Talks, But Sticking Points Remain
Cop killer dies after ‘botched’ firing squad execution; witness in the room reveals how it happened
News

Cop killer dies after ‘botched’ firing squad execution; witness in the room reveals how it happened

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 8, 2025
Judge awards 0K to Hawaii military families over fuel-tainted water
Tactical

Judge awards $680K to Hawaii military families over fuel-tainted water

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 8, 2025
Christie Brinkley shares her top beauty tip and secret to fitness in her seventies
News

Christie Brinkley shares her top beauty tip and secret to fitness in her seventies

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 8, 2025
Pew Patriots
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Guns and Gear
  • Videos
  • Blog
2024 © Pew Patriots. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?