Behind the nylon curtain: rigging parachutes for pararescue

by Tech Sgt. Katie Spencer
459th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

8/25/2014 - PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- It's a typical training day at the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Reserve's only combat rescue unit. Pararescuemen wait for the signal to jump out of the plane and into the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. They check each other's parachutes as a pre-jump ritual. One mistake in this business is all it takes to have a bad day.

They get the signal. The PJs fall into the sky with nothing but the parachute on their back to break their free-fall. They pull the cord and the chutes deploy perfectly. They land in the water and swim toward a floating cube of packaged cargo dropped from the plane containing an inflatable, motorized Zodiac boat, called a RAMZ (rigging alternate method zodiac). The PJs inflate the Zodiac and speed off into the sunset.

They key player in this mission: the people who pack, maintain, and inspect the parachutes and package cargo to be dropped from the aircraft. They are known as aircrew flight equipment specialists. Their  job at the 308th Rescue Squadron - to be responsible for the life of a PJ.

"Our job is to maintain all the aircrew flight equipment," said Tech. Sgt. Josh Yarbrough, the aircrew flight equipment noncommissioned officer in charge for the 308th RQS. "From night vision goggles to oxygen masks, floatation equipment, parachutes, jet skis, zodiac boats, four wheelers, helmets - anything the PJs need to do their job safely." An AFE's primary responsibility is to pack parachutes. Not one. Not two. Each AFE, or rigger, can pack six to eight chutes a day.

"My job is very important," said Yarbrough. "It's dual purpose: I pack the chutes and also serve as a malfunction officer. In case something goes wrong with the chutes, we are chute subject matter experts, and we can see what might have gone wrong if something didn't function properly." The AFE team has been supporting a rescue jumpmaster course hosted by the 920 RQW, and putting parachutes on cargo, or the aerial delivery portion of their job, has been put to good use.

"We prepare cargo to be thrown out of planes," said Tech. Sec. Brian Pajor, an aircrew flight equipment craftsman for the 308th. "For this course, we rigged RAMZ packages by putting a chute on it. It'll drop from the plane and into the water for the PJs to inflate."

Rigging a parachute to a RAMZ package is just the start for AFE Airmen. Once the cargo is airborne, the team gets on a boat and proceeds to the drop zone. The RAMZ package is pushed out of the aircraft, and the PJs jump shortly after. As soon as the chutes touch the water, the AFE team launches into action to recover them.

"You need to always be sure everything you do is perfect," said Pajor. "They use RAMZ in the middle of the ocean, so there is no, 'maybe it'll work.' It has to work.  Same with the parachute."

Their job is not done yet.

After the chutes are recovered from the water, the AFE team brings them back to the parachute drying tower, where they rinse the chutes with fresh water and hang them to dry.

"A challenging thing about this job is the amount of work," said Pajor. "It's a lot of pressure and high intensity. Gotta be used to adapting and overcoming to anything and everything. Doing what needs to be done to get the job done."

The AFE career field is vastly different at a rescue wing as opposed to other AFE units in the Air Force, according to Yarbrough.

"Here, we have way more qualifications," he said. "We are next to the operators, supporting their operations and missions. It takes a certain mind frame to do what we do. We deal with Air Force - we work with Army and all branches. We have to be flexible to work with other units to adapt and overcome."

Pajor agrees.

"It varies in the fact that we have so much other stuff to worry about besides the normal equipment. We have 12 different kinds of chutes, we have to be familiar with tower, boat operations, flightline, aerial delivery. That's where a lot more schools come into play. We have to go to Ram-Air school for free-fall parachutes, static-line school for the round chutes, aerial delivery for cargo--there's a lot more to AFE for a rescue squadron."

There is also more responsibility. "Their lives are in our hands," said Pajor. "This isn't something to take lightly.  This is someone who doesn't know you, and they are putting their life in your hands." Despite the workload and pressures of the job, the team carries a sense of purpose for their mission.

"We definitely have job fulfillment," said Yarbrough. "I love my job. People are the most important part of my job. The people I work for, and the people I work with. We're in the life-saving business. It's pretty humbling." "Seeing a guy come down and thanking you is the best part of job," said Pajor. "Seeing that guy go home to see his family after he jumped your parachute is all that matters. All the other stuff goes out the door."