Wwii U.S. Army Training Film " Parachute Jump Training" Paratroops 17904 (1943)

Synopsis

This 1943 War Department training film (T.F. 31-1231) shows the four training stages that parachutists go through at the Army’s recently established Parachute School at Fort Benning, GA. The film opens with parachutists jumping out of Douglas C-47 Skytrains. New recruits stand at the school’s training grounds (00:48). The film recaps Stage “A” Training: the men do physical training, including ab exercises, pushups, tumbling (02:25), and relay games. Men climb ropes in a gymnasium (02:54). The film then moves to training during the second week, “B” Stage, and features a panning shot of the training grounds with the various structures used to train men to parachute (03:24). Men climb up and through a “trainnasium.” In a mock plane (04:24), men learn how to put on a parachute harness. Men practice putting on their parachutes. An instructor explains the function of the static line, and a jumper hops out of the mock fuselage. Several instructors sit on a platform and demonstrate hooking up the static line and checking parachute packs (06:45). The trainees sound off on their equipment check in the mock plane, then they take turns pivoting at the door and jumping out. Slow-motion footage shows the proper way to jump out of the plane (08:44). Men experience jumping out of a plane by jumping off a tower and riding down a zip line while holding the proper position for deployment and counting to make sure the chute has deployed (09:22). Men experience what it feels like to parachute in…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

25 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage