It may be unfamiliar to some, but enrolling with the military is just like accepting a position with a corporation. The military is a job where soldiers earn wages, are given time off and sometimes suffer from work-related injuries. A veteran soldier died this month from a head injury suffered in a training exercise that left four others injured.
The veteran soldier had been acting as jump master for a training session for younger, less experienced soldiers. The soldier had been the final person to jump from the airplane. A gust of wind suddenly came through the jump site and sent the parachuting soldiers forcefully into the ground.
The soldier had suffered a traumatic brain injury when his head struck the ground and later died as a result of the head trauma. Of the four others injured, two sustained concussions, one was released from the hospital last Wednesday, and the final soldier left the scene but later sought treatment for a broken elbow.
A lieutenant colonel with the army reported that soldiers were often injured in jumps, but that the injuries were usually much more minor, ranging from scrapes and bruises to sprained ankles. In fact, only twelve soldiers had died as a result of a parachuting accident in the past nine years. An investigation was launched into the incident by military officials that would focus on whether or not the training procedures were sufficiently safe.
“Heartfelt sympathies” were sent out by the commanding general of the United States Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command, airborne division. The 59-year-old veteran soldier who was killed in the accident came from a military family and served in Korea, Bosbia, Kosovo and Iraq.
Source: The Washington Post “Head trauma killed Ohio soldier in parachute jump” Jeannie Nuss 10/25/10