82nd Abn trooper dies in training accident
Spc. Abigail Jenks
Jeff LPH 3 sends in the word that Specialist Abigail Jenks, aged 21, has died as the result of a training incident. A member of the 82nd Airborne Division, Jenks was conducting a static-line jump from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at the time of her death. An investigation is underway.
A paratrooper who died Monday during training was performing a static-line parachute jump from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when she suffered a fatal injury, 82nd Airborne Division officials said Wednesday.
Spc. Abigail Jenks, 21, was assigned to the division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team when she died during the training operation at Sicily Drop Zone on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Division spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Burns declined to comment further about the incident, citing an ongoing investigation.
A team from the Army Combat Readiness Center was dispatched to Bragg Tuesday from its home post of Fort Rucker, Alabama, to lead the investigation.
Jenks, a native of Gansevoort, New York, was a fire support specialist serving as a forward observer in 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
“Spc. Abigail Jenks was a creative, hardworking, and confident Paratrooper. Her love for art, animals, and her friends reverberated wherever she worked,” said Capt. Brian Norman, Jenks’ battery commander, in a statement. “Her compassion for fellow Paratroopers will be truly missed.”
Jenks enlisted in October 2018 and was assigned to Fort Bragg in June 2019 after completing training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Fort Benning, Georgia.
“Spc. Jenks was a dedicated Paratrooper, gifted forward observer, loyal friend, and talented artist who consistently made a tremendous impact on all around her,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Walsh, the deceased soldier’s regiment commander, in his statement.
“She will be dearly missed. We are ensuring every resource is available to her family and peers to help them during this difficult time,” Walsh’s statement added.
Jenks is survived by her parents.
Godspeed, Trooper.
Category: Army, Army News, Guest Link, Training Incidents
RIP.
A rare jump from helicopter can be tricky with its slower speeds & slower parachute opening (beyond a 4 count). If you don’t or cant use your upper body strength to PUSH on the Blackhawk vigorously it can lead to problems from the Main Parachute container dragging (Flip over) as you push off the bird.
RIP again.
AATW!
I didn’t like jumping UH-60s! UH-1s were just fine.
Unless the rear jumper on the left side gets their reserve handle looped around the skid, almost every time somebody hanging from the the thing.
UH-60
UH-1
And night time , tactical full party.
Saint Barbara Herself will welcome this Gun Bunny Warrior into Valhalla. May God’s Peace bring His Comfort to Specialist Abigail Jenks’ Family.
Once again, we see that the training for war can be as dangerous as the war. RIP
Amen
Another Warrior taken from us far too soon.
*Slow Salute*
So young, sad and tragic.
RIP, fellow redleg.
What a waste of a human life.
And neither our politicians nor the radical feminists will pay for this crime.
This paratrooper, like many of us on this site, volunteered to serve her country in time of war, and paid with her life. She volunteered in a tough, demanding MOS, and was a double volunteer as a paratrooper.
There is absolutely nothing in this story that would lead one to believe that her death was attributable to anything other than the inherent dangers of parachuting- something that has been open to women in the military for several decades.
Women have been jumping out of high performance and rotary wing aircraft for years, and their accident rate is comparable to that of men.
Beat me to it. Bravo.
Yes, we have been sending our women to fight and die fighting our wars, because of the pressure from radical feminists, corrupt politicians, and other enemies of the United States of America, who themselves would not dare to fight for our country.
This accident is a sad tragedy that should have never happened.
She served because she volunteered to serve.
Not because of a feminist agenda.
You would deny her the right to serve, based entirely on your own political agenda without regard for her wishes.
Her death is a tragedy.
But her being able and willing to serve is no tragedy.
While I agree, theoretically, with what you’re saying, I don’t think there’s enough here to jump to that conclusion.
Proper training is dangerous. Airborne, moreso. To assume gender was a factor in this tragedy seems like a leap. Plenty of men have burned in or otherwise died on jumps.
As a former member of the 82nd family, rest well my sister. Hope to catch up with you in Valhalla.
Male, female, it’s a flippin’ shame either way.
And she was damn cute too.
Moreso the loss.
HEY, Jes sayin, is all.
Rest In Peace, Ma’am.
Rest in peace Specialist Jenks. God be with your family now.
Rest in peace, Ma’am.
May God comfort your families and comrades.
RIP Soldier. Women should NOT serve in Combat Arms. They should serve in our Armed Forces- in other MOS’s. All the reasons have been discussed ad nauseum. I served as Battery CO, XO; and staff officer at Bn. and Regimental levels in RVN.
“… nothing in this story that would lead one to believe that her death was attributable to anything other than the inherent dangers of parachuting …”
I disagree.
The Army will not give out any details (Isn’t anyone here on this web site at Ft. Bragg?) but it sounds like a daylight, chopper jump, probably Hollywood (no rucksack or web gear, for you non-Airborne types).
And those are about as dangerous as walking down the mess hall steps.