RIP SGT Shaina B. Schmigel
ROS sent us a link to the Stars & Stripes which reports that SGT Shaina B. Schmigel, a paratrooper with the 82d Airborne Division became the second casualty of that unit with the T-11 parachute since it’s introduction in 2009.
Armywide, parachuting injuries are the sixth leading cause of hospitalizations among active-duty soldiers, officials said.
But injury rates have improved over the decades.
During World War II, there were 21 to 27 injuries per 1,000 jumps, according to officials. The 82nd Airborne’s historical injury rate is 11 per 1,000 jumps.
The most common injuries on Fort Bragg over the 31/2 year study were concussions, ankle sprains and lower back sprains, with concussions making up more than a third of all injuries.
Fractured or broken bones accounted for about 13percent of all injuries.
The T-11 was developed over several years in response to a need for Army parachutes to carry heavier loads.
Category: Blue Skies
RIP, Sergeant.
Does anybody know the details? S&S article said “under investigation.”
I remember when the MIRPS was first being fielded there was at least one fatality related to that, a horrible incident where a soldier was decapitated (or nearly decapitated) by an accidental activation of the reserve inside the aircraft.
The only fatality with the T-11 has been the result of a bad rigging job. Debris in the chute and packed incorrectly.
This chute gets a lot of bad press, but just not so sure it is all deserved.
I guess this is the reason why we got paid the “big bucks”…
I’ve heard complaints that it has some trouble opening with lighter loads, I.e. A female jumper or a Hollywood jump. Don’t know how accurate that is, just some complaints from buddies I have that are at Bragg now
The T-11 slows your fall vertically, but INCREASED the speed of your fall laterally if there’s any wind whatsoever. Not to mention how heavy it is, the fact that it barely fits in the kit bag, the slow opening (6 count), and the sheer size of both it and the reserve.
Rest in Peace SGT Shaina B. Schmigel. Thank you for serving and God bless your family in this tragic time.
RIP, SGT Schmigel.
May she Rest in Peace! All the Way! Let’s go!
A final tribute. RIP young Sergeant Schmigel.
There is some controversy as to whether the chorus lyrics use the term “Gory” or “Glory”.
I think we can all agree that when used as an Airborne tribute, we are hearing “Glory”.
I learned it as “Gory” when I was a wee lad in the early 1960s …. Dad was in the 505th and 77th SFG (later, 1st, 6th, 5th, Training Group).
That is one of the first songs I learned as a tyke at Ft.Douglas Ut. My dad was an Active duty CO of a reserve unit there. In 1955 as a six year old I got to hang around the GI’s. I thought is was very cool to be able to sing Hellofa to my civilian classmates at the Wasatch elementary school. I have not heard that song for many years but hearing it again brought back fond memories. Paratroopers are crazy, but in a good way.
Wasatch Elementary, small world. I lived right next to it until last year and used to substitute teach there while waiting for BOLC.
Its def gory lol not glory but still if she was a dedicatied jumper shed see it as a great tribute…RIP SGT you will be missed
No controversy either way in my opinion. The song was written in WWII and the lyrics were Gory, gory, what a hell of way to die…
Almost all of the Paratroopers I served with had a pretty morbid sense of humor when it came to our occupation.
This is the second fatality with the 82nd. There has been at least one fatality at at Fort Benning with a student. Last fall a key individual within the Basic Airborne Course tried very hard not to say he didn’t like the T-11 when asked a question.
So, what’s the advantage of the T-11 other than the ability to carry heavier loads?
Do SF units still jump the MC-1C? That was one cushy ride! Low porosity chute = nice soft landing.
The SOF units have gone to the MC-6. Same harness at the T-11, but has the same canopy smoke jumpers use (SF-10) it is steerable like the -1C/D, but higher rated weight and higher forward velocity.
The MC-6 is an updated version of the old Para-commander (French Pappilion) chute. This was used with HALO teams before they went to the squares. A fun chute to jump.
I realize it’s 100% speculation but I wonder if her weight could be the problem? Looking at that picture she looks rather small, as many female soldiers are. There was a female MP who died at Bragg in the late 90’s on a jump, the story I heard was that she was jumping hollywood (no equipment) and even with her parachute and other gear she wasn’t heavy enough to break the cotton webbing on the static line so when she jumped, she stayed connected to the static line and was towed and beaten against the side of the aircraft – they didn’t know until they tried to retreive the static lines back inside the plane.
Of course, I heard this this 2nd hand but IIRC that was the cause. Makes sense to me because the 1/4″ cotton webbing is supposed to have a breaking strength of 80lb and there are two turns of it. A jumper who barely breaks 100lb wouldn’t hit the 160lb minimum weight even with a main and reserve parachute.
Calling BS on the cotton webbing not breaking due to the weight. When zipping at 125kts. jumping into the slipstream you have more than enough pressure to break-snap the cotton webbing. 99.5% of towed jumpers are static lines looping around exposed gear.
I was a Jumpmaster in the 82nd when this happened. Her weight and light ruck did contribute to the accident, but it had nothing to do with the pack opening loop (tensile stregth is only 80lbs).
At that time, securing the leg straps that secured your ruck to your body was the jumpers option- some did it, some didn’t do it, it was considered a comfort item.
This particular Soldier did not secure her leg straps. She had a weak exit, which is a contributing cause in many static line parachuting accidents. Her ruck was so light that it flew up and her static line wrapped around it. She became a hung jumper, but she was so light that the static line actually rode up partway on the paratroop door- a hung jumper will usually cause the static line to stay low- so the jumpmaster team continued to exit jumpers.
Other jumpers actually reported a hung jumper after they landed, but of course it was too late…
OK, that makes a bit more sense I suppose. I think our unit SOP WRT leg straps was that we had to have one fastened but not both if we were jumping a door to keep the ruck from swinging upwards when we jumped. If we went off the ramp (which was our battalion SOP anyway) I don’t think we fastened them at all.
I did hear the bit about her being so light that her SL did not fall down to the bottom of the door the way it usually does when there’s a towed jumper.
Mistake on my earlier post- the item we are discussing is the pack closing tie (not loop). It is one turn/loop of 1/4-inch cotton webbing with a tensile strength of 80 lbs.
While the investigation is still underway, it can be safely said that minimum jumper weight is not an issue with the T-11. It is set up differently than the T-10D and does not have a main closing loop comprised of 1/4″ cotton webbing.
Arrrggh! I meant tie as well. The loops are what the pack closing tie is routed through.
Arrrggh! I meant the pack closing tie as well. The loops are what the pack closing tie is routed through.
Back to the 82nd AAS for everybody.
I graduated from RJMS: 10th Group Jumpmaster School. Turner DZ was NOT Sicily or Fryar!
Sad. RIP, Sgt.
RIP, poor child.
One of my roomates at Benning and a sgt got tangled and came in. They were behind me and i got to see it. Both died. Its something that you live with as a paratrooper knowing it could be you. The song is Gory Gory and plays on the gallows humor most develop to cope with dangerous duty.
RIP Sgt. All The Way And Then Some. AIRBORNE
Sad. RIP.
Truly Sad, RIP.
Yes, she was a sergeant in the United States Army. She was an intel analyst with a prior four-month deployment to the land opf sand. She had just re-upped and had joined right after HS graduation. Beyond all of that, the old timer that I am sees a lovely young woman, a doll. The pic avbove does her no justice. She was a cutie pie. Her small NY community is reeling and her poor Mom is beside herself. It’s a damn dangerous job this military service business. May she rest in peace.
‘The sky, more so than the sea, is unforgiving of errors’-JumpmSter Study Guide
This was driven home to me in jump master school when a student’s reserve activated in the door when his main static line was already hooked up. We actually laughed at him for falling out the door until they turned us around and we heard what had really happened back at the pax shed.
Division mental health came out and counseled us and we had a one time opportunity to quit and come back within six months, no questions asked. Then a chaplain that had just graduated a few months earlier and told us that as jumpmasters our job was to stand between paratroopers and death- if we didn’t have the months later a paratrooper in our engineer platoon had a complete malfunction- his status line actually snapped- and was of course killed.
I meant to say that the chaplain told is that if we couldn’t deal with this adversity and learn from the mistakes like professionals, we probably shouldn’t be jump masters. No one quit
RIP, Sgt. Schmigel.
all the riggers I know hate the T11 main. She’s a unforgiving main. Not as forgiving or the safety tolerance as the legacy systems. She still has many a gremlin to work out.
the T11 is an untrusted piece of equipment- I don’t like her, I don’t trust her.
As for SGT Schmigel- May her family know comfort. May she be honored by the Airborne Corps.
RIP, young lady.
The rigs got wrapped around her neck has she jumped.. she either hung or her neck snapped
I had a bad rig job during one of my jumps. That’s the only way to explain the left two risers completely tangled and the right two risers completely tangled…yet a full canopy.
There have been instances of T11 chutes getting caught in the webbing of the C130 and the MAIN pulling while still in the aircraft.
A Sergeant Major had a full malfunction, then pulled his reserve and it DIDN’T deploy. He remembered to throw his reserve and survived.
Here’s an update to this case: Jumpmaster cited in training death of paratrooper
http://militari.ly/1MDb90t