Army IDs paratrooper killed in an airborne operation
FAYETTEVILLE (MCT) — Staff Sgt. Jamal Clay had jumped out of an aircraft 25 times before, always dropping safely to the ground.
But Saturday night, something went wrong. Clay, a 25-year-old paratrooper who survived two deployments to Iraq, fell 800 feet to his death at Fort Bragg's Sicily Drop Zone during what was supposed to have been a routine training exercise.
Clay's death remains under investigation, but early reports point to a parachute malfunction, according to a news release from the 82nd Airborne Division.
Clay, a married father of two from Elida, Ohio, was a vehicle recovery supervisor with Company G, 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
He had last jumped from an airplane four days earlier, on June 21, as part of a 10-day training exercise that simulates traditional airborne operations, such as an assault on a drop zone or airfield.
"Staff Sergeant Jamal Clay was the best paratrooper in the company. Everybody wanted to be like him," said Capt. Luke Bird, Clay's company commander. "He was a natural leader and a skilled mechanic who made the whole battalion better."
As part of the exercise Saturday evening, Clay was one of 1,700 paratroopers scheduled to jump into Sicily Drop Zone. Clay and other soldiers were to seize and secure the drop zone so troops who followed could land safely.
Humvees and other large vehicles often are dropped from the sky in advance of paratroopers. Clay and other mechanics would have been on hand to repair any damage to those vehicles, said Sgt. 1st Class Alan Davis, an 82nd Airborne Division spokesman.
It was a standard night jump, 800 feet high with a static line attached to the plane that opens the parachute after a soldier exits.
New parachute usedClay was carrying a gun and his rucksack. He was wearing the Army's new T-11 parachute, his third jump with it. The new square canopy is supposed to reduce injuries by creating a slower, more controlled descent.
Testing of the parachute showed a 70 percent drop in injuries compared with the last Army parachute, the T-10.
The T-11 parachutes were first used on Fort Bragg in December 2009. By 2014, the 82nd Airborne Division will have 14,000 of them.
Clay is the first 82nd Airborne soldier to die using the new parachute.
Lt. Col. Dave Connolly, a division spokesman, said it's too soon to question the safety of the T-11 parachute.
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