Treejumping is a form of

parachuting Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

, into a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

– typically, from a relatively low

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

. It is generally considered to be a particularly dangerous form of parachuting. Treejumping is also especially damaging to the parachuting equipment. The technique was pioneered by the British

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

Regiment in 1951 during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

, when insertion into dense jungle was required to combat the insurgents of the

Malayan National Liberation Army The Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), often mistranslated as the Malayan Races Liberation Army, was a communist guerrilla army that fought for Malayan independence from the British Empire during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) and l ...

. Soldiers carried a 30-metre rope to enable them to

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

down from the

forest canopy In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...

. In the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, there is one company of

combat engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare ta ...

s, Bravo Company of the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne), trained to intentionally jump into forested areas in order to create drop zones for follow-on forces. In 2008, the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne) transformed, changing Bravo Company (Combat)(Airborne)(Rough Terrain) to the 57th Engineer Company (Airborne)(Sapper)(Rough Terrain).

Recent Rough Terrain Operations

On October 27, 2011, 37 Soldiers from the 57th EN CO exited a

C-23 Sherpa The Short C-23 Sherpa is a small military transport aircraft built by Short Brothers. It was designed to operate from unpaved runways and make short takeoff and landings (STOL). It features a large squared fuselage with a full-width rear car ...

over Luzon Tree Drop Zone, located in

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, NC. Three Soldiers from the 161st Engineer Support Company also participated in the jump. The 161st ESC also supported the Rough Terrain operation by providing a large detail to recover parachutes stuck amongst the trees. CPT Benjamin Shean, Commander of the 57th EN CO, performed duties as the

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

Commander and primary

jumpmaster Jumpmasters are the expert paratroopers in an airborne unit who train and teach the military techniques for jumping from airplanes. They are responsible for training soldiers who enter Army Airborne School into paratroopers and managing airborne ju ...

on the first and fourth pass. Rough Terrain Paratrooper

Most paratroopers landed within the boundaries of the drop zone and assembled in the South East corner of Luzon Tree Drop Zone. Numerous soldiers who landed in the trees found themselves suspended up to 40 feet above the ground. These soldiers rappelled to the ground by securing a letdown line to the risers of their MC1-1 steerable parachute. The Rough Terrain operation on 27 October was the first such operation conducted by the 57th Engineer Company since 2009. The purpose and intent of the Rough Terrain operation was to demonstrate the ability to land in a tree drop zone, and the proficiency to do so safely. The 57th Engineer Company is planning multiple Rough Terrain operations in 2012 in order to build proficiency, certify more soldiers as Rough Terrain, and continue to train the full spectrum of Rough Terrain operations. Training for the Rough Terrain operation was conducted at the United States Army Advanced Airborne School in September, 2011.{{cite web, last=Kuhn, first=Jessica, title=Rough Terrain paratroopers prepare for any landing at Rough Terrain Airborne Operations, url=http://paraglideonline.net/092211_news1.html, work=XVIII Airborne Corps PAO, publisher=Paraglide, accessdate=27 October 2011, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425045739/http://paraglideonline.net/092211_news1.html, archivedate=25 April 2012

References

Parachuting