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Modern tool helps put history in its place

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  When Mel Mueller of the Brevard Veterans Council and Veterans Memorial Center brought a 67-year-old silk parachute to the 'professionals' here to re-pack it for display at the museum, he was pretty certain he had come to the right place.

"During my Air Force career, I spent three years in the rescue service, [...] so I was familiar with the rescue folks and knew of their capabilities," he said.

So, Mr. Mueller went to the 920th Rescue Wing aircrew flight equipment technicians, AKA parachute riggers, and dropped off the parachute in an improvised container - a plastic garbage bag.

This particular parachute was donated to the museum by a woman whose husband, a retired Air Force fighter pilot, recently passed away. His wish for his possessions, according to Alexander Terrero, Brevard Veterans Council and Veterans Memorial Center, was to keep them preserved and with the military in some fashion.

"I've never seen a silk parachute," Mr. Terrero said. "It's like History Channel stuff!"

Although the aircrew flight equipment technicians know all-things parachute, it took modern technology and old-fashioned elbow grease to get the parachute in its original bag.

Intrigued by the parachute and its history, Senior Airmen Jarrod Burgess, an apprentice in the equipment section, did a little investigating on his own to learn the correct way to pack the parachute. His search led to a 6-minute video, in Japanese, on You Tube.

"I just looked it up on You Tube," he said. "Once I saw how it worked and how it opened, I was able to see the signature way of packing it."

Airman Burgess also looked at the way the Japanese parachute jumpers wore the parachute when they deployed from an aircraft. All of these factors helped him find the perfect packing method.

This particular parachute was the main parachute used by Japanese fighter pilots during World War II. It was worn on the chest, not the back like the main parachutes of today.

Airman Burgess was surprised at how small the parachute is in comparison to the main parachutes used by pararescuemen today.

Tech. Sgt. Juan Duharte, 920th RQW aircrew flight equipment supervisor, was amazed not only by the differences but also the similarities.

"While packing this parachute, we used pretty much the same system we use today," he said.

Sergeant Duharte also noticed that the stitching and some of the knots were exactly the same as those used today as well.

"It's very similar to the chest reserve parachutes we use today," he said.  (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)