WEBVTT

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sure

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I'm CW to Hughes I'm the Airdrop

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systems technician and the O . I . C .

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Of the aerial delivery team here at

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bagram airfield . And uh we're , most

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of us are from Fort Bragg . We also

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have a few of us that are from Port

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Campbell . She

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absolutely . We rig up and

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prepare all classes of supply of

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different kinds of equipment , mostly

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mostly classified and Class one . And

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we deliver those bundles using

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parachutes . We deliver those bundles

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to the to the soldiers that are out in

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the fobs that we can't get equipment to

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by using trucks or helicopters .

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Absolutely .

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Class One would be food and water . We

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deliver mostly M . R . E . S . And

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water . We also deliver hololens which

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are kosher milk for the locals now .

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Class five would be ammunition and we

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rig up all classes all types of Class

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five .

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It

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it's good it's

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good to have in your line of work .

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It

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it

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absolutely J pads uh is an

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acronym for joint precision air drop

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system and it's a family of systems .

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The first part of the system would be

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the computer system on board the

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aircraft that the aircraft aircrew

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would actually use to calculate where

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they're going to release the bundles to

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ensure that they land on the point of

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impact on the ground that we have

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desired for them to drop it at the the

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other part of the system is the

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parachute systems themselves . And we

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use to specific systems here on bottom .

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And that would that would be

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the screamer system . Um and the uh

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the affordable guided airdrop system .

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The screamer system is a to parachute

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system along with an airborne guidance

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unit , it has a ram air drug which is a

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square parachute that is designed to

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fly the bundle to a grid coordinates

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that is programmed in the airborne

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guidance unit . Once it reaches that

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grid coordinates , it would begin

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circling down towards the grid

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coordinates . And once it gets down to

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about 1000 ft , it will actually the

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main parachute , which is a pocket G 12 .

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And that pocket G 12 will sustain that

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load the remainder of the way to the

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ground . The affordable guided airdrop

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system where as we call it , the gas

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system is a one parachute system . It

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also has an airborne guidance unit .

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The parachute that we use on that is a

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standard G 12 parachute . And it uh it

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is attached to the airborne guidance

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unit with some some travelogue risers

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that come from the unit itself . And

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what the unit does is it pulls slips

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with the G 12 in an attempt to steer

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the load towards the grid corners .

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Program in it and it can be dropped .

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The airborne guidance unit or the the

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affordable airborne guidance unit can

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be dropped at approximately 25,000 ft

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and 1.5 miles away from the grid

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coordinates where the screamer system

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can be dropped 10 miles away at 25,000

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ft

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With

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yes sir , we have , we've been dropping

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from anywhere from 7 to 14,000 ft .

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And um the distance away , I'm not sure

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how far away from the drop zone they've

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been dropping them , but but as far as

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the altitude they've been dropping from

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7 to 14,000 ft . And we've been fairly

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successful . So far , the majority of

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our bundles have landed within the 100

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50 and 300 m radius that they are

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designed to land in .

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Right ?

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I called it a ram air drove . But then

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I explained it was a square parachute

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that was designed to fly the bundle to

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the to the grid coordinates . Right ?

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Absolutely . We're using the J pad

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systems here in theater because there

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are some of the fobs out there that are

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very small and very difficult to get

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supplies and equipment to the trucks

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or helicopters . So we are using the J

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pad systems in an attempt to get the

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needed needed supplies to those

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soldiers on the ground . The war

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fighters on the ground can't fight the

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war without these needed supplies .

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He just knocked out 2 3 .

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I love this . You explain how the

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typical ,

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uh don't know number search . So , he

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said that all right ,

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I'm gonna go off and ask uh

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uh just a long

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uh

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Yeah ,

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sure , sir . Uh Air

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forces have been getting kind of

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blindsided by not bringing anything to

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the fight is uh

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it

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absolutely is allowing the air force to

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play more uh important part in the in

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the war fighters on the ground ensuring

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that they have what they need to fight

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the war . Um , the Air Force does all

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of the programming for the computers

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and the airborne guidance unit and they

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are ultimately responsible for ensuring

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that those bundles are released at the

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proper point to ensure that they land

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on that on that drop zone uh , without

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the bundles landing in the proper grid

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coordinates . Those bundles could end

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up in the hands of the enemy or in an

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area where the troops on the ground

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just can't recover them . So , so the

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Air Force is very important , plays a

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very important part in this .

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I'm not sure what that is , you know ,

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Okay . J pads , J pads is the joint

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decision . Uh , Airdrops system . It is

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a guided system uses GPS

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system and we are able to program a

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grid coordinates into the airborne

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guidance unit . So it is guided by

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satellite through GPS is guided and it

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allows , it allows us to land bundles

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within 100 and 50 to 300 m radius

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anywhere . Um , Outstanding systems ,

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both a gas and which is affordable ,

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gotta airdrops system and the and the

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screamer system . Screamer system is

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also named the screamer system because

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of the sound that it actually makes

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when it's flying . Uh , but uh , both

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systems have their place in the , in

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the airdrop community and both systems

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uh , definitely have a place here in

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theater . We're working with both of

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them at this time , we have dropped

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more screamers than , than a gas , uh ,

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simply because that's best been

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preferred through both Air Force and

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ourselves and the troops on the ground .

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Uh , mainly because of the troops on

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the ground , mainly because of the

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weight of the systems . The screamer

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system weighs about £150 with a gas

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system weighs over £300 . So a soldier

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on the ground trying to recover that

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£150 is much easier , Much better for

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him to have to worry about .