HATTIESBURG, Mississippi, Oct. 2, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — As many as 22 paratroopers were injured late Wednesday night during an airborne night training operation near Camp Shelby, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
According to officials, no life-threatening injuries were reported.
The troops were from the 4th Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
Fourth Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, posted a social media account just after 11 p.m. Utah time:
At 8 p.m. this evening the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, United States Army Alaska, conducted an Airborne Operation on Camp Shelby, with approximately 650 soldiers jumping in to begin a 10-day training exercise. We are still consolidating Soldiers on the drop zone at this time.
Airborne Operations all bear an inherent risk. We strive to mitigate this risk as much as possible. Forrest General Hospital was notified prior to the jump of the potential influx of patients and the types of injuries to be expected and emergency vehicles were on standby on Camp Shelby prior to the jump.
We are grateful for overwhelming support that we have received from units here on Camp Shelby as well as local first responders. The entire community has come together to ensure that we are able to provide expert treatment to any soldiers who were injured during the Airborne Operation.
Once all soldiers have been accounted for, our goal is ultimately to continue training. Despite the challenges that we currently face, soldiers always place the mission first.
At the bottom of the post was a note to involved families:
To the families and friends of our Spartan Brigade, any injured paratroopers taken to a hospital will be provided the opportunity to contact their families. There are no life threatening injuries at this time. Please stand by as more accurate and up-to-date information becomes available.
Gephardt Daily will have more details on this breaking story as information becomes available.
The video below, concerning testing drones at Camp Shelby, was posted earlier Wednesday by the Spartan Brigade, involved in the incident.
https://www.facebook.com/SpartanBrigade/videos/548845482538866/
