Three men enlist in the United States Army in the summer of 1941. Bill Burke (O'Brien) is doubtful of his own courage and enlists while intoxicated. Don Morse (Preston), an All-American football player at Harvard, enlists to avoid being engaged to two women simultaneously, told that army privates are not allowed to marry. Jeff Hollis (Ebsen) is a hillbilly cajoled into enlisting by the daughter of a feuding family. They meet on the train to Fort Benning, Georgia, for training as parachute infantry. Don and Bill's attempts to become better acquainted with pretty fellow passenger Kit Richards (Nancy Kelly) annoy her father, Bill "Old Thunderhead" Richards (Carey), until they reveal that they are Army recruits.
In camp, they are surprised to discover that Richards is a master sergeant newly assigned to their unit as chief instructor and a pioneer of the concept. Richards reports to the commandant, his old friend and Bill's father. Bill was named after Richards and they agree to keep Bill's identity a secret from the rest of the company to avoid favoritism. Bill accepts a blind date and finds out it's Kit. When Don tries to date her, Richards encourages Bill to "stick around as long as you like." Bill confesses his fear of parachuting to Kit. When the recruits make their first practice jump, a nervous trainee loses his nerve, pulls a pistol, and demands that the airplane land. Bill talks him into giving him the gun. Impressed by Bill's nerve, Richards reveals to the company that he is the commandant's son, but Bill confesses his fear and applies for a transfer to another branch. Richards helps him overcome his fear of jumping and Bill saves his life in the process.
1 Parachute Battalion (Ex Alto Vincimus) is the only full-time paratroop unit of the South African Army. It was established on 1 April 1961 with the formation of the Parachute Battalion. After 1998 this unit was renamed to Parachute Training Centre. It was the first battalion within 44 Parachute Brigade until 1999 when the brigade was downsized to 44 Parachute Regiment
The battalion has performed many active operations in battle – producing many highly decorated soldiers – in the South African Border War from 1966 to 1989. Their best known action was the controversial Battle of Cassinga in 1978.
The unit's nickname "Parabat" is a portmanteau derived from the words "Parachute Battalion".
History
In 1960 fifteen volunteers from the SADF were sent to England, the majority to train as parachute instructors, some as parachute-packers and one SAAF pilot in the dropping of paratroopers. These formed the nucleus of 1 Parachute Battalion at Tempe in Bloemfontein. The first paratroopers were Permanent Force men, but soon the training of Citizen Force (similar to the National Guard of the United States) paratroopers commenced. Members of 1 Parachute Battalion were the first S.A. Army men to see action after WWII when, in 1966, they participated, with the South African Police, against insurgents in S.W.A. (now Namibia).
2 Parachute Battalion is Citizen Force paratroop unit of the South African Army. It was established in July 1971 with the formation of the Parachute Battalion. Later it was a battalion within 44 Parachute Brigade. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a BritishArmy Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit.
Background
With the implementation of one year National Service in South Africa in 1968, 1 Parachute Battalion struggled to administer the Permanent Force and the Citizen Force parabats. To prevent the loss of these trained national servicemen at the end of their one-year service to other units of the South African Defence Force, it was decided to form a new citizen force parachute unit to take these men. The battalion was formed at Tempe in July 1971 of five rifle companies. On 20 April 1978, the 2 Parachute Battalion and other parachute units became part of the newly formed 44 Parachute Brigade.
2 Parachute Battalion would take part in Operation Savannah in Angola during 1975 and covered the withdrawal of the SADF forces from that country in early 1976. In May 1978, elements of this battalion took part in the parachute drop over Cassinga during Operation Reindeer. Companies from this battalion were based on the border with Angola in South-West Africa/Namibia and used as a rapid reaction force to counter incursions by SWAPO's PLAN forces into that country. 2 Parachute Battalion companies were also deployed internally in South African black townships to suppress unrest to the governments Apartheid policies.
Christian Gilfillan, a paratrooper from New York serving with the 2nd Battalion, 508th ParachuteInfantry Regiment, said the meal is appreciated by fellow troops.Advertisement.
Elite2 Para - 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment - first deployed to Afghanistan in 2002, two years after Carling said he had retired from the military ... or his basic military parachute course.
... the assignment of 697 officers and enlisted men for “Project Plough” under the guise that they were forming Canada’s first airborne unit, the 1st CanadianParachute Battalion.
A tattoo of the 2nd Battalion of the 75thRanger...Army leadership, the parachute battalions of the 75th Airborne Division must be on combat readiness to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
Gen Jackson was the adjutant, with the rank of captain, of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment on January 30th, 1972 when British soldiers opened fire in the city killing 13 unarmed civilians.
As part of his induction into the corps Jackson was required to serve for a year with an infantry battalion, choosing the Parachute Regiment and transferring to the unit in 1970 as it offered better officer career prospects.
