What does it take to become a paratrooper? A look at U.S. training

Ever since man mastered the science of flight, people have jumped out of planes

In World War II, the concept of dropping soldiers from the air developed as an effective military tactic to create chaos within enemy ranks

By recruiting physically fit people with mental toughness and daredevil attitudes, armies were able to develop paratroopers to undertake daring missions behind enemy lines

over the years paratroopers from NATO allies have done a variety of tasks and operations

in conflicts around the world today they are a dynamic versatile high readiness force

and an integral part of NATO's operational strength deployed to places where other troops

simply cannot get to able to operate independently and with little support part of an international

community forged on determination and courage They are the paratroopers of NATO You got to be a little bit crazy just to take that step into the wind put those knees to the breeze and you know fall for 1 feet

Becoming a paratrooper was one of the steps into becoming something bigger than myself

All right, when 129 gets back, make sure he's getting rigged up. One down, two down, three down, one down

The journey for any paratrooper, no matter where they're from, starts in training

In the U.S., that means completing a basic airborne course at the U.S. Army Airborne School at Fort Moore in Georgia

We have students who've never even flown in an airplane until they get here. There's a huge confidence step that they have to gain

Hopefully what we get out of it is brand new paratroopers at the end of it who are confident and ready to go to their unit

and increase the force of which we have for airborne qualified people

That looks good. Take it around just like that. Squeeze those toes. Every year approximately 15 new recruits enroll on the three course I was honestly very excited when I got here Of course I had those doubts that I wasn going to make it but you get a brief once you get here

and they tell you what to expect, starting from ground week to tower week to jump week

and they overall just prepare you from the moment you get in the door, physically and mentally, to get out of the plane

Are we airborne? Part of that mental preparation is overcoming the fear reflex when jumping from great heights

1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000... To break the students in, week two of the course focuses on an exercise known as the 34-foot tower

So the 34-foot tower is the very first time where a lot of students will move up heights

and then they get up to the top. It's shaped kind of like the inside of a door for the airplane

And a scientist said 34 feet is the same as 1250 feet mentally

You know, our brain doesn't differentiate it. Either way we jumping out If they can gain the confidence of jumping out the 34 foot tower then they will have the confidence to jump out of an airplane But learning to jump from the tower isn just about overcoming a fear of heights

They're getting some more training on actual proper exits. They're getting training on

reacting to certain malfunctions and activating their reserve. And then they're also getting

the training on exiting the aircraft as a group, as opposed to as individuals

Those that make it through the course will become qualified paratroopers, which is known in the community as earning their wings

I decided to be a paratrooper because my dad was a paratrooper. My dad is my biggest role model

He has always been my number one supporter. And it's something that my dad takes a lot of pride in

and I wanted to join the same community and have the same amount of pride as my dad does

In an unpredictable world, it is vital that NATO has specialist soldiers trained and ready to deploy

We're physically, mentally always ready to go. We know that we can respond to anything that we're told to real fast