“Some heavy big trucks being dropped from a military plane in the middle of the night,” says the YouTube description, “huge machines, being launched at incredible speed!” Indeed. I love the faces of those soldiers waiting to jump after the trucks:
The soldiers and the hardware belong to the the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which “was the first combat paratrooper unit of the United States Army formed during World War II.” They’re being dropped from a C-17 Globemaster III operated by the United States Air Force’s 517th Airlift Squadron.
Another Redditor posted a video that shows the point of view from the truck:
And yet another one posted one showing how things can go wrong in this kind of drops:
And finally, here you can see the first video, unedited:
Glad to see that the 509 is still around.I had the pleasure of serving with Co.A 1/509 In Mainz-Gonsemheim Germany from 1968 to 1969 as a machine-gunner in 1st. platoon.One of the finest Airborne units with a great history and morale….AIRBORNE 509-ALL THE WAY!!!!