[Pawatwoop]

Even in training from a C-130... 31 troops per door, 1 second stagger between each soldier at ~140 knots... I'm bad at math but that's...

160 mph
5280 feet per mile
844,800 Feet per hour
60 minutes in an hour / 844,800 ft = 14080 ft per minute
14080 / 60 seconds = ~ 234 feet per second.

234 feet * 31 seconds = 7254 feet for one stick. 1.3 miles.

You're pretty spread out under even ideal conditions. Change the aircraft to a C-141 and it doubles the paratrooper load as well as distance required. I don�t even know how many fit in a C-17� They were still being tested for jumpers when I left division.

Toss is PV2 Smith on his cherry jump tripping over his 100 pound ruck before reaching the door� and you have a few more seconds.

Only one pass in a combat jump� PFC Smith and everyone behind him ends up even further down the dropzone.

SF may be able to hit a football field� But not a BN or BDE size package in one pass.

Now, the way to counter this crazy spread in game is the same as in real life. Cross load your troops. Plane 1 has squad 1 from A and B Co. Plane 2 has squad 2 from A and B. Plane 3 and so on and so on. This puts your companies in roughly the same area of the drop zone. It also keeps entire companies from being wiped out if a single plane goes down.

In rehearsals we jumped with a 30-minute window to reach our rally point and move off the drop zone. And that was as a scout, so we had to move out first. Line units had varying rally requirements depending on the mission.

Also remember the term LGAP. Little Groups of Angry Paratroopers. The initial moments on the ground are meant to secure the immediate drop zone. Troops will be out of contact and will flock around whatever NCOs and officers are available at the time.

I remember one drop where OPFOR actually was firing on the drop zone as we jumped in� Looking to my left, then to my right for the nearest troops to help rally and take the fight to the enemy� What did I find? The Chaplain and the Chaplain Assistant. Doh! That put a stop to my aggressive dream of charging the enemy.