Utah National Guard wins 1st place at parachute jump contest

(Courtesy of the Utah National Guard)


2 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

RHODE ISLAND — Members of the Utah National Guard recently beat out teams from around the world to win first place at a parachute jumping competition.

Called Leapfest, the parachute training event and competition is the largest and oldest of its kind, according to the event website. A team from the Utah National Guard’s Group Support Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group Airborne, won the 2014 event.

There were 57 teams in attendance from the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Germany, Netherlands and Italy, according to the Utah National Guard.

“The jump is great, but the entire weekend makes Leapfest grand because of the interaction of the U.S. and international teams,” said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Mullan, who is a member of the Utah team, in a statement.

For the competition, four members from each five-person team jumped from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter at an altitude of 1,500 feet. They used an MC-6 static line, steerable, parabolic parachute.

Utah National Guard wins 1st place at parachute jump contest
Photo: Courtesy of the Utah National Guard

“Participants aim to land as close as possible to a marked, designated area within the landing zone,” according to a statement from the Utah National Guard. “Upon landing and completing a parachute-landing fall, participants are timed by qualified judges until they reach the designated area.”

The five members of the Utah team were 1st Sgt. John McNichol, 1st Sgt. Robert Trone, Sgt. Oscar Cuevas and Staff Sgt. Ryan Richardson. Each team jumped twice.

Leapfest was started in 1982 and is held annually by the Rhode Island Army National Guard.

Photos

Related links

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Natalie Crofts

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast