HATTIESBURG, Miss — At least 22 soldiers training at a Mississippi military base have been injured during a night parachuting exercise.
U.S. Army spokesman John Pennell tells WDAM-TV that at least 15 people hurt at Camp Shelby were treated by medics and another seven were hospitalized. Staff Sgt. John Healy says none of the injuries are considered to be life-threatening. Camp Shelby Cmdr. Col. Bobby Ginn says the troopers belong to the 4th Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division stationed at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
Pennell says about 89 paratroopers were on the plane for the Wednesday night exercise. Ginn says the soldiers jumped from a C-130 aircraft and were blown off-course from their intended landing zone and into a group of pine trees. Several were entangled in the trees and had to be rescued.
Healy says about 650 soldiers were involved in the exercise. About 3,000 troops from the Alaska base are at monthlong training at Camp Shelby called “Operation Arctic Anvil.”
