Arcer Army Airborne School
The Arcer Army Airborne School - more commonly known as Jump School - conducts the basic and advanced paratrooper (military parachutist) training for the Armed Forces of Arcerion and its allied partners. It is operated by a cadre of instructors from the Arcerion Parachute Regiment and select invited exchange officers and NCOs from foreign countries such as XX and YY. It hosts a variety of curriculum and is considered the center-of-excellence for Airborne Operations in the Occidental world, and amongst modern militaries is considered the premier airborne instructional and training center in Ixnay.
It is housed at the Smythe Lines, named after LCpl John Smythe, a paratrooper killed in Kelekona while peacekeeping as part of Operation Redoubt.
History
The school has been in continual operation since 1919. It was established after the First great War through Army studies that identified the need for a greater expeditionary capability for the Arcer Army. The school was stood up in conjunction with the Arcee Air Force, who used it to teach pilots how to insert parachutists as well as establish standard operating procedures for aerial resupply. The school graduated its first class in August of 1919 and has been contuiosuly running the Baisc Parachutist 3-week course since then, with the core cirrulcum almost unchanged.
The school underwent major renovations the 1930s with the creation fo additional battalions for the Arcerion parachute Regiment. This served to assist with the creation of an entire Airborne Divison as part of Operation Lightfoot, which included the vast majorty of the school's cadre being posted to Airborne units to help stand up additionally required battalions. At the conclusion of the Second Great War, this meant that despite casualties in the NCO and office cadre, the amount of experience that was then re-posted back to the school was second-to-none in Ixnay. This, concurrent with the continuous use of Arcer paratroopers in deployments to Istrenya, Ardmore, Varshan, and Kelekona have meant the Airborne school retained relevance throughout much of the 20th and 21st centuries. Additional facilities and buildings were provided with the expansion of the school to incorporate advanced courses such as military freefall parachuting and helocasting.
Curriculum
Basic Parachutist Course
The Basic Parachutist Course is a 3 week program designed to take conventional soldiers from infantry, other combat arms, or combat support units and cross-train them on the means to insert via static-line parachute. This method was the original means to drop parachutists from military cargo and transport aircraft, and despite changes in technology the course remains fundamentally the same. The program begins with candidates completing the Parachute Fitness Test, comprised of a 5 kilometer run, pullups, chinups, situps, and a swim test. Candidates who fail to meet the physical requirements are returned to their respective units prior tot raining being commenced. The three week program is comprised of three phases, Instruction, Tower, and Jump weeks. The first week is theory of parachuting, packing and stowage of personal weapons and equipment, as well as the basics of injury prevention during insertion. These lessons are applied in the second week as part of tower week where students perform the maneuvers and procedures in controlled scenarios prior to actual jumps. The final week is seven static line jumps in a variety of scenarios, from 'bare' jumps with no equipment in daytime, to night time jumps with night vision and full battle loads on unmarked drop zones. The additional two jumps were added in the 1980s with the invention of modern personal night vision devices to introduce soldiers to the experience of being able to land on unmarked dropzones at night.
Advanced Parachute Course
The Advanced Parachute Course serves to qualify members already processing the BPC on advanced techniques, such as square-canopy parachutes, freefall, high-altitude high opening and low opening (HALO/HAHO), as well as how to air drop equipment. This course also requires soldiers and other service members to understand advanced theory such as the use of oxygen, insertion into water or complex terrain, as well as how to plan and execute navigational techniques under canopy. The Advanced Parachute Course is approximately two months long, and begins with a mixture of wind tunnel and theory classes, ranging from proper exit of an aircraft to safe landing techniques, all the way up to how to pack and launch equipment for air insertion of vehicles. Soldiers loaded onto APC are generally more senior and experienced military members and parachutists, and it is a basic requirement for most units in the Arcerion Special Operations Command to complete prior to the graduation of their individual selection courses. APC is only offered to a few allied nations as the lessons learned and methods are closely guarded secrets. It has been announced publicly that Arcerion was one of the first nations to conduct these types of missions operationally, with members of the Special Arcerion Service Regiment and Arcerion Commando Regiment inserting behind enemy lines in Varshan using skills learned on APC.
Jumpmaster
The Jumpmaster course was established shortly after the basic parachute course to qualify officers and NCOs to assist with the deployment of soldiers in static line operations. Soldiers in a freefall scenario are cross-trained through APC on jumpmaster duties and jumpmasters with the successful completion of APC are qualified both static lien and freefall jumpmasters. The jumpmaster course is also a requirement to teach and instruct candidates at the Jump School, and is a sought after career course for professional development and promotion within the Arcer Army. All NCOs in the Arcerion parachute Reigment are expected to complete their Jumpmaster training before promotion to Warrant Officer.
The course teaches instructional methods, correct means of employment, safety standards, parachute malfunction correction and identification of unsafe equipment.
Pathfinder
DZ marker, controller
Airborne Infantry Course
on the ground practice
Personnel
existing lore
The Arcer Army Airborne School, commonly referred to as Jump School, is the only military parachute facility remaining in the Arcer military. It is staffed with a cadre of officers and NCOs from the Parachute Regiment, and regularly runs both Basic Parachute Courses (BPC) as well as Advanced Parachute Courses (APCs). It is the core of the Parachute Regiment's ability to generate new paratroopers, and has been in continuous operation since 1919. Every year it qualifies several hundred new members of the Arcer Armed Forces to perform static-line, freefall, and jumpmaster duties. It is housed at the Smythe Lines, named after LCpl John Smythe, killed in Kelekona while peacekeeping. The AAAS also regularly hosts paratroopers and instructor staff from XX and YY, as part of the ongoing Arcer commitment to military excellence and international partnerships through armed forces collaboration. The school follows three phases, Instruction Week, Tower/Hangar Week, and Jump Week. After three weeks, soldiers are qualified as basic army parachutists, and those wishing to pursue employment as members of the Parachute Regiment may undergo the Airborne Infantry Course (16 weeks), to qualify as members of the Regiment. The Airborne School is also responsible for running the Airborne Infantry Course, which instructs soldiers on advanced fieldcraft, marksmanship, gunnery, small party leadership, explosives, and advanced airmobile techniques such as sling-loading helicopters and helocasting.