European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 17, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine air Force capt. Peter Woodbury checking gear has been on assignment wifi the army s 3rd in 325th in regt airborne in combat team in Vicenza Italy. A jumping Job for air Force pilots Story and photo by Charlie Bowden Munich bureaus Hen air Force capt. Pelcer Woodbury arrived at Vicenza Italy he was considered a  on his second Day at work his army cohorts rectified that when i got Here i had t jumped in nine years Woodbury said. The air Force Academy graduate and former a-10 Pilot had gone through the army s ump school in 1977 As a Cadet. I was what they Call a live jump wonder. Here they Call them  Woodbury s reassignment to the 3rd in. 325th inf regt airborne in combat team was voluntary. In the air Force he said it is considered career  for Woodbury it also was Eye opening the assignment is a jumping Job and the Vicenza based paratroopers wasted Little time in introducing the Pilot to the intricacies of the Job on my second Day All of sudden i m in a Gican army uniform and jumping out of a helicopter from 1,500 feel recalls Woodbury who has nearly 1,500 flying hours. But the change from the snug confines of the cockpit of an a-10 to the Breezy belly of a chopper with the doors open made him nervous perhaps wondering about the sanity of volunteering. I had never jumped out of a helicopter. I was scared my Knuckles were White i was saying my  in ii a year since then however he has grown to like the idea of jumping out of perfectly Good air planes sort of. The Job is great says Woodbury but i m trained to Fly and that s what i want to  the Captain is leaving this summer returning to Iho cockpit in a transition to the air Force s frontline f-16 fighter. But the Job remains As docs capt. John Kozak who also left the cockpit to join the airborne unit As the air Liaison officer. The Job normally lasts 18 months but Kozak has been with the army unit More than four years. It s an assignment out of the cockpit says Kozak a former enlisted Man in both the Navy and the army. The Guys come spend their time and then go Back to  not so for Kozak who gave up the cockpit with 1,800 hours in a variety of aircraft he plans to retire in Italy. The two officers nuke up Hull of what is officially known As operating location kilo or Olk an element of the 601 St air support operations group. The other half is two air Force cos with unique qualifications for a unique Job. Staff sgt. Jim Felton and tech sgt. Jonathan Naeole both have More than a 100 jumps their backgrounds include unusual training Jungle operations school Navy amphibious assault school Winter operations school water survival school Parachute packing school being airborne is not a requirement for the career Field and the majority of people in the career Field Are not it s voluntary says Felton and about 98 percent of us in the Field Are non  thai other 2 percent however probably will spend their careers at army posts most Likely with frontline airborne divisions Ranger battalions or special forces. Felton with just Over six years in the air Force already has had a taste of what that could mean while assigned to a unit of the 82nd airborne div in 1983, Felton was recalled. I thought it was another Drill and then they told me  were going to Grenada i had no idea where the place  after two air Liaison officers were wounded Felton ran the air support operation for three Days. That action earned him a combat Patch a rarity in today s air Force. It also added another dimension to his Job. It made me realize that i do need to be politically aware of what s going on in the world where the hot spots Are he says. Together 110 four men form two tactical air control parties which provide the airborne unit s link with close air support. Like the airborne unit which maintains an on Call Force ready to move within hours the airmen also must to ready. If the army goes they go and if they go they take along about a half million dollars Worth of communications and life support gear tightly packed into a jeep and trailer. Well go out and jump with these Guys and depending on the environment we encounter once we hit the ground Well got our radios operational and Call Back to the rear for close air support explains Felton. We re Able to employ bombs and bullets Witlin close proximity to Friendly troops As close As 500 meters or depending on what you re using 250  the men although part and parcel of the airborne team Are not lost in the sea of bus and Maroon berets while they Wear army combat gear their Heads sport distinctive Black berets. They share a cramped office in the battalion Headquarters that reeks air Force models of air Force planes Dangle from the ceiling and air Force posters crowd the Walls sharing space with a Host of assorted certificates diplomas badges and plaques. We re part but separate explains Fellon. The airmen mainly their own daily regimen ranging from it to setting up training schedules. But when it s time for an exercise we All come  wednesday june 17, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 13