The Ocean State Guardian - Winter 2010
The Ocean State Guardian - Winter 2010
The Ocean State Guardian - Winter 2010
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Rhode Island’s own International Parachute Competition<br />
By Sgt. Megan Burmeister<br />
For most people there isn’t a reason in the world to jump out of a<br />
perfectly good aircraft. For the military’s airborne community, it’s not<br />
just their job to jump, it’s their passion.<br />
Leapfest, the world’s largest and longest running international<br />
military parachute competition, held each year at North Kingstown,<br />
R.I., gives paratroopers from around the planet a chance to come<br />
together and take each other’s measure.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event began in 1982 as a way for members of 56 th Troop<br />
Command to keep in contact with the international parachute<br />
community they met in their training and deployments.<br />
More than 200 paratroopers from the United <strong>State</strong>s and other<br />
countries participated in this year’s competition, the 26 th , held<br />
Aug. 9. International teams included representatives from Ecuador,<br />
Canada, Peru, Nicaragua, Serbia, Honduras, Germany and the<br />
United Kingdom. U.S. entries came from Army active duty, Air<br />
Force, National Guard and Reserve teams.<br />
12<br />
<strong>Ocean</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Guardian</strong> / <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2010</strong>
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