Military personnel often have hazardous assignments. They depend on survival equipment, such as parachutes, to protect their lives in case of emergencies. Survival equipment specialists inspect, maintain, and repair survival equipment such as parachutes, aircraft life support equipment, and air-sea rescue equipment.

Parachute Riggers are primarily responsible for repairing textile and canvas items, webbed equipment and clothing. Some of your duties as a Parachute Rigger may include:

• Inventory, clean, receive, store, and issue all airdrop equipment used in airdrop operations
• Rig supplies, equipment and vehicles for airdrop
• Assemble airdrop platform, cushioning materials, cargo, extraction and personnel parachute along with other airdrop related equipment
• Inspect, test and install extraction and release systems
• Perform technical, routine, and in-storage rigger-type inspection on cargo, extraction, and personnel parachute as well as other airdrop equipment before, during, and after each use
• Pack cargo, extraction, and personnel parachutes
• Perform unit, direct and general support maintenance on all parachutes, textile components and other airdrop equipment
• Use and maintain machines and tools for fabrication, modification and repair to parachute and other airdrop equipment
• Drop-test troop-type personnel parachute to check proficiency

Job training for a Parachute Rigger requires nine weeks of Basic Training, where you'll learn basic Soldiering skills, and 16 of Advanced Individual Training and on-the-job instruction, including practice in using petroleum. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

• Parachute rigging techniques
• Repair of inflatable rafts and other survival equipment
• Maintenance of oxygen equipment
• Maintenance of air-sea rescue equipment

Helpful school subjects include shop mechanics and science. Helpful attributes include:

• An ability to do work requiring accuracy and attention to detail
• An interest in working for the safety of others

Advanced level Parachute Riggers provides guidance, supervises and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level Parachute Rigger, you may be involved in:

• Provide technical guidance and supervision to subordinate personnel
• Maintain production reports and records
• Inspect and classify airdrop item
• Perform initial and final inspection on all parachutes and airdrop textile component
• Perform as inspector testers, pack-in-process inspector and as quality assurance personnel
• Perform as malfunction officer at the drop zone
• Diagnose malfunctions occurring in airdrop equipment during airborne operations

The skills you learn as a Parachute Rigger will help prepare you for a civilian career with commercial airlines, parachute rigging and supply companies, survival equipment manufacturing firms or some government agencies.

• Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repairer (91J)
• Aviation Operations Specialist (15P)
• Shower/Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist (92S)

Learn more about the relationship between military training and civilian certification requirements.