Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) watch as fellow soldiers parachute to the ground during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) watch as fellow soldiers parachute to the ground during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) assemble an M777 155mm Howitzer that parachuted to the ground during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) assemble an M777 155mm Howitzer that parachuted to the ground during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) provide cover in the snow during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) parachute to the ground to quickly assemble an M777 155mm Howitzer, during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
An M777 155mm Howitzer hitting the ground after a "heavy drop" during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
A soldier with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne)radios in during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) walk across a snowy field to an M777 155mm Howitzer that parachuted to the ground during an exercise at Grafenwoehr, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (Martin Egnash/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Thirty-seven paratroopers with the Army’s 173rd Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) jumped onto a snowy field here during a heavy drop exercise Wednesday.
“The ability to jump into anywhere, set up artillery and shoot missions at the speed that we do really increases the lethality of the Army,” said 1st Lt. Tanner Plomb, a fire directions officer with 173rd BCT.
About 100 soldiers in total participated in the exercise, during which palleted cargo, including M777 155 mm howitzers, was dropped from an aircraft and paratroopers scrambled to get them into firing condition as quickly as possible.
After setting up the dropped howitzers, which took less than 30 minutes, the soldiers fired live rounds at targets several miles away.
