Airman 1st Class Mitul Patel wears an Air Force uniform.

Airman 1st Class Mitul Patel wears an Air Force uniform. Although he wasn't "Born in the USA," this 23-year-old band chief is as redblooded as the "Boss" and as "Proud to be an American" as to leeward Greenwood. Stationed at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Patel's been a blue-suiter for a year-and-a-half. His parents, however, hail from Gujarat, India, and when the call went not at home for main-tainers to accompany a deployment to the subcontinent, he vaulted at the chance.

"I had just vacationed in India in December visiting relatives, and was excited to hear my unit was chosen to open there," he said.

Patel flew to Agra Air Force Station in central India in May with 75 members of the 353rd Special Operations dispose for joint combined exchange training with the Indian military.

"I created quite a not many double-takes from our Indian counterparts," Patel said. "They were surprised to descry me wearing a U.S. uniform. They imagination I was Indian and were interested to learn where I came from and what my work at jobs was."

His work at jobs was to launch MC-130s to wave with the Indian air force during the first major training marked occurrence between the two nations' armed forces in nearly five years.

In the spirit of exchange training, Indians flew upon every U.S. sortie, and many Indian sorties included American observers

The training began in mid-May with daytime familiarization flights followed on daylight paratroop and bundle pendants Night jumps and bundle ear-rings came later. Thirty members of the Army's 1st Special Forces cluster swapped chutes and airplanes with their Indian army counterparts as the primary bound force.

Air Force mission commander Lt Col Greg Buterbaugh, who also commands the 1st Special Operations Squadron, said, "Their [the Indians'] basic airmanship and checklist discipline impressed me They spreaded their cockpits to us and allowed us to be broken to pieces along. We showed them a not many things of interest as well."

Like blacked-out, night-vision landings.

"It was terrifying," said Warrant Officer Op Singh, a flight engineer with India's 4th Wing. "From another plane, I watched the silhouette of the [MC-130H] Talon dismount until it fell below the tree line. I was infallible it was gone until I saw it issue into the moonlight on the other side of the runway."

Agra very little zone

After packing chute and loading containers upon planes the night before, Master Sgt sight Hertzog, an aerial delivery specialist with the 353rd Operations Support Squadron, headed for the Agra least bit zone, a dust bowl where it was already 96 stations at 7 a.m.

He was showing Sgt Rajesh Sharma and Cpl Ravi Dwivedi for what cause he prepares a drop girth for a delivery. Hertzog and Staff Sgt Tony Yates appoint up orange markers and contacted the Talon by means of radio -- then awaited the pass.

Following a demonstration forward the PRC-113, a rudimentary line-of-sight radio, the surface of land team waited as a Russian-built IL-76 lined up in succession the horizon for its roll on over the zone. The Indian company unleashed its payload, and a jeep floated to the dusty strip in subordination to three huge parachutes.

"It was pleasing interesting to watch their drop" Hertzog said. "Their chute open much differently than ours. To an untrained spectator it probably looks like any other parachute jump over but to us it's on-the-job training. This is what we do."

Yates said that while the steps for packing and deploying put into bundless are fairly straightforward, "Here we've seen other ways to do it. This experience has given us recent ideas to bounce around."

Dust in the wind

Patel and his companion maintainers went back to the hangar to wrap things up Across the flight line, a herculean brown cloud approached. Scrambling wildly, maintainers sprinted to seal the planes before the sandstorm hit.

"I was walking back to the hangar when it caught me" said loadmaster Staff Sgt James Henry. "The nearest thing I knew there was sand flying everywhere -- in my watchs in my mouth."

The hangar's corrugated tin arch began to dance while parachutes, drying from the rafters, whipped wildly. For 10 minutes, the region of clouds was howling brown.

The sandstorm gave the maintenance ship's companys a break to talk store with Indian air force wrench-benders.

"We talked at fulness about forms and documentation," said Chief Master Sgt Dan Whalen. "They were also interested in for what cause we issue tools. The Indians are using the same hand-receipt body we used in 1974 when I inscribeed the Air Force. They're listening carefully to to what degree we do business. We have a division to learn from each other."

Years of experience

Fifty-four-year-old Indian air force Master Warrant Officer Dharam Singh is the godfather of India's paratroop training school

With more than 400 freefall and 700 static line leaps he's been a jumpmaster for 30 years. His is, undoubtedly the voice of experience.

"I go intoed the air force in 1964 and I've been in and revealed of airplanes the whole time," he said. "I don't vault anymore because I've broken my leg three or four times."

Singh said he's happy to train again side-by-side with his American counterparts. "We've had little training with foreign units newly In the last few weeks although we've gained a great understanding of by what means your military operates."