The number is determined by associated factors. There are many other uses for the word chalk in the military and most involve transportion. A Chalk can also be used in reference to personnel or equipment that are lined up to be transported to another location by aircraft or vehicle. A chalk or lift composes all of the sticks that will board the aircraft at the same time and jump before the aircraft has to land to pick up more personnel. Because the 47 flies slower more people can exit in the same distance.Ī Chalk is a term interchangeable with it's associated term, 'Lift'. A MH47 might have a 12 man stick on Sicily and a 8 man stick on Luzon. Example: A C130 might have a 10 man stick on Sicily and a 6 man stick on Luzon. Also factored into stick size are: Type of DZ (water, earth, trees, etc), Direction of Aircraft travel (tied to DZ dimensions), Speed of Aircraft, Wind Speed on the Ground, Type of Parachute, Equipment Carried by Jumpers. Whereas you may have a 12 man stick on a large DZ like Sicily at Ft Bragg, St Mere Eglise or Luzon at Bragg are both smaller and the aircraft will only be over the area of the DZ where jumpers can exit and still land on the DZ and not the trees for a shorter period of time. The size of the stick is based upon the type of aircraft or in many instances the DZ (Drop Zone). A pass is one flight across a drop zone or drop area. Bear in mind this may not hold true for a Mech unit, just for SF, Ranger, and Airborne units.Ī stick is a group of personnel of indeterminate size that will exit an aircraft on a parachute jump on a single 'Pass'. I will tell you what it means in our arena. I lost myself about 3 paragraghs ago.Ĭhalks and sticks obviously have a great many designations. Yep, Z, clear as mud.Īnd if you followed this, hats off to ya. The whole "Stick/Chalk" had been a nagging question for some seems the answer to the "How many men in a _" question is, "It depends". Simple, go with what is commonly recognizable.call it a Squad. However, the good folks at RSE recognize quickly that there aren't many people out there who will instantly appreciate the finer points of sticks, chalks, squads, fire teams, and a good Key Lime pie. If they simply walk in.well.I suppose they're tourists then. So, along comes RSE and their 4-man Ghost teams. So, if the Ghosts are deployed from a boat/helo in a group of 4, 6, 8, 10, etc that would be a Chalk, right? It might be a Squad deplying, but isn't neccesarily. In my Navy days, however, we had little use for these types of definitions (4 years active there.we'll call it "Poor Decision Making" skills in my youth). Right so far? At least, that's what I remember from my USMCR days (Yes, damn you, I was in the Reserves!! No glory, no coolness, just the Reserves ). Leaving this in R/W terms, I agree absolutely.Īpplying the GR2 unit sizes "controversy" to it, however, removes the "absolute" element from it, doesn't it?Īnd the more I type and think on this, the more confused I become. In theory a chalk/stick could be a squad of soldiers, but a squad of soldiers is not necessarily a chalk/stick. A stick specifically refers to a group of soldiers who are parachuting out of an aircraft. A chalk refers to transporting of soldiers and/or equipment.
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