Narrator: This is the most crucial moment
for every student during Airborne School:
the moment the parachute deploys after jumping.
If anything is wrong with the parachute itself,
no amount of training can stave off a potential disaster.
That's why every parachute is packed
and inspected by a team of riggers,
who collectively prepare about 75,000 chutes each year.
It may seem like a simple job,
but the stakes couldn't be higher.
Jason Wagner: It doesn't matter how many I have to pack.
Every chute matters. Every jumper matters.
There can be no compromise with perfection.
Isaac Lee Henderson: Without the riggers, we can't
do anything.
I tell them all the time,
"Hey, you have our lives in your hands."
Wade Head: You want to put one on?
Narrator: Insider spent a day with the riggers
of the 1-507th Parachute Infantry Regiment
to find out how these chutes are packed
and checked before a live jump.
Wagner: I had a GI Joe back in the day,
and he was a paratrooper.
I used to just sit around packing his chute.
I always told my family, if I ever did join the military,
pretty sure I could get a job packing parachutes.
And here I am.
Narrator: Along with graduating from Airborne School,
riggers must complete 13 weeks of specialized training,
culminating with jumping out of a live aircraft
using a parachute that they packed themselves.
Head: To fully understand the gravity
of the equipment that you are preparing
for a jumper who is putting his life
in your hands as the parachute packer.
I don't believe that you can fully comprehend that
unless you are prepared to take that leap yourself.
Narrator: Base pay for a rigger is about $22,000 a year
and increases with experience and ascension in rank.
They're supervised by in-process inspectors, or IPs,
who wear red hats and perform eight different checks
during the packing process.
Head: So, the parachute that's being packed right now
on the tables behind me is the T-11 main.
It is the static-line parachute
that we use here at the Airborne School,
and it is the primary static-line parachute for the Army.
Narrator: Each T-11 parachute costs about $4,000
and takes 24 to 30 minutes to fully pack.
Wagner: Serial number: 40884.
We verify that we have
the correct information in the book
so that in event of a situation,
the information can be tracked down
and traced back to who packed it,
when it was packed,
who inspected it.
Narrator: Flaking the canopy exposes the panels,
ensuring each one gets folded and packed
for a safe deployment upon jumping.
Wagner: This is pretty much the longest process.
The air channel must be clear
so that it can inflate properly.
This is my line separator.
Put it in between my group of lines,
and I place a packing weight on top.
Narrator: 28 suspension lines connect
the parachute's canopy to the harness,
separated into four groups.
Wagner: So, I'm going to verify
that I don't have any twists, turns, or tangles.
My IP is down there, making sure that they're not tangled.
My IP will count the panels of the parachute.
He should have 15 on that side
and 13 on this side.
I'm starting the long fold.
I grab my sleeve.
Now I can begin to pull the chute
into the deployment bag.
Now I can begin stowing.
Keeping the lines tight, neat as I can.
I close my flap.
Narrator: The entire process contains
about a dozen individual steps.
Wagner: And down here, I take my static line, secure it.
And that is the pack of the T-11.
Narrator: Each rigger is limited
to packing 15 parachutes a day.
Head: Due to the severity and seriousness of our job,
we want to avoid anybody overworking themselves
or overexerting themselves and becoming fatigued,
because everybody can only do so much
before they start losing the ability
to perform at 100%.
Narrator: Each parachute has a service life
of 12 1/2 years before it's removed from circulation.
Officer: Hole in the apex? Rigger: Yeah.
Narrator: Sometimes riggers discover deficiencies
during packing and take the parachute out of circulation.
Chutes that are successfully packed and inspected
are sent to a hangar
where students pick them up before donning them.
Wagner: Every step I'm taking, I'm like,
"Hey, this is someone's life in my hands."
I know that they would want me
to pack a good chute for them.
Student: Hell yeah.
Wagner: And make sure that they can
get down to the ground safely
and make it home to their families
at the end of the day.