22 injured in parachute training at Mississippi military base

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — At least 22 soldiers have been injured during a night parachuting exercise at a Mississippi military base.

U.S. Army spokesman John Pennell tells WDAM-TV that at least 15 people hurt at Camp Shelby were treated by medics and another seven were hospitalized.

Staff Sgt. John Healy says none of the injuries are considered to be life-threatening. Camp Shelby Cmdr. Col. Bobby Ginn says the troopers belong to the 4th Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division stationed at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Pennell says the paratroopers jumped from a C-130 plane Wednesday night and some were blown off course from their intended landing zone and into a stand of pine trees. Several were entangled in the trees and had to be rescued.

Healy says about 650 soldiers were continuing to jump in to the drop zone for the training exercise. About 3,000 troops from the Alaska base are participating in a monthlong training at Camp Shelby called “Operation Arctic Anvil.”