The 21-year-old Fort Bragg paratrooper who died during an airborne training session earlier this week was identified by Army officials on Wednesday.
Abigail Jenks died from a fatal injury while performing a static-line jump from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter earlier on Monday. The investigation is currently underway to determine the specifics of what went wrong.
Jenks served as a forward observer in the 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
“Spc. Abigail Jenks was a creative, hardworking, and confident paratrooper. Her love for art, animals, and her friends reverberated wherever she worked,” Capt. Brian Norman, Jenks’s battery commander, said in a statement posted to social media.
Today we mourns the loss of Spc. Abigail Jenks, a fire support specialist assigned to HHB, 1-319 AFAR, @PantherBrigade. She was killed Monday while conducting a jump from a UH-60 Blackhawk.
Spc. Jenks will be missed. Remember, #Paratroopers never die, they just slip away. pic.twitter.com/wGRIWdyfJD
— All American Division (@82ndABNDiv) April 21, 2021
ARMY SAYS 20 SOLDIERS DIED IN TRAINING ACCIDENTS OVER THE PAST YEAR
Jenks was from Gansevoort, New York, and joined the Army in October 2018. She is survived by her parents.
Jenks is the second soldier since last September to die at Fort Bragg from a static-line jump training. Pfc. Jean Cruz De Leon, 20, died from a similar accident last fall.
In 2020, the Army reported 20 soldiers died during training sessions, a slight uptick in the number of fatal accident occurrences compared to 2018 when there were 18 casualties.
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Jenks received several awards during her time in the service, including the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the Army Parachutist Badge. She will posthumously receive the Meritorious Service Medal.
