Paratroopers at Swift Response were given a stunning sunset at Bezmer Air Base as the back drop for their jump. (Jen Judson/Staff)
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A C-17 flies over a drop zone at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, at dusk on July 18. Eleven C-130s and two C-17s passed over the airfield, dropping paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team based out of Vicenza, Italy, along with others from Portugal and Canada as part of Swift Response, an exercise within Saber Guardian. (Jed Judson/Staff)
The first paratroopers begin to jump from the back of a C-17 into a landing zone at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, to execute an airfield seizure exercise. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Bulgarian soldiers watch as paratroopers drop into the landing zone at sunset. Bulgaria was the lead host of the annual Saber Guardian exercise, which is a U.S. Army-led event that incorporates military activities in Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. (Jen Judson/Staff)
A pair of paratroopers drifts toward the ground after jumping from a C-130. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Paratroopers collect on the ground at the perimeter of a series of airplane hangars that collectively look like a hobbit shire. The opposition forces, played by Bulgarian soldiers, sporadically fired at the paratroopers. In a real operation, paratroopers would not land directly in front of the enemy, but for the purposes of observing, everything is designed to happen in close proximity. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Paratroopers from the 173rd continue to land in the drop zone as night falls. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Once on the ground, paratroopers waste no time rolling up their chutes and moving out of the drop zone in order to prepare to seize the airfield from enemy forces. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Paratroopers at Swift Response viewed a stunning sunset at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, as the backdrop for their jump. (Jen Judson/Staff)
A C-130 flies overhead as paratroopers begin to jump out. The 13 aircraft used in Swift Response deposited hundreds of paratroopers at Bezmer over the course of roughly an hour. An estimated 1,000 paratroopers participated in Swift Response. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The last of the paratroopers land as a C-130 flies off into the sunset. While there were a dozen injuries that required temporary hospitalization as the result of a jump in Romania, also part of the Saber Guardian exercise, the Bezmer jump had minimal injuries. (Jen Judson/Staff)
A C-17 lands at dawn the morning after paratroopers landed at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, and conducted an airfield seizure, clearing the airfield around 3 a.m. of opposing forces. The C-17 carried two U.S. Army Stryker vehicles to support the operations. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The C-17 carrying the Strykers taxis as the sun rises. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The C-17 prepares to offload a pallet. The process involves the plane increasing the engine throttle and using the forward momentum to eject a pallet out of the back of the aircraft. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The Stryker unit exits the C-17 first, before the vehicles. (Jen Judson/Staff)
A U.S. Stryker drives out of the C-17. The aircraft was holding two vehicles. Another C-17 was not far behind, delivering another two Strykers for the operation. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The first U.S. Stryker moves off the runway after exiting the C-17 and heads over to a refueling area. (Jen Judson/Staff)
A soldier refuels the U.S. Stryker, preparing the vehicle to head over to the seized airfield, where the 173rd awaits support. (Jen Judson/Staff)
A U.S. Stryker unit waits for the Strykers to be refueled before moving out. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Troops in the U.S. Stryker unit discuss the mission ahead once on the ground. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The U.S. Stryker unit listens to instructions before loading and heading over to the airfield. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Soldiers prep their communications equipment for the mission at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria. (Jen Judson/Staff)
The U.S. Stryker unit piles into the back to join the 173rd at the freshly seized airfield. The unit and the 173rd expected to stay for several more days before being assigned a new mission, possibly an air assault. (Jen Judson/Staff)
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
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