Fort Bragg Identifies Dead Paratrooper

Fort Bragg officials have identified the soldier who died while conducting a parachute proficiency training jump at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Sicily Drop Zone near the main base.

The deceased is Private First Class Ronald M. Jenkins, Jr., a Counter-Intelligence Specialist with Company A, 319th Military Intelligence Battalion, 525th Military Intelligence Brigade.

Jenkins was participating in a parachute training jump from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The cause and circumstances of Jenkins' death are still under investigation.

There were no observed main parachute malfunctions or deployments of reserve parachutes at the time Jenkins jumped.

Jenkins was found unconscious on the drop zone after he landed. He was airlifted to Womack Army Medical Center and pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m.

Jenkins was 29 years old and a native of Ohio. He was married and had two children.

Jenkins entered the Army in Nov. 2001. He had been at Fort Bragg since July 2.