JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – An airborne jump is never supposed to feel like a goodbye. But for U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers of the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, their jump Aug. 13, 2026, was just that, a final farewell to the battalion's airborne status, marking the end of an era.
Current and former members of the 404th Civil Affairs Bn. gathered at Coyle Field in Chatsworth, New Jersey, for one final opportunity to participate in a ritual that has defined them for years: climb aboard an aircraft, hook up, snap up, drop into open air, trust the parachute, the training and the Soldiers beside you to bring you home.
“This is an historic moment,” said U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Michael Szczurowski, 404th Civil Affairs Bn. commander. “We are closing a chapter. We are building a stronger team. Everything you’ve built to this point doesn’t end today -- the discipline you’ve instilled, every hook-up, every snap-up, every jumper exiting ... It’s not over yet.”
Returning paratroopers, including three of the battalion’s former commanders, traveled from as far as California to participate in the unit’s final airborne operation.
U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Susan Gannon, commander of the 352nd Civil Affairs Command, also joined the formation for the momentous occasion. The event carried personal resonance for Gannon, who made her first jump after airborne school over these same grounds in 2012. For her, the jump was symbolic of the unique bond shared by paratroopers in units like the 404th Civil Affairs Bn.
“There is something about a unit that, when you trust your buddy to throw you out of a perfectly good airplane, and the work that went behind it, you can’t replace,” Gannon said. “What makes this unit incredible is the people who come here and give it their all every day, who are committed to each other. It’s the legacy of service. It’s each of you who has raised your right hand.”
Gannon urged the paratroopers to preserve their airborne training and to keep their airborne ambitions alive even if they are temporarily grounded.
“Do not bury those wings,” Gannon said. “Hold on to your wings. You might need them again.”
U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Andrew Pacheco, 404th Civil Affairs Bn. chaplain, reminded Soldiers that while the airborne chapter was ending, the values behind it would continue.
“While we are saying goodbye to things that we love, things that we cherish, things that make our heart excited, the adrenaline that comes with being a paratrooper, we know that we are still welcome in the culture," Pacheco said as he described the airborne culture as one of excellence, accountability and courage.
The challenge now, he said, is for the Soldiers to carry that culture forward to serve and uplift others, their families and their communities.
Based at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, the battalion is part of the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade and the 352nd Civil Affairs Command. Its Soldiers work with civilian populations, local governments, institutions and partner forces worldwide to influence civil conditions that impact military operations. They have deployed around the globe, supporting missions in areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and most recently, Puerto Rico.
Those places were visible at the final jump, in the patches and insignia worn by the Soldiers and veterans who returned, forming a visual record of generations of Soldiers who had traveled far beyond the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
Yet, even as the battalion’s operational reach has spanned continents, the unit continues to honor New Jersey skies as where the Army’s airborne heritage first jumped off. In the summer of 1940, the 48 members of the U.S. Army Parachute Test Platoon traveled from Fort Benning, Georgia to Hightstown, New Jersey, where they jumped from towers, refining the tactics and techniques that have shaped modern airborne operations.
On Aug. 15, 2026, members of the 404th Civil Affairs Bn. returned to Hightstown, to conduct a ceremony commemorating New Jersey’s role in those airborne origins. The event served as a profound full-circle homage, connecting their final days on jump status to the earliest days of Army parachuting, offering a meaningful closure for a unit turning a page in its history book.
As the battalion pivots to its next chapter in ‘safeguarding the future,’ its members say their airborne legacy will continue to live on in every 404th Soldier who wore the wings – a commitment sealed with one final unified salute: ‘Airborne forever, forever airborne.’