© Ministry of Defence
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The Dutch Queen Máxima made a parachute jump in Breda on Wednesday afternoon. She did this during a visit to the Defense Para School, which has been providing all paratroopers training within the armed forces since 2008. “Exciting. Very bad,” said the Dutch queen on arrival at the barracks. After an instruction, Máxima made her first official tandem jump.
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jvhBron: BELGIAN
Yesterday at 20:41–
For a while it seemed that the planned jump could not take place, because Breda had to deal with a lot of rain showers at the start of the day on Wednesday. By 2 p.m., the sky cleared enough for a safe jump.
“I really had to say to myself: you still have to breathe”, Máxima said afterwards. But she eventually jumped “confidently”, thanks in part to the good guidance and explanation she received beforehand. “It was very exciting. And of course you get more nervous as the moment approaches.” The moment the princess was sitting on the edge of the plane, she described succinctly: “Fast”.
The DPS annually trains about 800 to 1000 military personnel to become parachute jumpers. During the visit, the Dutch Queen was given an explanation of the responsibilities of the organization. She also spoke with military personnel about their training and with instructors about their work and operational deployment in missions. For example, the Defense Para School supported missions in Mali and Afghanistan. After the explanation, Queen Máxima was given a tour of the training hall, where she was given a demonstration about parachute folding.
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