PEHARDA, IRENA West Point Cadet

"Yes, I'm a paratrooper now. I've got the pin (a parachute with wings). I'm not a regular infantry soldier any more. There is a saying 'Once a paratrooper, always a paratrooper.' The training was grueling, temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius, we were all wet with perspiration. We learned all about parachuting, and one exercise followed the other. The training was not as hard physically as it was mentally. I almost died before my first jump. Fear simply wouldn't let you jump but once you're out, in the air, it's very good. I had a night jump and two jumps with backpacks with full combat gear. I'm glad I finished this difficult training, and now I'm back at West Point. My next task is to successfully complete the senior year at the Academy." This is how Irena Peharda, the Croatian senior cadet at the renowned U. S. military academy West Point, described Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia, in an email message. Twenty-year old Irena decided on her own to go through this arduous airborne training, the same that the elite U. S. commandos known as the Green Berets also receive. "I could choose which military school to attend within the training program. I opted for jump school because it poses great challenge to any cadet," said Irena. She recalled that another Croatian, Mario Bogunovic, himself a West Point senior, successfully completed the training. "The most important thing was not to get injured because any serious injury would impede my further studies here." Except for one unpleasant parachute landing on her nose with no severe consequences, Irena completed all training tasks successfully so that everybody believes that she will complete her senior year at West Point among the best cadets.