EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
09.14.2024
Story by Brian Lamar
21st Theater Sustainment Command
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Melvin Bullard, an airdrop systems technician with the 16th Special Troop Battalion, 5th Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company unpacks his rucksack before a busy two weeks.
He smiles as he scans the enormity of his 500-person sleeping bay that will soon house troops arriving to participate in the Exercise Falcon Leap 2024 cargo airdrops and the 80th Anniversary paratrooper jumps of Operation Market Garden happening throughout the Netherlands between Sep. 9-21.
“Soon this will all be full of riggers and paratroopers from multiple allied NATO partnering nations. Things are about to get busy, but fun,” Bullard said with a wide grin.
Bullard has been waiting in anticipation for Falcon Leap/Market Garden all year since he got his first chance to participate and earn Greek jump wings last year. This year, his goal is to earn his French and Spanish jump wings.
Although inclement weather delayed the start of Falcon Leap and stifled the rapid-fire cargo and personnel mission, the members of the 5th Quartermaster Co. team expect to provide rigger support for 22 Container Delivery Systems (CDS) drops and two additional type V platform drops.
According to Bullard, CDSs are a catch-all type of system for any small quantity drops designed for resupply, while the eight-foot Type-V platforms are for large resupply drops like vehicles or bundles of ammunition. For Falcon Leap, the team prepared a heavy drop that simulates the similar weight and size of a load of 105 mm artillery rounds.
“This operation is great,” said Bullard. “This is the one operation that I looked forward to all year. This is my first assignment in Germany or Europe. Being able to come out here and do something historical like this has been a huge opportunity for me. I will never forget it,” said Bullard.
Bullard also received the opportunity to participate in the D-Day 80th Anniversary reenactment in June 2024. “Being able to follow up D-Day with the 80th anniversary event for Market Garden is truly amazing,” he said.
According to U.S. Army Spc. Dylan Alejandro Valencia, a 92R parachute rigger also assigned to the 5th Quartermaster Co. and participating in the exercises, Bullard is highly regarded as a fountain of knowledge and professionalism.
“Chief Bullard knows his stuff and is one of our most capable professionals,” said Valencia.
According to Bullard, being looked up to as a technical expert is a bit surreal. Growing up in Dillon, South Carolina, Bullard barely scraped by in school with a solid D average. After high school, he soon understood the repercussions of his lazy adolescence.
“I didn’t try very hard in school. I felt like I had all the time in the world. One day a teacher asked me where I saw myself in five years. I could never answer the question because I thought five years was a long time away. I learned that five years takes no time at all,” Bullard said.
After high school, Bullard set out in the world to look for work. He quickly realized that his options were limited. “The people who seemed to do something amazing either went off to college or joined the military. People like me seemed in a repetitive rut,” he said.
Bullard spent the next six years toiling in hard labor. First, he worked at a chicken processing plant before moving to a hog processing factory.
Eventually, Bullard found a job on a production line dying socks from midnight to 7 a.m. every day. Things looked grim and he was also stuck in the familiar rut.
“I spent six years trying to figure it out after high school. Those Ds didn’t get me too far. I was in for a life of backbreaking work until my cousin called and told me that he had joined the Navy. He was excited about it and seemed hopeful. The military seemed hard, but I was breaking my back every day working hard already. I was like, ‘How much harder can it be’?” he questioned.
Due to not being able to swim, Bullard couldn’t follow in his cousin’s footsteps. He gravitated to the Army recruiter’s office and did well on the pre-ASVAB test. His recruiter then secured him a date at the military entrance processing station where he signed up to be an Army parachute rigger.
Bullard enjoyed his career as a rigger for nine years until a warrant officer mentor convinced him to submit an application to become a warrant officer himself.
“I wanted to stay a rigger as a warrant. I applied and was accepted as a 921A, airdrop systems technician. My career has been great. The Army has been great to me. This past 11 years has changed my life so much,” Bullard said.
According to Bullard, the switch to warrant officer has been intense. “As an enlisted rigger, I went from being responsible to my table. Now I am responsible for everything coming out of the building. There is a huge responsibility in that. I have to ensure that my people are trained technically and tactically. With the personnel pack side, lives are in our hands. We are in the business of keeping those lives safe. On the heavy drop side of the job, I am responsible for up to $10 million worth of equipment. That’s a bit of stress,” Bullard explained.
To show up to work every day with his game face on, Bullard listens to motivational speakers every morning on his way to work. He also credits his internal drive to succeed to his wife and children.
Currently, Bullard is finishing his management degree at American Public University. Bullard plans to continue his Army career until retirement. After retirement, he has plans to start his own business making luxury dog houses.
EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
09.12.2024
(Photo by Spc. Samuel Signor,
21st Theater Sustainment Command)
U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Melvin Bullard, airdrop systems technician, 5th Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company, 16th Sustainment Brigade, poses for a photo at Eindhoven Airport, Eindhoven, Netherlands, on September 12, 2024. Bullard was selected to be highlighted during Falcon Leap 24 by the 21st Theater Sustainment Command. Falcon Leap 24 (FALE 24) is a Royal Dutch Military led, multinational, joint technical airborne exercise designed to enhance interoperability of participating NATO airborne forces and aircrews in personnel and equipment parachuting operations in Arnhem, Netherlands from 9-20 September 2024. Falcon Leap is NATO’s largest technical airborne exercise which will also include ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden.
