Descriptive characteristics of US Army Airborne School trainees, by parachute ankle brace protocol period, 1985–2002
| Characteristic | Pre-brace* (n = 126 603) | Brace protocol* (n = 68 140) | Post-brace* (n = 28 429) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| *Jump week training dates were as follows: pre-brace (01/01/85–30/09/93), brace protocol (01/01/94–30/09/00), post-brace (01/10/00–31/12/02). | ||||||
| Age at start of training | ||||||
| 17–18 | 27192 | 21.48 | 10430 | 15.31 | 5549 | 19.52 |
| 19–20 | 40422 | 31.93 | 20906 | 30.68 | 9093 | 31.98 |
| 21–22 | 21587 | 17.05 | 12301 | 18.05 | 4716 | 16.59 |
| 23–24 | 14338 | 11.33 | 9342 | 13.71 | 3330 | 11.71 |
| 25–29 | 16170 | 12.77 | 10529 | 15.45 | 3897 | 13.71 |
| 30–34 | 5341 | 4.22 | 3568 | 5.24 | 1458 | 5.13 |
| 35–56 | 1553 | 1.23 | 1064 | 1.56 | 386 | 1.36 |
| Sex | ||||||
| Men | 120476 | 95.16 | 63237 | 92.80 | 27025 | 95.06 |
| Women | 6127 | 4.84 | 4903 | 7.20 | 1404 | 4.94 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 96407 | 76.15 | 49352 | 72.43 | 20346 | 71.57 |
| Black | 19770 | 15.62 | 9685 | 14.21 | 3378 | 11.88 |
| Hispanic | 5361 | 4.23 | 5601 | 8.22 | 3282 | 11.54 |
| Other | 5065 | 4.00 | 3502 | 5.14 | 1423 | 5.00 |
| Rank | ||||||
| Junior enlisted (E1–E4) | 102449 | 80.92 | 54337 | 79.74 | 24098 | 84.77 |
| Senior enlisted (E5–E9) | 11554 | 9.13 | 7001 | 10.27 | 2527 | 8.89 |
| Officer/Warrant Officer | 12600 | 9.95 | 6802 | 9.98 | 1804 | 6.35 |
| Duration of service (years) | ||||||
| <1 | 58937 | 46.55 | 27764 | 40.75 | 12454 | 43.81 |
| 1–2 | 44189 | 34.90 | 25661 | 37.66 | 11248 | 39.57 |
| 3–5 | 12541 | 9.91 | 7659 | 11.24 | 2594 | 9.12 |
| 5–30 | 10936 | 9.64 | 7056 | 10.36 | 2133 | 7.50 |