YPG Aerial delivery technician test officer inducted into U.S. Army parachute rigger hall of fame

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - On Thursday, Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) celebrated an aerial delivery technician test officer who was recently inducted into the U.S. Army Parachute Rigger Hall of Fame.

Thomas Hall was the 96th inductee into the hall of fame located in Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. 

Making history as the first inductee from YPG.

“Somebody nominates you for it, they put the packet together, you have to get endorsement letters, and they all vote the packet to see who is going to be inducted, and I found out in February that I would be inducted,” said Thomas Hall.

Hall served 25 years in the U.S. Army as a parachute rigger and retired as a sergeant major with deployments to Desert Shield/ Desert storm and two tours in iraq.

He says he has always dreamed about this moment.

“Going through parachute rigger school, one of my tasks was to clean the hall of fame and I thought, 'How cool it was to be memorialized in the Hall of Fame,'” said Hall.

Hall says as a parachute rigger, the jumpers lives are in his hands and its his job to make sure their parachute functions and gets them to the ground safely. 

He says it is a huge responsibility, but also very exhilarating at the same time. 

“It was exciting and humbling to know how many people I’ve served with and worked with, some in the hall of fame and some that are not. My favorite part of it of course is jumping out of airplanes and I still do that here at YPG as a test jumper,” said Hall.

After retiring, hall started a career at YPG as a rigger for the air delivery branch and now works as a test officer and test paratrooper.

He says he has over 800 jumps under his belt. 

This recognition is established to identify parachute riggers who have made significant contributions to the parachute rigger field and, or were recognized by acts of heroism in combat.