A paratrooper touches a grounding rod to the underside of a UH-60 Black Hawk before attaching a sling loaded humvee to the aircraft. Paratroopers assigned to 407th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, partnered with members of the North Carolina National Guard to conduct sling load training with the rotary-wing aircraft, July 31. While these paratroopers continually train to be proficient at sling load operations, this exercise was an opportunity for the support specialists to actually hook the load to the helicopter as it hovers only feet above their heads. Sling load operations are essential to the mission, because they enable vehicles, water and supplies to be transported to soldiers.