First Amputee to Ever Graduate Army Air Assault School

A genuine hero is Sgt. 1st Class Greg Robinson, 34, the first amputee to complete Army air assault school. The grueling tests that Robinson passed at the Sabalauki Air Assault School are unmanageable for most two-legged men, but Robinson, who lost part of his right leg in  an attack in Afghanistan that was part of a major operation in 2006, passed one of the toughest series of tests the Army has to offer. Every day begins with a 2-mile run, and exercises are conducted wearing a 35 pound rucksack.

During the ten-day routine, Robinson’s prosthetic leg broke twice as he rappelled down ropes from 34-foot towers, cut through obstacle courses (in one, a piston in his leg stopped working and Robinson calmly fixed it and continued) and finished long road marches. Monday, during a 12-mile march he fixed his leg, then finished the march.

Robinson humbly denied being an inspiration, saying, “Right now, I am a platoon sergeant. I have roughly 30 men in my platoon. As a leader, I didn’t want to tell my soldiers that they needed to go to air assault school, if I am not air assault qualified.”

Capt. Greg Gibson, an Army nurse with Robinson’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, said Robinson was quite a model for the men: “Some of these guys never even learn to walk on a prosthesis, let along go through the air assault course,” Gibson said.