Soldier found guilty of intentionally destroying 3 Humvees that plunged to earth

A U.S. soldier has been found guilty of his role in the intentional destruction of three Humvees that plunged to earth during an airborne training exercise in Germany two years ago, according to the Army.

A general court-martial found Sgt. John T. Skipper, 29, guilty of one count of providing a false official statement and three counts of destroying military property with a value of more than $500, 7th Army Training Command said in a statement on Wednesday.

As a result, Skipper was reduced in rank to E1 (private) and given a bad conduct discharge.

In April of 2016, U.S. Army Europe was conducting exercise Saber Junction 16 which involved an airdrop of Humvees from a military cargo plane. But instead of each vehicle gently floating to the ground by parachute, a video captured three of those Humvees plummeting to the ground, producing a plume of smoke as they crashed.

That YouTube video has now been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

Skipper was found guilty of "intentionally cutting the parachute straps" connected the vehicles, the Army said.

The Humvees were each estimated to have cost $200,000.

Skipper was charged of these offenses last May and referred to a general court-martial in July.

He is assigned to B Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne) in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The squadron is part of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), headquartered in Vicenza, Italy.

According to Stars & Stripes, the former sergeant first class, who was heard laughing and cursing on the video, had already been given an administrative letter of reprimand.