Army rangers tangled in tree
00:45 - Source: CNN

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3 Army Rangers get stuck in tall evergreens while parachuting at Joint Base Lewis-McChord

They're rescued safely with only "bumps and bruises," a base spokesman says

The Rangers were participating in a training exercise at the base between Tacoma and Olympia, Washington

They are widely considered among the top in the U.S. military.

But for three Army Rangers who got stuck in trees while parachuting Thursday afternoon in Washington state, their only aim was to get down.

The members of the 75th Ranger Regiment – a U.S. special operations force – were training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when they jumped from a plane and got entangled in towering evergreen trees that canvass the sprawling military installation between Tacoma and Olympia.

Video from CNN affiliate KOMO showed rescue workers climbing the trees to reach the stranded soldiers.

They were ultimately brought down safely and with only minor injuries, said base spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield.

“(The soldiers had) a couple of bumps and bruises,” Dangerfield said.

Dangerfield noted that this was the second time in the past year alone that parachutists have gotten hung up in tall trees around the base.

The Rangers were training on the West Coast facility, nearly 3,000 miles from the regiment’s home base in Fort Benning, Georgia. According to the regiment’s website, its members make up “the Army’s premier raid force” and they are “always combat ready.”