Brass not amused by soldier in cranberry juice TikTok video

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Army leaders are investigating a video depicting a paratrooper jumping with cranberry juice that was posted to TikTok, a social media app.

On Oct. 17, a reporter for Task&Purpose tweeted the video of the paratrooper, who appears to be in a parachute harness and sipping on Ocean Spray cranberry juice as Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” plays in the background. The video appears to be a recreation of a viral video shared last month by another TikTok user, Idaho resident Nathan Apodaca.

Apodaca’s video depicting himself skateboarding and lip-syncing to the Fleetwood Mac song as he drinks cranberry juice from the bottle has generated more than 11 million likes.

Responding to the Task&Purpose reporter via Twitter, the 18th Airborne Corps Twitter page said leaders would investigate the incident.

The soldier appears to be a specialist, and the hashtag slogan “AATW” is used in the video, meaning Airborne All The Way – a saying used across airborne units in the Army.

The soldier’s name is not shown in the video, and he does not seem to be the TikTok user who uploaded the video. The user also posted the video with the hashtag “82nd airborne,” but officials have not confirmed whether the soldier is in Fort Bragg-based 82nd Airborne Division.

“We’re looking into the matter to try to see what unit he may belong to, does the unit have a specific policy (related to safety), and was it violated,” Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, said Monday. “There is an airborne (standard operating procedure), but also unit-specific (standard operating procedures).”