I was in parachute and fabrication technical school learning to maintain ejection seat, drogue, and cargo parachutes, not in paratroopers. The airmen technician trainees were mostly high school graduates, some just barely so. I was class leader as I had a few years of college at that point.
Some of airmen, if they were any slower, would need to be watered twice weekly. Thankfully normal procedure is to have two technicians packing the chutes - one doing the work and the other verifying that it was done properly. In a lot of shops these guys would not be allowed to touch anything more complicated than patching engine covers.