I don't know. If I did have to jump out of a plane the KISS principle of parachutes strikes me as being quite comforting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duFV6AS2u7Q is another option.
As for the return flight, I guess it's a possibility. The advantage with a helicopter is it's just one machine, inspected and maintained in the relative comfort of an airfield... the thought of a bunch of soldiers getting their hands on a few backpack helicopters, caching them or carrying them round in the field for maybe a few weeks (with all the abuse that entails), then flying them up into some low flying aircraft does sound a little worrying, but I guess possible! And I'd be up for trying the idea
A development of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxc9bX8vkHk might be another possibility