Down-to-earth soldier? (11)

I believe the answer is:

paratrooper

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'down-to-earth soldier?' is the definition.
'paratrooper' can be an answer for 'soldier?' (paratrooper is a kind of soldier). I'm unsure of the 'down-to-earth' bit.

'earth soldier?' is the wordplay.
'earth' becomes 'para' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'soldier?' becomes 'trooper' (trooper is a kind of soldier).
'para'+'trooper'='PARATROOPER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for paratrooper that I've seen is " Airborne soldier".)

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