For you airborne guys

[Skysoldier]

This thread reminds me of a funny story I posted here long ago.....so I am posting this for newer members that
have never read it.

Memoirs of a Soldier

 

[TrashcanDan]

Me too. 1986. After all the warnings by the Black Hats that "blood wings" were not allowed and we shouldn't even ask, I got blood-pinned on the DZ by the school commandant, LTC Leonard B. "Charlie Mike" Scott.

We had a three day weekend between Tower Week and Jump Week, and we spent Saturday 4 July on the white sands of Fort Walton Beach, and watched the fireworks from the upper deck of the original Shorty Fuddpucker's.

Because it was summer at the dividing line between Eastern and Central time zones, even our night drop was in broad daylight.

First drop, I executed a dynamite PLF and jumped up thinking that wasn't so bad. Second drop, I did everything the same and hit like a burlap sack full of bricks.

I was First Stick leader, so I went out halfway through. Third Stick leader in my platoon was a tiny little female USAF captain who might have weighed 110 pounds without gear (darn cute little blonde, too). Our entire flight was on the ground with chutes packed and walking off the DZ, and she was still up there floating around.

'94 here.
M.O.S. didn't require it (63BH8), Unit (3rd 187th) required Air Assault, went shortly after j.t.f. 6. I want to say april/may?
For a while I signed up for anything and everything, just to get me away for a few weeks.
5th jump (night) I came in way too hot. Landed almost rigid. Can still feel that one.
Stopped signing up for stuff like that afterwards. Payin for it now.

 

[garandman]

Only jumps I had after BAC were at Ranger School.

Last jump was into Eglin AFB, at dawn, on my birthday. With an M60.

As an aside, my son’s middle name is Gavin.

 

[cams]

I’ll guess approx 60, give or take. 130’s, 141’s, Huey’s, BlackHawks, Chinooks.

Most were combat equipment, Batt MassTac night jumps. Maybe another 25+ on fun day Up n Downs (several a day rotary wing Hollywood jumps in PT gear with a BBQ on the DZ) type shit, just messing around.
No complete malfunctions and never had to use a reserve, burned in with my ruck several times, bending frames and smashing my knees against SATCOM radios in my ruck, etc. Seen lots of bad injuries and suffered a few myself, it’s expected.

No real SkyShark episodes, but all of our new jumpers were fixed up with a bright red cardboard shark fin 100mph taped to the helmets so we could ID them in the air and slip away. lol

A good friend of mine from 2d Batt burned in and was killed on a night HALO in Arizona 2 weeks after we were at his wedding. Terrible loss and we all felt it pretty strongly. His twin brother, LT in 1st Group, came over to 2d Batt maybe a year later, I was on CQ and he walked in (hadn’t seen him for a long time and wasn’t expecting it) and I almost lost it all over again, initially thinking it was Kevin.

Lost another friend on the jump into Panama, numerous birds were taking rounds from AK’s and Quad 50’s on the ground, a round went thru his static line cutting it in half as he was exiting. Fell to his death from 500’.

Anyway, good times bad times, we all had them. It is what it is.

RIP Brothers, we still think about you.

RLTW
<2>

 

[cams]

This thread reminds me of another thread years ago on another Forum.

We had a Member name "Kilted Heathen" and he was a Ranger Instructor at Ft. Benning.

Some young kid showed up on the forum who was a civilian, and said he was also a "Paratrooper" because he did blah-blah...skydiving jumps.

Kilted Heathens response was epic, and went something like this.....

"YOU ARE NOT A F***ING PARATROOPER! WHEN YOU JOIN THE MILITARY, AND JUMP OUT AN AIRCRAFT AT 800 FT., WITH A FULL LOAD OF COMBAT
EQUIPMENT,INTO THE DARK OF NIGHT....THEN YOU CAN CALL YOUSELF A DAMN PARATROOPER!"

Small world Kim, I know The Heathen (Sandy) and his wife, both members on ArmyRanger.com as well where I Mod occasionally. He’s a Scottish beast who’s walked lanes for prolly the last 20+ years terrorizing students and Officers alike.

Very nice people and proud to know them.

 

[mibro]

Lost another friend on the jump into Panama, numerous birds were taking rounds from AK’s and Quad 50’s on the ground, a round went thru his static line cutting it in half as he was exiting. Fell to his death from 500’.

That's awful. What are the odds? My God.

 

[cams]

That's awful. What are the odds? My God.

Agreed. One inch left or right, isn’t it always the case.

 

[cams]

Funny story I just heard last night. My old Platoon Sgt (SFC) keeps tabs on us still and gets us all involved in some group text messaging for laughs and memories now and then. Now this guy was a 670-1 Nazi and PT animal when it came to us, even in a Ranger Battalion he made the ultra strict standards of that look easy compared to how he raised us, he wanted the toughest guys in Batt and raised us up that way. Very hard on us, very old school, 2 Combat Jump Ranger.

So we’re all talking it up last night, convo turns to our women hating how much we all dip (then and now) and apparently one time he was up getting some type of award on stage (I must’ve been TDY as I don’t remember it at all) but one of my friends is saying that SFC B is up on stage with a big honking dip in his mouth, in his Class A’s, and must’ve forgot to spit it out before they called him up, now he’s got nowhere to spit.

So he keeps the dip in in good Ranger fashion, and pretends to be stretching his shirt collar and tie a little like it’s too tight on his neck, and each time he does he’s actually spitting his dip down the inside of his shirt and jacket the whole time. f***ing beast.

Maybe you have to know him to find it as hilarious as I do, but I think most of us know a guy like him, who was hard as woodpecker lips and very awkward in any “dress” type events, but very coolly found a way to keep chewing anyway.

 

[TJRaccoon]

Flying up from Fort Bragg and I have this grey haired Lady with Bonnet on her head. Every few minutes she takes out a bottle Clorox Beach and I hear sniffle and snort. After a while I politely ask what is she doing with the bleach bottle. I'm thinking she is huffing straight bleach. She explains she is dipping snuff and offers to stop if it bothers me. I tell I dip in the field and not to worry it all good. What a great grandma she must have been.