Jump Training

In 1978 in Jump School after OCS I almost bought the farm twice. There's a good reason why students there get hazardous duty pay.

The first time was when I was in Tower Week. I'd already completed my three qualifying jumps, but the school decided to send me up for a fourth one. It was a windy day, with the winds changing direction all the time. I was hauled up twice and then let back down by the "Button Sergeant" when the wind had changed and it would've blown me back into the tower.

The third time up the Button Sergeant hit full-speed up while my suspension lines were still lying around my feet. One of them caught me around the neck and I was being strangled as I was being raised up. When I was about 20 feet above the ground the Black Hat NCO on the ground yelled out to the Button Sergeant and I was let back down.

After I was untangled they hauled me up agian, and I did a feet, butt, and back-of-the-head PLF, definately unsat. When the Black Hat told me it was unsat I said, 'Is there a scar on my neck?"

He said, "Yes Sir, you have a Souvenir of Airborne School!"

Next week in Jump Week on around my third jump when I checked my canopy I saw a pair of boots two feet from the right edge of my canopy.

I said, "Get away from me!"

He said, "No, your're the one who's supposted to get away from me!" I said, "No, you're not, you're above me! You slip right and I'll slip left!"

When I landed and did my PLF the OIC of Jump Week drove up in a jeep and said, "Lieuteant, what the hell are you doing? You might have gotten someone killed!" " I forgot all the yes-sir and no-sir stuff and told him it was the other guy's fault and the lieutenant got back in his jeep to chew out the other guy.

Well, to make a long story short I earned the wings a day or two later.

Interesting story,

And to think I've had a hard enough time by being afraid of the rope repelling in ROTC.

I remember when we all assembled on the ground after one of our jumps (maybe Jump 3), one member of our stick said, "I ran into something wierd out there. I think there was some guy...singing and dancing...on top of my parachute".

Of course, we all laughed at him, until another member of our chalk 'fessed up. "Yeah, that was me. Except I wasn't singing and dancing, I was screaming like a girl and running across the top of your 'chute".

We lost one to a Mae West--reserve entanglement; hit the ground like a watermelon.

This was the same jump that as we started take off roll, a civilian Cessna did a surprise downwind landing right in front of us. Our pilot did a stand on the brakes reverse engine stop and we went back and started all over again.

I had more than 100 civilian jumps when I went through in 1974 so I had a framework to measure things against. The others were less fortunate or maybe luckier depending on how you view things.

Blood on the risers is not just a drinking song,

Tom

The best jump school stories EVER are those told by Donald R. Burgett in his classic "Currahee." Blood on the risers indeed.