No soundtrack.
Static SAF duties, 11 DEC 04.
I never think much of human nature during the x-moose season, and the annual Toy Drop at Fort Bragg is always an indicator. A lot of people show up attempting to get one or more of the foreign wings (this year, German and Polish) and you get to be witness to some slimy shit.
A few years ago there were two aviation officers (married to each other) who showed up with McDonald's Happy Meal Toys. Unsat! Never mind that those aviation officers were making flight pay in addition to jump pay. In spite of that they couldn't be bothered to spend any money on a fucking toy!
The kind of toys that came in were an interesting indicator of demographics. Single guys below the rank of sergeant tended to gravitate towards toys that they might have played with a few years prior (action figures, etc.). One guy (bless his heart) brought a bike to manifest call the morning I jumped (12 DEC). I missed getting a photo of the guy who showed up to manifest call with a big stuffed horse draped over his shoulders and back.
Saturday marked my running two, nominally three safety duties. All were over Sicily DZ from a C-130 aircraft. That in itself was unusual since I haven't jumped a C-130 since 2002. I was assisting a German fallschirmjager jumpmaster team who had a hell of a lot more jumping experience than I'd ever probably get. These guys were great, though. They were very proficient at what they did, and were very enthusiastic about the process. The sergeant major in charge of our German jumpmasters gave us some hardware, namely the patch for their company, an identification badge to hang off a uniform, and the German Parachutist Badge in gold, indicating a German master parachutist. The US guy I was working for on the jumpmaster team happens to be in charge of the awards branch for my command, so it works out nicely. The irony is that I'll be wearing a German rating higher than the US military parachutist rating I'm currently authorized, but I think I can comfortably hang up having to look for any more foreign jump operations..
I will say that after pulling three safety duties' worth of flight time on the day of, I felt well caught-up on Computed Air Release Point procedures in the C-130. Should I feel so froggy as to want to pull another duty in a C-130, I'm all set.
I don't feel that froggy. But the German gold wings sure look nice.
Jump 58, 12 DEC 04.
Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1000
WX at 1000: 46 (8), DP 30 (-1), winds WNW 6, unlimited vis, RH unknown.
Today marked the culmination of my participation in this year's Toy Drop event, where German and Polish paratroopers pulled jumpmaster duties and thus were able to award foreign jump wings to American paratroopers participating in the jump. Today's jump featured a Polish static jumpmaster calling out American practical work in the aircraft in Polish. There was no effective change to actions in the aircraft today, though.
I now realize why I bust my ass to jump as much as I can. It's for reasons like today, where I forget to count to six thousand as I go out the plane. I was distracted because I got a good riser burn this morning as I exited.
There was a lot of oscillation at start, but after gaining canopy control, I was able to get wind direction and face into the right direction.
Today's jump was highlighted by an inexperienced female jumper in front of me who was shaking on the plane ride up, shaking while standing up waiting to exit, and otherwise had a satisfactory jump. I was thinking briefly of what would happen if I didn't get a chance to exit, but she exited without incident.
I spoke to a Trial Defense Service attorney today and she did verify a legendary story I was told in the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, where a soldier in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (when it was still in Germany) found out that his wife's new baby wasn't his. He then found the father, beheaded him, and brought it to his wife in the hospital in a bowling ball bag as a gift. I'm all about bad karma and getting payback, but even that's a tad extreme by my standards. I don't know what happened to the guy and I need to check back with another attorney to see if it was published anywhere so I can verify it firsthand rather than through anecdotal evidence. Does this mean I might be interested in law? Dear god, I hope not.
This marks my eligibility for a third foreign airborne badge...
Seven to go!
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