Leap of Faith

[Utah Bob #35998]

   I climbed the boarding ladder and entered the plane on slightly shaking legs behind the other guys. I was about three quarters of the way back. That meant I'd be one of the first out. I had mixed emotions about that.

 

The day was a hot one. 1967. Late September in Georgia can be as bad as August, which is only slightly better than July. Sometimes worse.

I sat down and strapped myself in as the creaky, aging C-119 taxied out to the strip. My grandfather had retired as a Lt Col in the 435th Troop Carrier Wing in Florida in the 60s. The 435th was a Reserve unit nicknamed the Flamingo Wing and flew out of Homestead Air Force base about 50 miles south of Miami. That base is now a Nascar Track. I guess we decided that Cuba wasn't a threat to invade South Florida anymore.
The Flamingo Wing's primary Aircraft was the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar. The Boxcar was a post WWII plane designed to increase the carrying capacity of cargo aircraft then in service. It was an odd looking duck with a twin boom fuselage and clamshell doors that opened in the rear to load large bales of cargo and vehicles. It saw service in the Korean war and was still in use in 1966 when I joined the Army. I think my granddad was a little disappointed I joined the Army, perhaps my dad too, he had been in the Air Force in WWII. Of course it was still part of the Army then.

 

   Tired of the classroom environment I wanted no part of college. It would have been a financial strain on my parents and besides, there was apparently a war on. So a few months after graduating high school a buddy and I went down to the recruiting offices in Downtown Miami. I was thinking that submarines sounded good. I had read the recruiting pamphlets, could swim and skin dive, wasn't claustrophobic, and they supposedly had the best food in the Navy. Plus the sailor's uniform was pretty cool. But the Navy office was closed for lunch. I guess they could afford to take a break. Guys were signing up with the Navy in droves to avoid the draft.

 

   So we went next door to the Army office. A Staff Sargent spotted us immediately. I thought his eyes looked a little red, perhaps from crying? But the appearance of two walking examples of young American meat on the hoof perked him right up. He greeted us with a smile and handshake that a televangelest would kill for. “Boys, I'm glad to meet you”, he said. And I'll bet he was. Free coffee and doughnuts and a pitch straight out of the General Motors Salesman's Guide for Success and we were ready to sign up. They had a Buddy Plan! They'd guarantee that you nd your best pal would go in together, ride the bus together, go through basic training together and have one hell of a good time. How could you refuse that?

He went over the great jobs the army offered. I remembered that my dad had been a radio operator in the Air Force and it gave him a background for a decent career when he got out. “ So I said. “Got any radio operator jobs?”.
I though the Sarge was going to faint. It seems there was a vast difference in Air Force radio operators in the wild blue and radio operators in the Army groundpounders. They called them RTOs. Typing with the speed of an executive secretary the recruiter said, “Hey! You should go Airborne. It's 55 bucks a month extra pay!”
“Wow”, thought the kid whose main job had been working for a landscaper for about a dollar an hour in high school, “That's some serious cash.”  
“Sign me up”, I said as his fingers punched those Smith-Corona keys like a machine gun. “What's Airborne?” He mumbled some response about it not exactly like being on the radioman in an airplane but a very important job in the Army, nonetheless.

 

   So after basic training, where my buddy developed a kidney disease and was bade farewell by the big green machine, I somehow ended up in Officer Candidate School. I had found out exactly what the role of an RTO was in the ever expanding conflict in the jungle. You walked around with a radio and a long antenna which signaled to the enemy, “HERE'S A GUY WHOSE JOB IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE ARMY” and then they shot you. OCS seemed to be a wiser choice. Seemed to be.

But I digress.

 

  After graduating OCS, much to the surprise of many people including myself, I was given orders as a brand new 2nd Lt to report to Jump School. Jump School, or officially “The Army Basic Airborne Course” to make it sound more serious I guess, was a pretty good time. I was billeted with several friends who had been in my OCS class. There was also a Marine Lt. Very nice guy but he made those barking sounds that theyseem to do a lot.
The course is 3 weeks long. It consists of running everywhere, but we did that in OCS and I was I great shape so it wasn't hard at all. Classes consisted of learning the parachute equipment, learning how to escape a malfunction of your chute, how to maneuver your chute in the air, how to land without breaking too many bones (I found out that they way movie paratroopers hit the ground and the way real paratroopers hit is very different). How to get out of your chute if the winds dragged you across the ground at breakneck speed like a cowboy in a Roy Rogers movie.

 

   We learned how to exit the aircraft door, what to do if you landed on top of another jumpers chute, how to deploy your reserve canopy, and what to do if you landed in a tree. AT Ft Benning they had three 250 foot towers that were former rides at the 1939 World's Fair. You got raised up under a parachute and then dropped a cable guided you to the ground. I don't know how much a ride cost in 1939. But we got paid to do it! Except the army took the safety cable off so you really were on your own once the chute dropped. They tried to ensure you didn't get blown back into the tower superstructure but sometimes it happened. Our Marine got tangled up in the steel beams about 150 feet up when his chute got blown sideways. He hung on making those barking sounds until they could get him down. I think he probably enjoyed it.

 

   So you do this intense training for a couple of weeks and then the last week you actually jump out of an airplane, You have to do five successful jumps to get your wings. If you refuse at any time, you are disqualified. If the instructors don't like your performance you're disqualified. If you get killed you're disqualified I think although they weren't clear on if you got killed on your last jump was a disqualification or a posthumous qualification and they pinned the wings on what was left of you.
If you have ever heard the paratroopers hymn you know what a dark sense of humor they have.

 

 Then here we are in the most amazingly noisy airplane ever invented, gaining altitude to 1200 feet above the Earth. It takes about 10-15 minutes so all you do is sit there and wonder who's going to freeze in the door. Me? Jeff? Don? The barking Marine? Naw not him. Probably me.
I kept going over everything I'd learned about how not to screw up and die doing this. After awhile though, my brain kind of shut down. Probably due to the vibration of the engines, Made me want to pee too. Then I saw this little red light by the jump door go on. Two minutes. Maybe nobody else saw it. No....wrong, the jump master saw it. 
They have hand signals to tell you what to do because it's hard to hear the commands over the engines especially near the back. But I was near the front about 5 guys from the open door. Last name starts with D so I was always near the front.

   “Stand up”, is the first command. In conjunction with yelling that the jumpmaster raises both hands simultaneously, like Moses parting the Red Sea...only vertically. Oh come on knees. Don't fail me now. I stand up and face the rear of the plane. Everybody in single file.

 

   “Hook Up”. You take the hook on the end of your static line, hook it to the overhead cable and insert the safety wire to make sure the line stays hooked. If it doesn't, you become an instant skydiver. And at only 1200 feet that's not good. We had received no skydiver training at all.

 

   “Check Equipment” You try to remember what to check, then you check the guy in front of you. And the guy behind checks you.

 

   “Sound Off with Equipment Check” Starting with the last guy, lets say he's number 15, he yells, “15 okay!” , and swats the guy in front of him on the butt. This goes all the way down the line till the first guy yells, “All Okay” to the jump master

 

   “Stand in the Door”. The first man positions himself in the door. Hands outside the plane and placed on the fuselage ready to push himself out. He stares straight ahead. You don't look at the ground, even though you may want to peek and see if an ambulance is handy.

   The jump master has his head out the door looking for the approaching drop zone markers. The red light is still on. 

Time stops. Either many things run through your mind or nothing at all. I don't remember what I was thinking. Probably, “I really need to pee”

Then the red light goes out and the green light comes on. The pilot controls the light. He can basically do what he wants. I'm hoping he's not a practical joker.
I see the jump master tap the first guy on the shoulder. Really hard. I guess he says “Go” but I can't really hear him. And the guy in the door disappears, then the next guy. “Oh My God!” Then the next. Only one guy before me. This is all moving very fast. I don't have to pee anymore!I'm so close to the grizzled jumpmaster I can see his expression. Does the devil look like that when he's pitchforking people into the pit of fire?
I turn ninety degrees to the door. I stare out into the abyss and crouch. 

“GO!”he screams.

 

And I go.

 

To be continued..

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Great stuff, Bob! Keep it coming....

 

I'm figuring the first jump at least must have gone ok....

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

Well dammit, UB. You got me wistfully remembering back to my mid-spent youth. Wouldn’t trade a minute of it. 

 

C-130 rolling down the strip!

Airborne trooper gonna take a little trip!

 

ALL THE WAY!

[Subdeacon Joe]

11 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

what to do if you landed on top of another jumpers chute,

 

Besides uttering a hash of prayers and curses, what do you do?

As usual, a very well written and enjoyable piece.  I'm looking forward to Part the Second.

[Trailrider #896]

Crazy people, Airborne types.  Anybody who would jump out of a perfectly good airplane that isn't on fire or out of control....etc.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

First time out, I was certain it took between an hour and an hour and a half for the static to deploy my chute  

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

Well written recap of memorable experiences. Thanks UB.

 

BTW, you are not planning to break in the jump boots, from your 4th of July kit, in this manner, are you?

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

An excellent read!    

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Who checks the last guy?

[Utah Bob #35998]

29 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Who checks the last guy?

He and the next guy in line turn around and they check each other.

 

[Gracos Kid]

UB,

I always appreciate your reasoning ability, humor, and talent at putting the readers on the edge of their seats...……..Keep the story coming!

 

Gracos Kid

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

13 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Besides uttering a hash of prayers and curses, what do you do?

Quite literally, you “run” off the other guy’s chute.

 

In my jump class we had two jumpers get too close and one chute went under another. This effectively stole the upper chute’s air, and it started collapsing, lowering the jumper on top of the lower chute. 

 

Before both chutes fully collapsed, the upper jumper did as he was taught and ran off the lower canopy.  This got him back into a clean air stream that reinflated his chute, and the lower chute expanded back to normal size with the jumper removed. 

[Utah Bob #35998]

20 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

Quite literally, you “run” off the other guy’s chute.

 

In my jump class we had two jumpers get too close and one chute went under another. This effectively stole the upper chute’s air, and it started collapsing, lowering the jumper on top of the lower chute. 

 

Before both chutes fully collapsed, the upper jumper did as he was taught and ran off the lower canopy.  This got him back into a clean air stream that reinflated his chute, and the lower chute expanded back to normal size with the jumper removed. 

Yup. Been there. Basically if you have another jumper drift below you, the low pressure area above his canopy will suck the air out of yours.  Feels like you’re on a partially deflated air mattress. It’s somewhat disconcerting.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

3 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Yup. Been there. Basically if you have another jumper drift below you, the low pressure area above his canopy will suck the air out of yours.  Feels like you’re on a partially deflated air mattress. It’s somewhat disconcerting.

I can imagine.

[Wapaloosie73]

Thanks everyone for your service!

[Subdeacon Joe]

28 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

It’s somewhat disconcerting.

 

(In best 1940s overbred Oxonian accent)  I say! That would be a bit of a bother, wouldn't it, old boy?

You have a gift for understatement.

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

Reminds me of what we straight legs used to say:   Only two things fall out of the sky, bird s**t and fools. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

10 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Yup. Been there. Basically if you have another jumper drift below you, the low pressure area above his canopy will suck the air out of yours.  Feels like you’re on a partially deflated air mattress. It’s somewhat disconcerting.

I was just thinking about rge resourcefulness involved for the first guys that happened,the debriefing and rethinking.

[Utah Bob #35998]

1 hour ago, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

Reminds me of what we straight legs used to say:   Only two things fall out of the sky, bird s**t and fools. 

We don't fa.l We float majestically.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

1 hour ago, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

Reminds me of what we straight legs used to say:   Only two things fall out of the sky, bird s**t and fools. 

True, but chicken s**t never leaves the ground. 

 

AIRBORNE!

[Wapaloosie73]

We had a mutual aid call to a rural fire district. A woman was trapped inside this three story house. When we got there the structure was fully involved. The chief ordered me and another guy up on the roof with a chainsaw to ventilate, so they could make entry. The other guy had the chainsaw and I had the pike pole. In case I needed to bust out the ceiling. He made three cuts out of four and the roof sagged under our feet by about a foot. He pushed and I dragged each other back to the wall line as the pits of hell opened up underneath us. Thank god the wall held. Anyhow we fell, bounced, skittered back down that ladder all the way back to the ground. The idling chain saw beat us down to the ground. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone.

 

We had no business being up there. The lady was gone. We later found her in mop up in the basement. She had been smoking with oxygen. But the chief was gonna do everything to save her. I don’t think if we had gotten a hole in the roof that they could have made entry. It was soooo hot. The hottest fire I had been on to date. 

 

Anyhow Ive never jumped out of a perfectly good airplane..... but I’ve jumped off of a roof while clinging to a ladder very very ungracefully with my bunkers on.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

In my hazy memory first command was "Get Ready!"

 

Being one of the 'great girth' guys (compared to the others) I floated like a stone.   For some reason I always worried about floating off and never coming down but as the black hats said, "Gravity isn't just a good idea . . . it's the Law!"

 

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

When’s the next chapter, UB?

[twelve mile REB]

USMC, first 1200 foot step February 1964 probably the same plane, "B" second out.  Bladder was an issue cured by the word "go". Those weren't runs, those were strolls.  Doggie's don't  know how to run until they attach Ranger to their sleeve.  Most Marines that have the pleasure of visiting Georgia are vacationing from a Recon unit so what you thought was barking in your dazed and muddled condition were probably sage words of encouragement to the bumbling mob he had been saddled with.  As such it would have been something  unrecognizable and unfamiliar to a OCS 2nd Lt. .    

[Utah Bob #35998]

10 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

When’s the next chapter, UB?

Perhaps Friday.

Perhaps not.