Oh. You do this long enough, you will see cigarette rolls, complete malfunctions / burn in's and towed jumpers. Gets to some people.....
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M.
Jump School Question
- Thread starter Gunz
- Start date
I saw what I thought was a double fatality, but only one died that day (the other's reserve was at line stretch when he went behind the trees; his canopy snagged a branch and he lived). Half of the people I met in the sport who have died to date were jumping at the time and the other half was "life" (drunk driver, heart attack, suicide, etc.). Half a dozen cutaways, some guys who did everything wrong and managed to live, some who did everything right and still died, some who could have avoided death/ serious injury if they had just listened, plane crashes.....and the list goes on.
The military side was relatively benign: broken femurs, legs, back, a dislocated shoulder...
The longer you're around it the more you'll see. The same goes for you medical types, firefighters, cops, and a bunch of other hobbies and professions.
Nobody rides for free.
You have the rest of your life to perform immediate and remedial action on your equipment. It is in your best interest to ensure that you can rapidly effect said actions.
I wouldn't know how jump refusals are handled, as I was in the door for all 5 at Airborne school, and as I... well, watched the birds fly by and then got a buttslap and GO... and went... I have no clue what occurred within the aircraft after my subsequent departure. Never was even a point of discussion that I can remember within Regiment, although at one point I did have to hang my arm over the cable as a jumper in front of me had a soup sandwich of a pack tray after the trip to where we were headed. If the safety hadn't seen the arm, I wouldn't have let him exit the aircraft as it was just that fucked up looking to my non-JM eyes. Blown bands, static line on the floor and wrapped around his boot (to boot, hurr hurr), and a significant amount of exposed canopy outside of the pack tray to boot. Chicken noodle hoagie doesn't even begin to describe it.
Then again, I was also the prick with about a square yards worth of frayed canopy I'd keep in my cargo pocket and would get positioned by JM's with JM/Safety knowledge, behind cherry-to-batt jumpers.
CHECK EQUIPMENT
"Hey man, I found this where you were sitting, it's smaller than a full panel you'll be fine"
I wish gopros had been a thing back then, the looks were priceless...
I wouldn't know how jump refusals are handled, as I was in the door for all 5 at Airborne school, and as I... well, watched the birds fly by and then got a buttslap and GO... and went... I have no clue what occurred within the aircraft after my subsequent departure. Never was even a point of discussion that I can remember within Regiment, although at one point I did have to hang my arm over the cable as a jumper in front of me had a soup sandwich of a pack tray after the trip to where we were headed. If the safety hadn't seen the arm, I wouldn't have let him exit the aircraft as it was just that fucked up looking to my non-JM eyes. Blown bands, static line on the floor and wrapped around his boot (to boot, hurr hurr), and a significant amount of exposed canopy outside of the pack tray to boot. Chicken noodle hoagie doesn't even begin to describe it.
Then again, I was also the prick with about a square yards worth of frayed canopy I'd keep in my cargo pocket and would get positioned by JM's with JM/Safety knowledge, behind cherry-to-batt jumpers.
CHECK EQUIPMENT
"Hey man, I found this where you were sitting, it's smaller than a full panel you'll be fine"
I wish gopros had been a thing back then, the looks were priceless...
I can only relate it to firefights. The more of them you live through the odds get a little less in your favor each time.
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That or more often than not - Terminated his status while in flight. Jump Pay withdrawn, Termination Orders cut. Hazardous Duty Pay withdrawn and reassignment orders cut top a NAP unit. Terminating while "In Flight" was considered the Ultimate Sin.
During my 15 yrs. as a JM, only had it happen 1 time. Lo and behold, it was my #1 Jumper, in my door. He got the door position as a re-enlistment bonus (Perk) and had over 30 jumps behind him. He was a good kid, but evidently got stage fright never being that close to the door when it was open and in flight. When he froze, my AJM held his stick up, waiting on me. I grabbed him by the helmet, looked him square in the eyes, and yelled at him he had exactly 3 seconds to get this right - tell me right here right now, you going or not? He just turned and went right out the door. We lost about 10-15 seconds of DZ time, but other than that, everyone got out with one more race track.
I caught up with the kid later and asked WTF? He said he thought we were too low to jump.......
I told him I was glad to see him exit, but never ask for a door position ever again. Other JM's were made aware of this guy as well.
As for combat jumps, doesn't matter. Your ass is going out the door, like it or not.
Never saw an issue in flight after Jump School. one refusal on a bird, 3rd jump... All I wanted to do was get the hell out of that noisy assed bird ... I was anxious about a jump every time (186), but getting out of that aircraft was my main goal.
All of the jump injuries I saw were on the DZ or in the ER... the worst ones were when I was DZMNCO... and working Womack ER after a Full Division Friday payday jump by the 82nd...
And I only had to pull my reserve once in all those jumps... still have the reserve handle.
All of the jump injuries I saw were on the DZ or in the ER... the worst ones were when I was DZMNCO... and working Womack ER after a Full Division Friday payday jump by the 82nd...
And I only had to pull my reserve once in all those jumps... still have the reserve handle.
I can't imagine--wouldn't want to imagine--a night jump into a hot DZ like some units saw in Normandy.
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TLDR20
Verified SOF
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- Jan 7, 2009
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I am personally not a fan of jumping, when there are two or three other guys that also hate it, shit gets really scary really quick. You can feel the tension. On the flip side, if everyone jumping with you is gtg, it makes the whole atmosphere way better.
I jumped with Colombians during their airborne school in Tolemaida, I am pretty sure for some of those guys that was the first time they had been in an Airplane, let alone jumping from one. There was a palpable fear there, we jumped our own stick though, and once they were all off it was a lot more peaceful. Got some foreign wings out of it, so that was cool.
DUH, Blackhawk= Static JM=Monkey Harness.Duh. Protecting your reserve while kicking them....
For what it's worth I think it takes some balls to jump out of a perfectly functional aircraft--repeatedly--and I admire you guys for it.
You're all fuckin crazy, of course.
You're all fuckin crazy, of course.
I only jump out of planes because of the company I keep. I wouldn't want to lose their respect.
Deep, dark water is something else. Love that shit.
Deep, dark water is something else. Love that shit.
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