Something I'm Stuck On

[Someguy77]

Hey guys, pretty new member here, just have a couple questions/concerns and looking for a little advice and "push" I suppose? So I am 27 years old and I have a couple options....68W w/ Airborne, 18X, and 11X w/ Opt 40. I did some reading around and it seems like Ranger is what I am looking for more than Special Forces but again, I can only read but so much before actually talking to guys out there that have done it.

So as with anything SOF....Airborne is required. I want this so bad but I am SO hung up on the Airborne portion of things. Honestly, I think I know the answer to my concerns/worries but I guess I just wanted and outsiders "peptalk" maybe? I don't know... I am just stuck on the "What if?"

I work with a ER Physician that was Force Recon (Airborne & Diver) that was saying hes done around 55 jumps, little neck problems but ultimately....nothing bad and told me to JUST DO IT. Otherwise, if I don't I will always look back thinking about what I should have done or could have done. I am stuck on a couple things. Parachute malfunctioning and not opening, getting tangled up with another jumper, and even landing....landing and breaking something. I have read you can PLF your heart out, perfect conditions and still totally screw yourself up. Are these chances really that high of a statistic or are they actually more rare that portrayed to be?

I feel like after my first jump I am going to significantly change, it's just getting there....

 

[Marauder06]

Airborne is part of what we do. I found it painful and terrifying every time, but I did because THAT'S WHAT WE DO. It's part of the organizational culture. Being in the military is an inherently dangerous profession, but it's extremely unlikely that you'll be injured in a jump. Moreover, depending on the job, you might not even jump that much. I've been in the Army for 23 years, with three SOF assignments, and I've got something around 30 jumps total (mainly because there was a war going on).

You will probably jump a lot more than I did if you are in one of the MOSs you listed above. If you can't be at piece with the whole "jumping out of airplanes" thing, you probably need to shuffle on down Longstreet to one of the leg units. There are plenty of good non-airborne assignments and non-airborne MOSs. But if you want the sexy gigs, you've got to take all that goes with it.

I went to airborne school the summer after my freshman year in college. I was totally unprepared for that experience. I was more afraid that I would freeze up in the door than I was that anything would happen to me. But when the time came, the green light came on, the training kicked in, and I followed the man in front of me out the door. It also helped that my father came down to jump with me on my first two jumps, so I could either jump out and get a good body position, or he was going to give me a "kiwi injection."

It gets better. Early on, I liked to be in the middle of the stick because the flow would just kind of carry me along, and I didn't have time to be scared. Later in my career, I tried to be first in the stick because I'm a big guy and was chasing jumps for my star, so with a combat load I was probably going to be the first one to the ground anyway. Me going first meant no chance of me running into anyone else on my stick on the way down. It was still a little scary, it still hurt when I hit the ground, but it's what we did. It was one of many prices of admission.

 

[“The Old Man”]

Jumping is kind of like riding the subway to work. You wonder, 'what will happen this time'? 99.9% of the time there are zero problems. Focus on that instead of the .1%. If you aren't willing to do what it takes to even get to work. Why even have a job that requires an esoteric means of conveyance to the work site.

 

[Someguy77]

Airborne is part of what we do. I found it painful and terrifying every time, but I did because THAT'S WHAT WE DO. It's part of the organizational culture. Being in the military is an inherently dangerous profession, but it's extremely unlikely that you'll be injured in a jump. Moreover, depending on the job, you might not even jump that much. I've been in the Army for 23 years, with three SOF assignments, and I've got something around 30 jumps total (mainly because there was a war going on).

You will probably jump a lot more than I did if you are in one of the MOSs you listed above. If you can't be at piece with the whole "jumping out of airplanes" thing, you probably need to shuffle on down Longstreet to one of the leg units. There are plenty of good non-airborne assignments and non-airborne MOSs. But if you want the sexy gigs, you've got to take all that goes with it.

I went to airborne school the summer after my freshman year in college. I was totally unprepared for that experience. I was more afraid that I would freeze up in the door than I was that anything would happen to me. But when the time came, the green light came on, the training kicked in, and I followed the man in front of me out the door. It also helped that my father came down to jump with me on my first two jumps, so I could either jump out and get a good body position, or he was going to give me a "kiwi injection."

It gets better. Early on, I liked to be in the middle of the stick because the flow would just kind of carry me along, and I didn't have time to be scared. Later in my career, I tried to be first in the stick because I'm a big guy and was chasing jumps for my star, so with a combat load I was probably going to be the first one to the ground anyway. Me going first meant no chance of me running into anyone else on my stick on the way down. It was still a little scary, it still hurt when I hit the ground, but it's what we did. It was one of many prices of admission.

I appreciate you breaking it down like that for me, it definitely helps. Like you said, I feel like I am in the same boat "Terrified, anticipating the pain, but I just need to get over it and DO IT because of the THAT'S WHAT WE DO" If I never do it, then I will never be. I feel the same way, I would probably want to be towards the middle/back initially. I am not a very big guy myself, 67" and 170lbs lol, but I could probably live with losing 10-15lbs.

Jumping is kind of like riding the subway to work. You wonder, 'what will happen this time'? 99.9% of the time there are zero problems. Focus on that instead of the .1%. If you aren't willing to do what it takes to even get to work. Why even have a job that requires an esoteric means of conveyance to the work site.

I agree, I think my thing is just getting over that initial hurdle. Which is what I came here for, I know it's all about me making that move but just talking to others with experience etc definitely helps understand and get over it as well. Thank you.

 

[Marauder06]

I appreciate you breaking it down like that for me, it definitely helps. Like you said, I feel like I am in the same boat "Terrified, anticipating the pain, but I just need to get over it and DO IT because of the THAT'S WHAT WE DO" If I never do it, then I will never be. I feel the same way, I would probably want to be towards the middle/back initially. I am not a very big guy myself, 67" and 170lbs lol, but I could probably live with losing 10-15lbs.



I agree, I think my thing is just getting over that initial hurdle. Which is what I came here for, I know it's all about me making that move but just talking to others with experience etc definitely helps understand and get over it as well. Thank you.

I weigh 270 pounds, without uniform and gear. Additionally, I was jumping the old school -1Bs and T10s, you'll probably be jumping the steerable squares, it's likely you'll have a much better experience than I did. "I don't know what Marauder06 was on about, this was easy," is probably what you'll be saying after your first jump.

For a while I had the "fear" speech from Dune (below) memorized and I would recite it inside my head inside the plane on the way up to altitude, and then after we hooked up. A lot of guys have some kind of routine they do to get themselves fired up for the jump. And a lot of other guys simply aren't scared at all during a jump. Some crazy bastards actually like it :) Bottom line do what you need to do to get your mind right to focus on the mission. Jumping out of an airplane is one of the easiest things you'll be asked to do in SOF. If you can't get through that, then you might need to pick another line of work.


“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

 

[Someguy77]

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

The speech alone is motivational, I will start to memorize it as well. I know what my decision is....I am going to do it. I am just trying to do as I can to overcome that fear little by little before the time comes I suppose. I believe in the grand scheme of things, jumping out at Airborne School is going to be nothing compared to being out on a mission or something but it's those steps getting there, conquering fears and overcoming obstacles. I can do it, I am just nervous on the way there haha.

 

[Brill]

No sense worrying about something you have no control over. Just do what you’re told, follow procedures, and if you walk into the light, at least you weren’t afraid.

There’s a lot more shit out there that can kill you.

I hated jumping but holy shit, I LOVED working with guys who really liked it!

 

[Teufel]

I’ve always been afraid of heights and still get the pre-jump jitters. You know what else is scary? Combat. Facing your fears and doing what’s expected of you is a big part of every job represented on this forum.

 

[Brill]

You know what else is scary? Combat.

Fuck yeah...even 6 years later. I shutter to think what Marjah was like.

 

[Someguy77]

Again, I truly appreciate everyone's help/advice on this subject. It's been a huge thing for me, I don't know why. It would seem as though I am not alone though haha and when the day comes to jump....out the door I will go. Still nervous as shit haha, but will definitely be doing it.

 

[Brill]

Jump to 20:55 - 21:50.

Then watch the entire thing.

 

[Someguy77]

I've been in the Army for 23 years, with three SOF assignments, and I've got something around 30 jumps total (mainly because there was a war going on).

I read that to keep your Airborne (and you basically HAVE to) that you are to at the bare minimum do 4 jumps per year (1/per quarter). How did you manage to get 23 years without doing....essentially a minimum of 92 jumps? Maybe I misunderstood the information I was reading? Just curious, that's all.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

I read that to keep your Airborne (and you basically HAVE to) that you are to at the bare minimum do 4 jumps per year (1/per quarter). How did you manage to get 23 years without doing....essentially a minimum of 92 jumps? Maybe I misunderstood the information I was reading? Just curious, that's all.

You are talking about maintaining jump status, and that is only done within a airborne unit, that is not deployed. You can bounce back and forth between airborne and non-airborne units throughout a career, and with @Marauder06 deployment time while assigned to airborne units, it's not at all uncommon.

 

[Someguy77]

Oh okay, I was just curious because I was told once I went Airborne, I was going to be assigned to an airborne unit pretty much indefinitely. Or at least it seemed like that’s what the guy was telling me, I could have misunderstood.

Thank you

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Oh okay, I was just curious because I was told once I went Airborne, I was going to be assigned to an airborne unit pretty much indefinitely. Or at least it seemed like that’s what the guy was telling me, I could have misunderstood.

Thank you

Once you pass Basic Airborne Course (BAC) you can be assigned to an Airborne unit, that doesn't mean that you will be, or that you will always will be.

Now to be honest, these are kinda silly questions for someone who hasn't even shipped out to basic. You should probably focus on the next step in the process and not everything else. Enlist, basic training, ait, airborne physical, BAC, etc...

Thousands of dudes and chicks, jump out of airplanes every year, you can do it too, suck it up buttercup.

 

[Someguy77]

Once you pass Basic Airborne Course (BAC) you can be assigned to an Airborne unit, that doesn't mean that you will be, or that you will always will be.

Now to be honest, these are kinda silly questions for someone who hasn't even shipped out to basic. You should probably focus on the next step in the process and not everything else. Enlist, basic training, ait, airborne physical, BAC, etc...

Thousands of dudes and chicks, jump out of airplanes every year, you can do it too, suck it up buttercup.

My apologies, I tend to ask a lot of questions about things I don’t know. Just trying to understand it all, but you’re right, one step at a time. I’ll learn as I go and I’ve kind of gotten to that point as well haha. Stop bitching and moaning about all the “what if” and just jump, so that’s what I will do. I didn’t mean to get a little bit off topic.

 

[Teufel]

 

[x SF med]

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Nice Dune quote... well played, very well played.

 

[Marauder06]

I read that to keep your Airborne (and you basically HAVE to) that you are to at the bare minimum do 4 jumps per year (1/per quarter). How did you manage to get 23 years without doing....essentially a minimum of 92 jumps? Maybe I misunderstood the information I was reading? Just curious, that's all.

As discussed above, generally speaking you have to be in an Airborne unit AND be on status AND not be deployed/injured/etc. to jump. I didn't get into an Airborne unit (5th Special Forces Group) until I had been in the Army about 8 years. I did a couple of jumps with them, then went over to the 2nd Battalion,160th SOAR, where we were an Airborne unit but my billet wasn't coded as a jump slot so I wasn't on jump status. I think the only jump I got in the 160th was the one at Pathfinder School. Then I went over to JSOC, where I was again on status and in a coded billet. I got a few more jumps with them, but were deployed all the time so it was hard to rack them up. Plus, as I said, I wasn't really digging the whole jumping thing so I wasn't chasing jumps that hard. After that I was in school, teaching school, or in a non-jumping unit. So around 30 or so is all I've got. On the other hand, it's not uncommon for individuals in hard-core Airborne or HALO units to rack up a hundred, and in some cases hundreds, of jumps. I'm not one of them.

Oh okay, I was just curious because I was told once I went Airborne, I was going to be assigned to an airborne unit pretty much indefinitely...

That is definitely not the case. It was 12 years between my 5th and 6th jumps (you typically do 5 jumps at Airborne School). You know what I was "assigned to" after Airborne School? Sophomore year of college. Some ROTC / service academy students who do Airborne never even make it into the real Army, much less an Airborne unit. Many people in the Army went to jumps school and never jumped again, in all their years in the service. My wife is one of those. Whoever told you that does not know what they are talking about.

 

[R.Caerbannog]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if @Someguy77 ends up enlisting and doing jump school (under an 18x/11x contract) aren't the odds good that he'll end up in an airborne regiment? Hence why places like the 82nd are full of the non-selects from the Q course, RIP drops, and unhappy people from SOCCOM.