Posted on 04/17/2015 6:38:41 AM PDT by Gamecock
A paratrooper who was preparing to leave the US army decided that he would make his last parachute jump more memorable by taking along a fish.
The day before his final jump on April 11, Spc. Matthew Tattersall went out and purchased a Siamese fighter, which he called 'Willy Makeit'. He placed the fish in a water bottle and poked a few holes into it to allow air to get in. Then he hid the bottle in his pocket as he knew he wouldn't be allowed to jump from the plane with the fish.
"That's my pet fish named Willy MakeIt... It was born a Japanese Fighter Fish but today it has become an American Paratrooper Fish"Airborne!82nd Airborne Division#82nd #Airborne #Fishborne #NemoWasaLegPosted by U.S Army W.T.F! moments on Sunday, April 12, 2015
23-year-old Tattersall, who described himself as '23 years stupid' is assigned to 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He says he's still waiting for the final outcome of his actions, but he has no regrets, although he's sorry for upsetting his chain of command.
He told Military Times: "I wanted to make it awesome, and I did just that.
The fish has been re-named 'Willy Did Makeit
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According to Army Times, which can only be excerted here,:
-Robbins had already turned in most of his gear and this was considered a "Hollywood Jump."
-For doing this Robinson had to write a 1,000 word paper on the importance of safety when conducting Airborne ops.
-He will be going to college when he gets out next month.
This is the kind of "punishment" they mete out these days?
When did the meanest fighting force on earth turn into middle school?
So long and thanks for all the fish!
When they protested and barked at him, he just said, "What the f*ck are you gonna do?....send me to Nam?"
Indubitably, Watson. Indubitably.
Most likely this was a low level route and the aircraft never came close to 5000 feet. I flew on hundreds of these missions as a C-130 loadmaster. Even though this was a C-17 jump, the cabin altitude would never have been above 5000 feet.
Don’t worry, looooooong since retired. I started on rounds with capewells, I’m THAT old.
If the bottle was sealed - no problem. The guy’s not going to jump from 30,000 feet. Look what he’s wearing.
I managed to do a helicopter jump after drinking tequila all day one time, and another time I got away with something worse.
Jumping drunk is not recommended, nothing went wrong, but it was amazing the deep realization of being hindered the second you exit. Being drunk on the ground is totally different than being drunk in such a short window of time, with so much stimuli going on, and in the air, where the stakes are so high.
If he did a 50000 ft jump with a sharkpirahna, that would be impressive.
Good for Willie...a once in a lifetime opportunity for a fish.
We need more NCOs to read FM 22-102, titled Wall-To-Wall Counseling
An excerpt:
Minor Offenses: Simple infractions can be dealt with quickly by a simple @$$-beating. Soldiers appreciate this, as it saves them the hassle of having to visit the commander for UCMJ action.
So if somebody jumps with just a plain waterbottle or canteen that is a “safety hazard”?
Part of the issue, as reported by Amry Times, was the taking of a selfie during the jump.
Gil?
That meme could end up with a life of its own!
Sorry...the guy didn’t deserve ANY punishment in my book. If I were his sergeant, I’d just shake my head, chuckle, and tell him “Don’t do it again. Dismissed.”
This was NOT a deadly-serious infraction of the rules.
Now...if he took a selfie of his downing a bottle of Jim Beam while under canopy....
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